Potterize It! Sharing the Magic of Fan Culture
Pottermore. MuggleNet. The Leaky Cauldron. Huge conferences like Infinitus 2010 and LeakyCon 2011. What makes Potter fan communities thrive? Is the success simply due to the size of the fandom, or is there real magic happening? Melissa Anelli (LeakyCon, Leaky Cauldron, LeakyNews), Andrew Sims (Hypable, MuggleNet, Twilight Source), and Heidi Tandy (HPEF/Ascendio, FictionAlley) will share insider knowledge on creating vibrant online and "In Real Life" communities and events. Social Media Librarian Lisa Bunker (Pima County Library) will deconstruct Potterverse methodologies, with an emphasis on ways other organizations can build and Potterize their own "fanbase" to bring the magic home. With moderator Brenda Huettner (P-N Designs), they'll discuss how to spark new fires, continually adapt to new tools and media, capture attention and encourage participation, and remain fresh in a fickle realm.
Presenters
Andrew Sims is a 22 year old living in Los Angeles. He has a passion for online media and podcasting because of their amazing growth over the past few years. He got started in the online media world with MuggleNet.com, the world's largest Harry Potter fansite, when he joined in 2004 (after running his own equally awesome Potter site beginning in 2001). During 2011 he decided to create a MuggleNet for multiple fansites, and Hypable was born.
Heidi Tandy (TravelingHeidi on Twitter) is an intellectual property attorney in South Florida with a focus on trademarks and copyright issues; she's been writing Terms of Use policies since she was at the New York Times Electronic Media Company in 1995. Currently Of Counsel with the Miami law firm ZIGLAW, she focuses on intellectual property, licensing agreements, FTC compliance, advertising law, trademark clearance and portfolio management and related issues for clients in the entertainment, reality show, music, film and fitness industries.
She has, over the years, been involved with TheKnot.com, the Help_Haiti LiveJournal auction community which has been used as a model and prototype for other social-network-based fundraisers, as well as FictionAlley, HPEF's Nimbus - 2003, Azkatraz, Infinitus and Ascendio 2012 conventions, the Organization for Transformative Works's Legal Issues committee, the 2008 - 2011 Comic-Con Harry Potter panels and The Leaky Cauldron. She believes in the maxim “Fandom is my fandom.
Ms. Tandy has an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in History and in the undergrad program at the Annenberg School of Communications, and obtained her J.D. at American University Washington College of Law.
I am very lucky to work at a library that encourages experimentation with new media and has given me the latitude to develop my own best practices.
I will be speaking on a panel at 2011 SxSW Interactive entitled "Potterize it! Sharing the Magic of Fan Culture" (http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/12405)
2010 was the first time I attended SxSW, and it was a wellspring of ideas and energy that I am still drawing upon. In January I will be launching a series of talks inspired by SxSW for my library called "Catalyst Cafe" where I will be creating programming of joint interest to nonprofits and small business, and the area tech community. I will post more info when it is firmed up.
Melissa Anelli is the owner and operator of The Leaky Cauldron and LeakyNews.com, as well as co-founder of LeakyCon and Mischief Management. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and a former daily newspaper reoprter. Her first book, the New York Times bestselling “Harry, A History: The true story of a boy wizard, his fans, and life inside the Harry Potter phenomenon,” was published in 2008 with a foreword from J.K. Rowling. Since 2009, Melissa has also served as senior creative consultant on Pottermore, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Web site. She is currently hard at work on her second book.
Friday, March 9
