Jericho: Calling International Fans

International fans, Zajo needs your help.

"Anyone that's able to be a liaison for their country (someone that's willing to pass on the information we have here to their fansite and vice versa) would be just fantastic.

Trying to gather and organize international fans like this is a big task and the more help we can get, the better."

Zajo is looking for international fans to answer these questions:

1. In what countries is Jericho broadcast?

2. Do you know any other language than English? If yes, what?

3. Have you come across any information about a fansite/forum that's not American? If yes, where and what country?

4. If we find a country that airs Jericho and you know their language, would you be willing to translate information to (if we are lucky and find one) their forum/fansite? If not a fansite then maybe willing to send emails regarding our efforts to their media?

5. If you have any additional idea/tips to give in how we can reach out to other countries, please let us know.

Please go here to participate and answer the questions. Thank you.


"There are state side fans willing to accept international fans letters via email and mail them for them, saving them the cost of international postage."
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And, remember, the Nuts To Nielsen campaign may include everyone. It's not just for Jericho fans. Your show could be canceled next.

Send them here:

Shipping to:
The Nielsen Company
770 Broadway
New York, NY 10003-9595
United States
phone: +1 646 654 5000

IR Contact
David Berger: +1 646 654 5057
david.berger@nielsen.com


Tell them:

HEY NIELSEN, COUNT THIS!

Jericho: Forum Updates

Amy at RemoteAccess has a wonderful interview with NorsU today. It's nice to learn more about who he is in his personal life. I know it's easy to focus on a screen name and forget a real person is behind it.

Amy says, "It’s been a really interesting ride, and I think that, no matter what happens with Jericho, its legacy will be that the way television viewers are counted will be changed forever."
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Statement From RFJ:

"Much has been said lately about the current state of affairs in the Jericho fandom. We feel now is a good time to state the Radio Free Jericho opinion on the matter.

RFJ is not concerned about "competing" with other Jericho sites. We are not advocating any one site over another as "the new" rally point. People will go and stay where they feel comfortable - and that's ok.

RFJ is not interested in becoming involved in any disputes over who is or is not in control of or leading the fandom. We feel the Jericho fans have proven they are an intelligent group and they will choose for themselves who they wish to follow.

RFJ has a long standing history of working with established sites in the fandom such as http://www.jericholives.com - http://www.jerichorallypoint.com - http://www.jeritopia.com - and those relationships will continue. We will also continue to share information with the CBS forum as long as it stands.

The primary focus of RFJ is to be a good citizen in the Jericho fandom - working on keeping the spirit of Jericho alive, keeping our membership updated on current efforts to save Jericho, suggesting ideas when needed, and providing a fun and informational site for the fandom.

Stop by and visit us - we would love to see you at Radio Free Jericho!"


Ka4ist - owner
maybei - admin
http://www.radiofreejericho.com
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From JerichoNet2:

"Check in your state in the Regional Folder and provide contact information for your local papers for other rangers from your state. Be sure to include your name and city when sending them locally, they like to see that its coming from one of their actual readers. Throw a post up if you've sent it, motivate others to do the same. We stem from all over, our own local resources are very valuable to us.

Check on the National Media thread, send a Press Release with your own personal feelings. Obviously, the more letters received, the more they will take notice giving us a better chance of coverage.

Visit the NewsNet area and leave a comment to the author of the articles. Journalists/Bloggers tend to read each others work and a strong response to an article will peak their interest in the story covered."

Jericho: The Fandom

Terocious has a great post today at Jericho Junction. It's an honest, straightforward piece although he will likely be attacked for having his own opinion.

Read for yourself here.



Trish has a new post today titled, "Jericho Fandom: Heading For Disaster." How correct she is about the lack of leadership, the demolishing of ideas and thoughts, and "Unfortunately, some fans simply can not function without leadership. Nothing wrong with some guidance and direction. Most people are submissive by nature, however, if someone steps into that leadership role that isn't exactly doing more than squawking like a parrot - you'll find a whole room full of parrots and not much being accomplished. Sad, but true."



JERICHO Season Two DVD release date has been announced for June 17th. Check out the Cover Art and Extras.

Morgan5318 has written a wonderful piece of Fan Fiction. Read PATTERNS OF LIGHT & SHADOW in the Fan Fic forum.

Jerichofan12 has added more JERICHO crosswords to the collection. Check them out! He also has some other JERICHO goodies such as Screensavers.

All this and much more at Jericho Rally Point...

Hypocritical CBS

So CBS cancels Jericho because of low Nielsen numbers. They brag about the online views Jericho got but didn't seem to count them. Now, CBS runs around bragging about their online numbers for basketball.

"Even before the NCAA Tournament, CBS had begun making arguments that ratings needed updating to reflect online viewing as well as TV."

Hypocrites. This was just another way to prevent us from getting Season 3. Poor Moonves. Bet his ego was bruised by nuts.



Nielsen has settled with ErinMedia. You may recall ErinMedia tried to grab onto measuring TV audiences much like Nielsen does. Isn't Nielsen a monopoly?



AdAge has an interesting article today about consumers and interactive media. They mention Nielsen and some of their competition.


"Already Starcom USA has said it will negotiate only with unrated digital cable channels that can offer some level of "quantitative metrics," which could include set-top-box data. TNS has unveiled a new service, known as TNS DirecTView, that studies 100,000 DirecTV subscribers and their granular viewing habits. Not to be outdone, Nielsen has said it intends to provide clients with set-top-box data by the second quarter of 2008. TiVo is also making set-top-box data available.

As viewership data becomes more finely calibrated, other measures will attempt to move things beyond reach and exposure. Thanks to more consumers using interactive media such as cellphones and computers -- and with interactive TV seen as more of a reality -- advertisers will want to measure whether consumers respond to programs and promotions, said Paul Donato, Nielsen's chief research officer."


Nuts To Nielsen:

Send Nuts here:

Shipping to:
The Nielsen Company
770 Broadway
New York, NY 10003-9595
United States
phone: +1 646 654 5000

IR Contact
David Berger: +1 646 654 5057
david.berger@nielsen.com


Tell them:

HEY NIELSEN, COUNT THIS!

NorsU and The Nuts

I found this blog post last night and had quite a laugh thinking about how it describes a fandom I know.

"I don't really have any keen observations about this to tell the absolute truth. I guess I just wanted to acknowledge to myself and any of the folks on my flist who may have gotten into an online verbal smackdown contest over something that has left you shaking your head at the intensity of your own nerd fury....

...don't worry, I know you're probably not crazy fer reals.

Fandom can indeed make you blackout every now and again."


It really doesn't surprise me anymore that the CBS Jericho board is in a shambles. That's why you won't find all the old Rangers there anymore. The day CBS takes it down will be a blessing.

This brings me to NorsU who is diligently working to write letters, send nuts to Nielsen, and keep everyone on the board up to date.NorsU has been one of the very best Rangers ever.

"I am going to get flamed for this... What is drawing more attention than a few nuts to Nielsen is a attempt to put down a sincere effort by Jericho fans to do what they feel is right to save Jericho. This is a large community and everyone has a voice. The negativity has done more damage at this point than a few pounds of snack food. People are going to read these post and be afraid to try anything new or not approved by self appointed leaders. If I was not dedicated to get Jericho back on the air I would have bailed by now."


NorsU you have my respect as you have stood your ground for what you belive is the right thing to do.

Check the board and see what has happened to him since he started advocating Nuts To Nielsen. Gang attack. What makes him so wrong and them so right? They demand answers from him yet, in the past, have never provided any when they were asked.


Are they jealous? Are they mad because he had a good idea and it wasn't theirs? Oh, maybe it's that Leader thing again. Perhaps they perceive him as trying to be a Leader and we all know they're not going to let that happen.

The first campaign was totally different. The Rangers had class. What a shame.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the title of the link I posted. It's " Fandoms Can Turn Otherwise Normal Folks Into Stark Raving Crazies."

Keep it up, NorsU. Great job.

Jericho II

I recently posted about a report which stated that Nielsen had, once again, made a big error in their reporting.

According to MediaPost, "Nielsen also says it can’t keep up with the many new networks on satellite distributors: “Given the rapid growth and the increase in the number of packages and channels available, this process no longer provides the necessary level of reliability to accurately define household channel receivability.”

What? Nielsen admits they can't keep up? Is this supposed to make us trust them? How can they count Internet viewers when they can't even do it right for TV?

Read the entire article here.
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I look back at all the things, besides send nuts, during our first campaign and I find it amazing that some think fans can't do more than one thing at a time. Nobody said Nuts To Nielsen would save Jericho; it's just part of the big picture.

And, remember, the Nuts To Nielsen campaign may include everyone. It's not just for Jericho fans. Your show could be canceled next.

Send them here:

Shipping to:
The Nielsen Company
770 Broadway
New York, NY 10003-9595
United States
phone: +1 646 654 5000

IR Contact
David Berger: +1 646 654 5057
david.berger@nielsen.com


Tell them:

HEY NIELSEN, COUNT THIS!

Monster Interview: Penny Ronning

Penny Ronning is an MBA who currently has 3 projects that she is producing: a fiction feature film, a feature length documentary, and a high school history curriculum in conjunction with a website inspired by surviving World War 2 Prisoners of War who were captured in the Philippines.

Her deepest life commitments are to human rights advocacy, animal welfare issues, mentoring, and educating the public on the importance of the arts as a required subject in K - 12 schools.


Advisory Board Member at The Vital Ground Foundation
Event and Programming Consultant at Missoula Performing Arts Center
Owner/Producer, Two Chocolates Productions - Independent Film Producer; Event Specialist; Human Rights Advocate

Thank you, Penny, for this outstanding interview.
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1. What about Jericho appealed to you and made you such a fan?

I did not watch Jericho the first season it aired. I’m not sure why other than I think it aired opposite a show that I was already interested in or attached to. I first started watching Jericho after I heard on the news that a gargantuan amount of peanuts had been sent to CBS by fans of the show after learning of Jericho’s cancellation. That action caught my attention. I was very impressed with the creativity, but more importantly by the commitment and determination of the fans to be heard. I wanted to know what was so good it commanded this much loyalty.

When Jericho aired again I made sure my schedule was clear so that I could watch the first episode. “Blown away” does not even come close to describing my reaction after watching the first episode. I called and emailed a large number of people I knew telling them that this show was something special. I was hooked with that first episode.

Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank was one of the books I was required to read in high school. Like To Kill a Mockingbird and Where the Red Fern Grows, Alas, Babylon made a lasting impression on me. Growing up during the Cold War the thought of nuclear war was very real. I remember reading Alas, Babylon and making plans on what I would do if a nuclear bomb hit near my home. Pat Frank was a wonderfully descriptive writer and his images have remained with me throughout the years.

For me, that first episode of Jericho I watched, I felt like I was watching Alas, Babylon come to life. The writing was excellent. I did not feel like I was watching actors playing characters. These characters were so well developed and the dialogue did not come across as forced by the actors. If you’ve ever lived in a somewhat small community, you know that these characters could have been your neighbors. These were people from the heartland of the United States and I liked that very much. Everything about the characters felt refreshing even though they were in the midst of chaos. I liked that the characters were portrayed as intelligent people from the center of America. Sometimes the entertainment industry likes to portray anyone from outside of a big city or from anywhere in the U.S. that is not on either coast as being simple minded or less worldly. Jericho didn’t do that.

Gerald McRaney was a big draw for me also. I like him as an actor and I really liked his character, Johnston Green.


2. Jericho was a favorite online yet got canceled after CBS had said they would look at total numbers and not just Nielsen's. Do you believe CBS simply did not want Jericho to continue or do they not know how to develop a method to count viewers online?

Having never worked on the business end of the television industry, I can comment only with my opinions based upon my experiences within the entertainment industry, in business, and my education.

The world of technology is changing so rapidly I think many industries are challenged by the effort to keep up and the entertainment industry is not an exception. Considering that part of what the writers were striking for was to be compensated for their product being viewed/downloaded on the Internet, I hope that everyone would be open to the idea that new operating templates need be written.

Not all technology advances at the same pace. For example, in the feature film world cameras are advancing rapidly, but projection systems in the majority of movie theaters are not. So, there’s an imbalance and this can create problems. One problem is who pays for the theaters’ projection systems to keep up to speed at the same pace as the cameras. Most theater owners don’t have the finances to keep up with this pace. The same kind of imbalance appears to be happening in the television world.

I believe that the current means by which television networks count viewer numbers is antiquated and in need of change. I don’t believe the current Nielsen system accurately represents program viewership. If it did, then why are the networks pumping so much product onto the Internet? Or iTunes? Or cell phones? Obviously, the television networks have learned that enormous numbers of their customers are watching their shows on a form of media other than television.

Unfortunately, it appears the system the networks use for counting viewers has not kept up with the pace of change in their own media. I believe this is something they can correct. I have 3 blog sites and a website. I know exactly how many hits, visits, and views each one gets on a daily basis. And I know which blogs I’ve written that are receiving the most reads, comments, and hits. Do I think television networks that have their products available for viewing or downloading on their own network websites know exactly how many times each show has been watched, downloaded, or received a hit? Oh yea.

The Nielsen system is out of date with the lifestyle of many people today, but I don’t believe the Nielsen system is the only problem with the rating system. From my perspective, it appears that an imbalance is taking place between the business department and the technology department at the networks. The networks’ business practices do not appear to be keeping up to speed with their own advancing technology. As a result, quality programming like Jericho is unfairly sacrificed.

3.You said recently, "Most often the people in the top positions are finance people or excellent deal making people. Most often the top people are numbers people. And that's what makes all of the numbers on Jericho so interesting."

Could you expand on that answer and tell us why you find the Jericho numbers to be of such interest?

The context of my statement dealt with the difference between creative people and numbers people. Creative people tend to reach a conclusion by means of exploration. Numbers people tend to reach a conclusion by means of a formula.

The overall numbers for Jericho appear to be good. By overall, I mean the iTunes, TiVo, downloads, online watching and Nielsen numbers combined. The combined numbers reveal that viewers are there for Jericho.

With those thoughts in mind, I find it confusing as to why the numbers people at CBS are basing Jericho’s long term potential on an antiquated formula. But, this goes back to the business end not keeping up with the technology end.

4.What has happened to quality television programming? Is it as simple as the fact that reality shows are so cheaply made?

For me, I see the loss of integrity within the entertainment programming of network television running somewhat parallel to the loss of integrity within network news programming. Every time people begin to chase numbers over integrity the hamster wheel is set in motion.

When decisions are made at the higher levels to compromise on the integrity of news programming, then it is going to be very easy at those same levels to compromise on the integrity of entertainment programming. Even though these two elements of television are separate departments, they are under the same umbrella. For umbrellas to work effectively, they must be complete circles. Compromise any part of that circle and the rain is going to start hitting somewhere and what is a natural reaction? To quickly move the umbrella to protect that area except you’ve now exposed another area.

Integrity isn’t something you turn on and off when it suits your purposes. You either have it or you don’t.

Jericho is an excellent symbol for the loss of quality art being produced by the American television industry. Television was invented in America. We should be leading the world in producing quality programming.

Art has value. Speaking from the perspective of television’s contribution to the arts in our culture, if we continue to lose well crafted artistic/dramatic programming, then we will continue to lose our culture, we will continue to lose what connects us, we will continue to lose our collective voice of expression, we will continue to lose the common language of humanity.

Having lived and traveled all over the world, I know the value of art as a means of communication. Art builds bridges, opens doors of thought, and gives a way of discovering a commonality that is difficult to find without a mutual language. Art is that language.

Storytellers have long been the people that bring us together, bring us to a place of community, bring us to a place of shared experience. One of the first experiences a parent and child actively focus on at the same time is the reading and telling of stories.

Most people remember the first time they saw The Wizard of Oz or Lucy’s vita veta vegamin episode or when the Friends all left Monica’s apartment for the last time. Discovering who shot JR and the last episode of MASH are two of the most highly rated shows of all time.

Does anyone care who was on the Surreal Life or who won Survivor 5 or if anyone has ever won the largest amount of money on Deal or No Deal? Reality TV is like fast food. Cheap, quick, and of no nutritional value. Do these programs bring a sense of investment in a shared common ground?

America has already lost the majority of what we were known to manufacture with excellence to other countries for reasons of profit. Are we to lose quality within our own invented also? Jericho is everything excellent about the artistic television media. From the writing to the acting to the work of the crew, the producers created an excellent artistic product. And again, I’m using Jericho as a symbol in this train of thought.

If I’m not mistaken, I think that Touched by an Angel was also saved through a fan based letter writing campaign. If it was, that show went on to air for 7 years, I believe. Again, another excellent show that may not have had the initial numbers, but captured artistic value with the viewing audience. The numbers eventually grew and it went on to be a hit show for CBS.

At some point, television network executives have got to take stock of their artistic value. Are they adding artistic value to our culture? Or to what extent are they aiding and abetting in the dumbing down of the American culture?

I’ve lived in a number of communities where cable or a dish were the only ways of receiving ANY television programming and neither of those options were cheap. Paying to see television programming is one thing, paying to see awful television programming is another. It’s like being on a desert island where your only source of food is a vending machine filled with Twinkies. You’re thankful for the vending machine and at first the Twinkies don’t seem too bad, but after awhile you can’t lift yourself up off the sand. You’re too stupid and too weak from the lack of nutrition.

And just because the Twinkies come in different slots doesn’t mean they’re not still Twinkies.

Between Reality TV, game shows, and the 17 identical spin offs from one successful show, I’ve come to know a Twinkie when I see one.

Personally, I believe Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt are two of the most brilliant and creative people in television today. All of their programs together or separately have been unique. Even though Angel was a spin off from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it was an entirely different show. These guys get the value of good art, good story telling, and the value of bringing something fresh to an audience.

The creators of Jericho captured something unique and valuable in their ideas also and Carol Barbee and her crew brilliantly brought those ideas to life. When the American public stood up and shouted “I’m tired and I’m not going to take it anymore” with pounds and pounds of peanuts, their value of Jericho was made loud and clear.

At some point, as a country we all have to stand up and demand quality back in our culture. And that starts with each individual taking action. Whether you are the CEO of a network television station or the CEO of a television ratings company or the CEO of a major corporation that advertises on television or the CEO of your home, every single one of us is responsible within our own places of power to make decisions that add to the quality of our collective culture.

5.You have expertise in strategic planning and you have visited the CBS board. Do you see where strategic planning is being applied to fan efforts? Any words of advice?

I found the CBS message board when I wrote my first blog about Jericho, which was February 27 of this year. However, I didn’t really spend time reading the messages until I heard the news about Jericho being canceled…again. And then I wanted to know if other people were feeling the same sense of shock as I was. At first, I went back to the board feeling the need for a sense of community. I truly couldn’t believe the news. During any sense of loss or shock we tend to seek out others who’ve experienced the same or similar fate.

Then my shock began to evolve into determination. As that rose up within me, I went back to the board with a purpose. I wanted to find the plan – surely someone had a plan to turn this around…again.

Unfortunately, it’s easy to get lost in the comments left by people that simply want to vent. I understand those feelings – that’s why I started to blog! However, regarding the CBS board those types of comments can take away from forward moving progression. It’s also difficult to easily identify people when the same image is being used by multiple participants for their profile picture. When you are pressed for time, having easily identifiable imagery helps the organizational process and helps to separate the leaders out from the crowd.

That said, it was difficult for me to determine with any speed or accuracy who actually had a connection to Carol Barbee. I had to follow a number of threads before I found two different people whose writing made it appear that they were ones with a connection to the power base at Jericho.

While I have found the CBS message board to be an interesting place, a place of great potential, and a place to find information, I have not found it to be an organized place. The postings appear to be random and without much order or structure. And the board is not the most user friendly when you are looking for an old posting, but that’s a CBS website issue.

Fortunately, a number of very well written Jericho fans found my blog and left comments. Through those comments, I found a leadership base much more quickly than I did through the CBS message board.

As someone who has created and organized large scale events and undertakings, the best advice I can give is to first find out specifically what Carol Barbee and the creators of Jericho wants to do with the show. What is their number one desire? Do they want to stay at CBS? Do they want CBS Paramount to shop Jericho around and if so, where do Carol and her team want to be? The fans of Jericho need to work in conjunction with Carol and her team. The absolute best and most effective partner the fans can be to Carol and crew is to be a structured, organized, considerate, well oiled and well ordered group that is prepared to act efficiently when the time is right to act and is patient when the time is right to wait for direction. This is a fan base that understands the means by which communication can be delivered quickly. That’s evident. And that’s impressive. But it’s important that the fans are not demanding something Carol and her crew don’t want or is not best for the show simply because they want to be doing something.

What was accomplished by the fans the first time around was tremendous. Kudos to all of those leaders and everyone who participated. I am one who is most grateful. But what I am sensing from the board postings and a couple of the fan sites by this first group of dedicated and successful warriors is frustration, disappointment and just plain tiredness. All of which are understandable. I may feel the same way if I had been a part of the first group that fought for such a wonderful show. I know my own level of disappointment and I have no doubt it doesn’t compare to theirs.

To those people, I would advise to not go away, but be open to passing on your knowledge to others who are willing to take up the cause.

6. Is there anything you'd like to add?

Colin Powell once said that a good idea will never become a reality without a champion. Jericho is a good idea and it continues to need a champion. The collective fan base working to change the way networks acknowledge ratings is smart and very much needed. However, it’s equally important to keep Jericho specifically in the forefront of everyone’s mind.

In my opinion, Jericho is not dead in the water as long as the creators and producers want to keep it swimming.

Nuts To Nielsen

Interesting reports are out about Nielsen's latest flub. Seems they've had to admit they have understated household coverage estimates, and overstated the coverage area for about 20 local TV stations which they won't name. Naturally.
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Thank you, NorsU, for this information.


Nuts To Nielsen


Send them here:

Shipping to:
The Nielsen Company
770 Broadway
New York, NY 10003-9595
United States
phone: +1 646 654 5000

IR Contact
David Berger: +1 646 654 5057
david.berger@nielsen.com


Tell them:

HEY NIELSEN, COUNT THIS!

Monster Interview: Gwen Part II

Gwen On Fandoms: Part II


4. If you lived in a town like Jericho how would what you've learned in the SCA be a benefit to survival?

I was at a large SCA event, when we had a disaster, which actually was rather Jericho-like. The event was the Twenty Year Celebration of the SCA, which had an attendance of 6000-8000. It was held from April 25 to May 4, 1986 in Magnolia, Texas.

Most of us had no access to the outside world, since only a few areas had electricity and most people did not have radios in their camp. The news spread via word of mouth. The Chernobyl Disaster in Russia happened right at the beginning of the event, so some of us wondered if we would be able to get back to our home states. Gradually the news filtered down that the US was in no danger.

Near the end of the event, we had a very heavy storm that dropped nine inches of rain in 24 hours with 60 mph winds. That evening, we braced the tent really well on the side the wind was coming from, and parked the van in front for a wind break. In the middle of the night, the wind switched and we and the neighbors we were sheltering (whose camp was flooded) had to collapse the tent and sleep in the van.

The next morning, as I walked to my staff meeting, I wondered if we should pack up and leave. I knew we were not going to be able to set the camp back up. The kitchen was still fully functional, but the tent around it wasn’t.

I got to my staff meeting and found out that many had lost their tents, and had no dry clothing or bedding. The top staff members were considering calling in the Red Cross, but instead decided to open up the large circus tent for those who had lost their shelter. They were concerned about how to feed everyone, so I volunteered to move our kitchen into the tent. I thought it was a good trade, our kitchen and camp members, in exchange for a nice dry area to sleep.

The heralds were sent out with the camp shouts telling all to come to the circus tent if they needed shelter and for others that had fared better to donate dry bedding, clothing, and any extra food.

All day long people dropped off ice chests full of food, dry sleeping bags and extra clothing. We had soup of the hour (ingredients changed very hour) all day long and served hot drinks too. The food merchants (who were in stone booths) donated their extras when they closed up shop, so there was always food available. That was a day much like the day depicted at the Jericho town BBQ, where everyone pitched together and helped one another. All of us were really proud, when it was announced the next day, that there was no need to call in the Red Cross.

What I learned: ALWAYS brace your tent on both sides, hot liquids are best to combat hypothermia, a lot of ingredients can go in a soup together and still taste good, soup can feed a LOT of people, and that the collective SCA skills and generosity might someday save my life.



5. What led you to become involved in the Jericho fandom?

I watched Jericho from the first episode and was hoping it would not be canceled. The day CBS announced their new line-up, I saw Jericho had been canceled. I quickly googled “Save Jericho” and went to the first link and started reading messages and sending letters and nuts. I kept seeing a lot of links to the CBS message board, so I eventually went there a few days before the news was announced that Jericho had been saved.


6. What do you see as the benefits of belonging to any fanbase?

There is an article about the SCA by Leanne Tibiatowski of Vision Magazine (3/06). Her premise is that the SCA had become the participant’s village and that we all search for a “village” to belong to. Any fandom or fanbase can become your village, and our inner need for a village has increased with modern day families being so spread out.

I think the inner need for a village also increases the problems within fandoms. Participants crave peer acceptance in their fandom, and this need for peer acceptance is often the root cause of fandom disputes. It’s also the reason why most fandoms end up with some appreciation recognition (i.e. Monster Fan of the Week).


7. You helped out with Timecon in the 1990's. What was Timecon?

Timecon was a medium sized Dr. Who/Star Trek convention in San Jose in the early 90’s. It was run by my brother-in-law and my sister and I both worked at the convention. It ran for 4 years and I mainly worked security. When that convention folded many of the security people went on to form a security group that still works at different conventions in California.


8. Do you feel the Internet has led to more people being involved in fandoms?

Yes, because it makes finding fandom groups so much easier. I had heard of the SCA before I finally stumbled upon the group several years later. Today I would just have to google SCA to find information.


9. You're also involved in the Jericho Kansas Inc. fan club. Do you think an Internet based fan club can be successful?

Yes, any fan club would have no problem being internet based.

However, an internet based non-profit is more difficult. Jericho Kansas Inc is a non-profit and it’s been an interesting experience trying to adapt what I’m familiar with to an internet non-profit.

Fortunately, California (where Jericho Kansas incorporated) had already adapted their non-profit laws to include internet communication and board meetings. The most intense research I did was finding rules of order that would work for internet meetings, since Robert’s Rules of Order is NOT recommended. After three days of intense internet research, I came across a study which helped me figure out what would work.



10. What is the most important lesson you have learned after all these years of involvement in assorted fandoms?

Develop a thick skin and don’t take critical comments too personally. Since fandoms are so diverse and the participants are not the same age group, of similar background, of similar faiths, from the same country, etc.; misunderstandings are going to occur.

How we all deal with those misunderstandings is what will define the Jericho fandom. The mindset of “you’ve attacked my friend, therefore I must attack you” is one of the most harmful things that can happen to any fandom. Once this tactic is taken, it is hard for the original participants to work things out and the small problems magnify into large ones.

The SCA has a culture of work things out in private and do not make the problems public. Although this doesn’t always solve the problems, it does limit the innocent bystanders who are affected.


11.Anything you'd like to add?

I love Jericho and I’ve enjoyed meeting the various Jericho fans I’ve had contact with. Please come by and say hello at Jericho-Kansas.com.