We’ve Got Staff!

With the coming of the new site, we’ve got tons of new stuff I’m hoping to do.  It’s a big deal for me, and I want to give you the very best I can.  In many cases, to do that means letting someone else do it something.  There’s avenues I either know nothing about, or I just plain suck at (like video games).  I could write about them, but it wouldn’t be a fair appraisal of the game.

Well, I’d like for everyone to welcome Liambic and his wife Lilyth (screen names obviously).  Many of you have read Liambic’s comments on many of my posts.  He and I go way, way back and I’m trilled to have him as part of the “staff” that will be part of the new Geek Emporium experience (I feel like Jimi Hendrix when I say that)! 

Liambic and Lilyth will be writing mostly on role playing, video games, and anime.  However, there will be articles from them on anything I can get them to write.  So welcome aboard guys!  I’m glad to have ya!

The Latest News

Here’s the latest news on the transition over to the new Geek Emporium.   Starting this week, with the new fall television season, I’ll begin reviewing geek oriented TV premieres.  Currently, I’ve got Terminator and Fringe on Fox set to review, and that was just what was advertised during the Atlanta/Detroit NFL game this afternoon.  A quick check later will garner a more structured review schedule for the week.

The reason this is listed as news on the new site is that television reviews will be just one of the new features that The Geek Emporium will be having each week.  Granted, I suspect I’m going to become one of the Tivo crowd after this, but that’s OK.  It’s what I do for my readers 😉

Tentatively, the plan is to have reviews for Terminator and Fringe up by midnight the night of the premiere.  Unfortunately, we don’t garner advanced viewings just yet, so midnight is about as good as it gets.  For those who find us through the RPG Bloggers Network, these will not show up in that feed.  Simply put, these aren’t RPG blog posts, and don’t belong there.  However, by subscribing to my feed directly, or just checking out the site by clicking the main link on the RPG Bloggers Network, you’ll be able to find the reviews in all their glory!

So stop by tomorrow night by and check out what we’ve got to say, then share your own opinions as well!  That’s the great thing about blogs.  Everyone has a voice here!

Big Plans for The Geek Emporium

Since coming on board with the RPGBloggers network, I’ve seen what so many great blogs have done.  Truly, the day to day coverage of GenCon was great, and frankly I was jealous.  Further, the Chatty DM…if you haven’t read his blog yet, go check it out…I’ll wait….you’re back?  Good huh?  Told ya!  Anways…the Chatty One has jumped off the cliff, as he put it, to start his putting out his own modules.  The first one, Kobold Love, looks great so far.  I can’t wait to see what else comes out of his work there.  Well, Chatty has inspired me as well to sort of “jump off a cliff” so to speak.

When The Geek Emporium first started, I dreamed of a clearing house of a variety of geek subjects.  Everything from anime, science fiction and fantasy film and literature, computer related items, and of course, role play.  In short, I wanted geeks from around the country, if not the world, to come here for their information on all things “geek”.  Granted, that may be a bit lofty, but especially for so recent a blog, but I’ve always believed that I should go big, or go home and I damn sure don’t feel like going home.

So, with that in mind, I’ve officially registered the domain name thegeekemporium.com and will begin the process of getting a blog set up over there.  In time, this blog will serve primarily as an archive only, with all the new posts sitting over on the new site.  Also, I don’t pretend to know everything about geek culture, despite my lifetime as part of it.  I plan on recruiting others to take on areas that I’m not an expert in like video games.  I love them, but I suck at them, so obviously this would be a case of bringing in new blood to help out.

One of my goals for this new site is that it will put us in a position to finance trips to places like PAX and DragonCon (which wouldn’t actually take that much…I live in GA after all) so I could publish daily accounts of what’s going on there.  As such, the model for The Geek Emporium will have to change.  There will be advertising, though I hope to keep it to a minimum.  There will also hopefully be an Amazon affiliate store to help generate revenue.  In time, I hope to offer our own t-shirts for sale (all with appropriate slogans for those of our ilk!).  Perhaps if there is sufficient interest and it can be done legally, I’ll offer print versions of The Burned Lands for sale.  I doubt there will be, but who knows.

Of course, I’m not expecting to make a living on this.  In fact, breaking even with the cost of the new site and hosting would be sufficient for me, so don’t think I’m getting greedy.  I’ve got a good job as a contractor with the military that requires very little work.  I’d be crazy to give that up! 😉  Instead, I want to be in a position to provide better content, like reviews of new RPGs, new video games, DVDs, movies, maybe even gadgets.

Now, what will change immediately?  Nothing.  So far, the site has only been paid for and the hosting as well.  There is absolutely nothing uploaded.  In all honestly, we’re probably looking at months of work to get it up and ready to run for just the blog.  But don’t worry.  There will be posts letting everyone know about the status of the new site as new information becomes available, and there will be plenty of warning before the official switch.

I sincerely hope you all will stick with us through this, and hope everyone will enjoy the new site and the information contained there more than this blog!  This isn’t about anything but trying to provide the best content we can!