The seemingly never-ending saga with TORn

If you haven't read the first and second and third parts of my personal saga with TheOneRing.net, I suggest it before you dig into this part. In short, those three were about how I came to know TORn folks and this one is a wrap up.

Trying to record my experiences with TheOneRing.net has turned me into a horrible blogger. Instead of smallish daily things I can blog about, I feel like I have the weight of this saga. As a result, nothing at all gets blogged about, so, this will be the end of the tale that I tell here, although far from the genuine end.

In short, I had made contact with a few TORn staffers, organized a successful and sizable line party in Salt Lake City, attended the now legendary "One Party," as a member of the media and there interviewed TORn co-founder Chris. Somehow the two of us kept in touch or he knew me well enough to return an e-mail. One way or another, I drafted a tutorial on how to host a line party and to my shock and surprise, not only did he run the thing in its whole, he gussied it up and designed it to be easy to read. I had my first taste of his excellent design skills. I am a bit embarrassed now, but this is what I wrote and what he did with it.

Before long, as a result of this, he asked me on the phone to be a staff member at the site. I was genuinely shocked but also honored. I admired, and this feeling would only grow, that the staffers at TORn did what they did not for money but for love and passion. I found their efforts inspiring. I was also forced to choose a "handle" for the site and I really couldn't think of anything at that moment except the original Online name I ever invented for myself in the stone age of public internet when I picked "MrCere" for my first AOL subscription. Ouch. That name came from a cartoon aardvark "Cerebus" and I am pretty much stuck with it now. I find other potential Tolkien-themed message board names I like all the time. Rick Cottontree makes me laugh as does Barrow Wong and SandWitch King but alas, I might as well have a MrCere tat. Early "Cerebus" is brilliant commentary and satire but late in the game it grew to be less than it was.

I had discovered in the process of line parties, that I was a big fan of fans. I loved that people would spend hours pouring their hearts into something like the books of J.R.R. Tolkien. Harry Potter was on the rise and Star Wars was enjoying its prequel trilogy and there were other temporary cults growing up around popular culture and the Tolkien fandom was in the middle of all that.

I had only just discovered that celebrations of popular culture, such at Comic Con, were full of people that shared common interests with me. I always felt that playing Dungeons & Dragons or loving goofy fantasy movies or enjoying Japanese cartoons (Battle of the Planets) somehow isolated me or made me unusual. I discovered instead that I was not alone in these passions and for the most part, the people who shared these passions were pretty great. Calisuri, Tookish, Quickbeam and all the other folks behind these odd names at TheOneRing were more than alright and so were the rest of the people I met. In fact, they were also exceptionally cool.

So, being invited to be part of the energy of TORn was astounding. I knew I was a lot like the staffers I had met in some ways, but it seemed like a closed club that I would not be joining. A great number of the staff all knew each other from the live chat room at TORn which still functions. I felt a lot more comfortable on a message board than I do in a chat room, but I did venture over there a little, but somehow it wasn't completely comfortable for me. I was pleased to make a contribution with the line party efforts and there was a lot of satisfaction in putting Salt Lake City on the Website map and in having great experience with locals.

I still didn't understand the way TORn worked so I asked Chris if he really had the authority to make me a staffer. He laughed and explained that yes, it was his website, and he could make me part of the team. He also invited me to Comic-Con to help TORn out. In short, he adopted me for no reason I can quite understand, even still, except that he knew my motives were pure. I wasn't involved to meet stars or get free stuff but to build the community.

The other question I had for him concerned what a staffer did exactly for TORn. He explained that there wasn't a charter or rules or defined roles but that I should make it what I wanted to make it with the understanding that I didn't ever represent myself as speaking for TORn and that I work toward the greater good.

That year at Comic-Con, Sideshow Collectibes and Weta Workshop were together under the "Sideshow-Weta," business banner. Sideshow had a massive space and it let TORn set up a TheOneRing tent which was all part of a grouping of many Lord of the Rings booths, including New Line Cinema. Fan-film "Ringers: Lord of the Fans," was part of the booth and they had a Tolkien confessional where folks stepped inside the booth to be filmed to give the team lots of footage for their film, which was as yet a great idea but not formed into its final state. I was on hand to help with the booth in any capacity and although I didn't know people well, I had a great time being on the floor of the giant convention talking with passionate people about LOTR.

I attended a staff dinner, had some other fun around the convention, met folks at Sideshow and had a generally wonderful time. Chris also pulled me aside and invited me to go to DragonCon later in the year and promised a completely different convention experience. I would be there to help with a very small table that functioned to sell t-shirts and in general just help. And so it was that I began a string of trips to Atlanta for a completely different and completely fun convention experience where I met a whole different slew of fans and, wouldn't you know it, made more good friends.

One of those friends was another co-founder of TORn, Corvar or Bill, a giant Irishman of good humor and more than any of the staffers or founders of TORn, a man who avoids the limelight. He keeps the website online and solves the occasional major server issues (like the one that suddenly prompted an emergency redesign) and gets almost no credit. Later when Chris and Amy were married Bill was his best man and I was extremely honored to be part of the wedding party. Shannon and I traveled east to be present at the wedding and it remains a fond memory.

To make a long story less long, I was more-or-less integrated into TheOneRing.net staff and became an event specialist, news reporter and photographer. I attended three Oscar parites, got a side gig with Sideshow Collectibles, hosted events with actors and celebrities called "ORC" and "ELF," distributed t-shirts, got to know other staffers that I see rarely but am fond of and generally had amazing experiences. I also helped bring the message boards at TORn to the founders' attention so that in the current version, the once heavily chat-centric site now warmly embraces another part of its core. Good friend Pat (Altaira) reinvented the whole message board after moderators worked hard on the site's behalf for a long time with very little recognition and she and I were both asked to join the "senior staff" which means we on rare occasions we talk over matters concerning the site with the founders. I am sure I am more fond of many of the staffers than they are of me, but I don't mind.

I have enjoyed very much representing the site at press events, book release parties, game junkets, and movie premieres (viewing the screening of King Kong with stellar company, remains one of the elite entertainment experiences of my life). I am a regular presenter at DragonCon and while none of this has paid off financially, it has been immensely rewarding in so many ways but especially with well-loved friends. The truth is, sometimes involvement has required financial sacrifice but I count the dollars spent as well worth it. I am rich with amazing relationships and the whole immersion into this fandom has changed my life forever.

Dear Shannon has been pretty patient while all this happens and probably rightly wishes I had put some of this energy and passion into things that would pay handsomely. My sons will be just old enough to enjoy the Hobbit events and I hope to create for them what I have from all of this - great memories.

Chris and Bill are both counted as close friends now and while visiting Wellington last year, and visiting with Erica, I can definitely include Tehanu as somebody I both respect and am very fond of. A lot of the original staffers are busy and not so active now, but new blood helps carry the site forward toward "The Hobbit." People would be surprised though how few people still keep things going. I don't know that it will return to the elite status among all websites in existence it once enjoyed, but I can see the bump in popularity already happening and it will be the salad days again.

Beyond that, TORn may have used up its lifespan. Perhaps not. Either way, it has left its mark on the history of internet and movie and Tolkien fandom and I have felt privileged to be a part.