European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 22, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 20 scene stars and stripes sunday april 22 2007 0 As the end of the series nears fans recall internet Rise Emerson Spartz remembers the Good old Days it was fall 1999 Spartz was 12 and he decided to create a Lime web site about a hot new series of fantasy books the Harry Potter craze was just beginning the Sites were very primitive especially compared to modern Harry Potter Sites they were Amateur richly done says Spartz founder one of the leading Potter Sites the biggest web Sites were updated a couple times a week at most and other than message boards there was no interactivity Between fans like Wjk Rowling herself Potter fan Sites didst Start out to make history they popped up like so Many variations of Waynes world operated on the cheap by teenage kids out of their basements Spartz recalls its been 10 years since readers met the boy wizard in Rowlings first Book Harry Potter and the sorcerers Stone More than 300 million copies later the Potter series ends july 21 when Scholastic inc releases the seventh adventure Harry Potter and the deathly hallows Spartz and his Many fellow webmasters Are looking Back at their own place on this record breaking ride the Story of Potter has All along been a Story of its fans and like everything else about Potter the fan Sites Are in a special class for their size and for their influence the Potter Sites set the Standard says Anthony Ziccardi vice president and Deputy publisher for rival pocket books an imprint of Simon schuster that releases Star trek paperbacks the thing about the Potter phenomenon is that it has a huge Active fan base both Young and old with a lot of teenagers the Star trek fan Sites Are a Little bit most of the fans Are 25 and older the Potter Sites really stand out there like a marketing machine in and of themselves the Potter Sites have Long advanced from the slow Pace simple texts and Dull backgrounds of the Early years and now have All the latest accessories blogs podcasts audio and video they no longer just com ment on the news but participate Rowling has praised the Sites by name granted them rare interviews even used one site the Harry Potter lexicon to Check facts Warner Bros which once tried to shut Down Many photos by a Emerson Spartz a notre Dame University Sophomore sits in his residence Hal room in South Bend ind Hes next to a computer displaying his Harry Potter web site Muggle Newcom which he started in 1999 when he was 12 the site is one of several favourites among fans of the boy wizard series of the fan Sites because of copyright concerns has invited Spartz and others to the sets of Potter films and premieres valuing their expertise and of course their Access to so Many fans when we have brought representatives from some of the key fan Sites and showed them the details for the film the Potter Sites have Long advanced from the slow Pace simple texts and Dull backgrounds of the Early years and now have All the latest accessories blogs podcasts audio and video the no longer just comment on the news but participate sets even if some of them were disappointed that we had left out certain elements from the books they respected what we were trying to do says Diane Nel son Warner Bros executive vice president for global Brand management were not naive enough to think were going to avoid criticism but bringing the fan Sites into the process is what we fee is really important Melissa Anelli the webmaster for another popular fan site has been part of the online Potter world since 2001 not Long after Leaky started As a Means for a few friends to keep track of All Trie news about Harry Potter the first this image provided in 2007 by Melissa Anelli shows a portion of the Home Page for Anellis web site the Leaky cauldron this image provided in 2007 by Steve Vander Ark shows a portion of the Harry Potter lexicon web Page Potter film was coming out As was the fourth Potter Book so they experimented with a relatively new web tool a blog it was a on Page blog with no other features but news it had a Blue background and halloween or Ange text recalls the 27yearold Anelli a freelance journalist who lives in new York she is writing a Book tentatively titled Harry a history about the Potter phenomenon webmasters themselves Learned the value of bringing in fans to the game Spartz now a Sophomore at notre Dame University was living in nearby la Porte ind when he started Muggle net with the Hope of building a database of Potter information after receiving count less emails Spartz reasoned that the Best Way to treat his new online friends was to put them to work Anelli estimates there Are some 3 million to 4 million Potter Sites in dozens of languages including French Spanish russian mandarin and hebrew like a Small town exploding into a vast Metropolis the Potter Boom drove some of the pioneers out including Mike Gray an Early member of Harry Potter for grownups a web site founded in the late 1990s somewhere along the line i noticed that participating in a list with More than 10000 members didst really ring my Bell and that being responsible for people whose Bells were thusly rung probably want my calling so i slipped off the stage Gray says web Sites helped Start the International Potter obsession and kept it going when Rowling look three years 20002003 to write Potter v Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix driving fans to tear their hair out in anticipation Aneilia recalls she also cites the first Potter movie Harry Potter and the sorcerers Stone which came out in 2001 that when fans needed a stronger visual fix of Potter they wanted to see More pictures of the celebrities they wanted to read about them and see clips from the films she says so they hit the web Sites and discovered Wellsprings of information for their love of the books too they found encyclopedias and games and guides and fan fiction and Vanart enough to keep even the most Rabid fan sated Between novels Potter Sites have been counting Down to the big night in july and will Likely stay around Well after Rowl ing moves on two More movies Are planned after this Summers release of order of the Phoenix and a thriving genre of Potter fan fiction remains with read ers not waiting for deathly hallows to imagine How they would continue the Story we already do have stories like that called Post Hogwarts says Jennie Levine a reference librarian in Baltimore and Confounder of the Potter fan fiction site weve had people doing that since they released Goblet of we Call them alternate universe stories because we know a lot More now about what happened to the characters
