MuggleNet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| MuggleNet | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| URL | http://www.mugglenet.com |
| Commercial? | Yes |
| Type of site | Harry Potter fan site |
| Registration | Free, Public |
| Owner | Emerson Spartz Spartz, Inc.[1][2] |
| Created by | Emerson Spartz |
| Launched | Fall 1999[3] |
| Revenue | $100,000+/year[4][5] |
| Current status | Active |
MuggleNet is a commercial Harry Potter fansite founded by Emerson Spartz. The site is composed of news, editorials, synopses of the Harry Potter books and films, an encyclopedia of the books, an IRC Network, in which the fans of Harry Potter can discuss predictions and share thoughts, a discussion forum, and media such as screenshots, theatrical trailers and book covers. There is also a fan fiction section, a weekly caption contest, and other occasional contests and polls. On August 9, 2005, it launched a podcast, dubbed "MuggleCast", as well as its own line of clothing, toy wands, other merchandise. In 2006, MuggleNet released a best-selling reference book on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the series. As of 2008, MuggleNet is owned by Spartz, Inc., a for-profit Indiana corporation registered by Emerson Spartz in 2007.[1][2]
Contents |
[edit] Emerson Spartz
Emerson Spartz (b. February 17, 1987 in LaPorte, Indiana) currently serves as the President & CEO of MuggleNet.com.[1] Spartz founded the MuggleNet website in 1999 as a homeschooled twelve-year-old. As CEO, he oversees 120 volunteers and a paid staff.[6] In 2007, Spartz incorporated Spartz Inc. to serve as the legal entity representing his MuggleNet e-business.[1][2]
In 2004, Spartz graduated from Thomson High School with a 4.0 GPA.[1] As of 2008, he is a third-year student with a management concentration at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business.[1] Spartz aspires to become an entrepreneur and investor, using "the significant amount of money" he has earned through MuggleNet as future investment capital.[7]
In 2006, Spartz stated in an interview that he is "not quite the Harry Potter fan he used to be"[4] and sees his role as "more of an administrator" overseeing a large team of staff members.[8]
[edit] Author and corporate relationships
MuggleNet benefits from friendly relations with J. K. Rowling, the writer of the Harry Potter books, and the producers of the films. She has praised MuggleNet on her website and has awarded it her "Fan Site Award".[9].
Rowling recounts on her website that she occasionally visits the site and sometimes reads the comments left by visitors, while never commenting herself. The author also stated that she visited the site's chat room and was snubbed when she anonymously joined in a conversation about Harry Potter theories.[10]
In July 2005, Rowling invited Spartz and Melissa Anelli, of The Leaky Cauldron, to Edinburgh, Scotland for an interview at her home on the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince[11]. A transcript of the interview was posted on Mugglenet.[12]
Warner Bros., the producers of the Harry Potter movies, regularly sends MuggleNet stills taken from the upcoming movies before they are released. The studio also provided MuggleNet staff with advance views of the new official website designs, as well as including staffers in a video conference to discuss the new Harry Potter theme park at Universal Studios Florida.
[edit] Podcast
 |
This article or section is written like an advertisement. Please help rewrite this article from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising which would require a fundamental rewrite in order to become encyclopedic for speedy deletion, using {{db-spam}}. (May 2008) |
 |
This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can (May 2008). |
| MuggleCast | |
| Hosting | Andrew Sims Ben Schoen Eric Scull Jamie Lawrence Laura Thompson Micah Tannenbaum Matt Britton Mikey Bouchereau Elysa Montfort |
|---|---|
 RSS |
feed://mugglenet.com/mugglecast/mugglecast.rss |
| Updates | Weekly |
| Debut | August 7, 2005 |
| End date | After Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows discussion is over, which is likely to be late June or July 2008 |
| Genre | Harry Potter |
| Website | http://www.mugglecast.com/ |
MuggleCast is an American weekly podcast featuring several staff members from MuggleNet that discusses a large range of topics related to the Harry Potter series. The first show was launched on August 7, 2005 and was made available through the Apple iTunes service. Less than a week later, on August 14, it reached the number one position on the list of highest rated podcasts on iTunes. On July 24, 2007, during the "Harry Potter Summer" MuggleCast hit that milestone again.
The podcast is consistently amongst the Top 10 podcasts of the month on PodcastAlley.[13]
Usually lasting an hour to an hour and a half, MuggleNet staffers Andrew Sims, Ben Schoen, Jamie Lawrence, Laura Thompson, Eric Scull, Kevin Steck, Micah Tannenbaum, Mikey Bouchereau, Matt Britton, and Elysa Montfort host the podcast.
Transcripts of the podcast are available on the MuggleCast website, and are usually posted five days after the episode has been released.
On December 18, 2007, the hosts of the show announced that weekly distribution of the show would end by episode 140, and after that, episode production would slow down dramatically. The hosts have stated that this will not be the complete end of the show. Rather, shows will be coming out when there is enough content to fill them. However, in a later episode, the hosts announced that they will keep going until they have done their chapter-by-chapter segment through Deathly Hallows.
On February 23, 2008, Episode 133 was titled, "Laura is Fired," but the hosts announced on the MuggleCast homepage that it was a joke, and listening to the episode would help to understand it.
[edit] Show format
The show begins with the theme song, " 'Arry", which was sent in by a fan, Kenneth Marut, and was made by him and his friend Andrew. The hosts state their names, and the show begins with a news discussion lead by Micah Tannenbaum about the latest news on the books, films, and other Harry Potter related issues. The show is then handed over to one of the MuggleCasters, who goes on to read the listener rebuttals (MuggleMail) along with a voicemail section, in which listeners can send recorded questions to the panel about previous episode discussions and questions about the Harry Potter series in general. The running time of the show is usually a little over ninety minutes.
[edit] 2007 April Fool joke
Andrew, Ben, Laura, Micah, and Eric talked about how they received a manuscript of the seventh book on episode #83. They discussed many different topics, including deaths, themes, etc. They reported that two main characters from the book, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, both die in the final book. Notably, they also talked about Harry slipping on a carrot cake and fracturing his pelvis, Neville Longbottom running Bellatrix Lestrange over with a motorbike, and they also joked that the popular social website Facebook appeared frequently in the novel. Though the "report" was clearly an April Fool's Day joke, they still received many complaints from listeners claiming that they spoiled the book for them. To put an end to the complaints, they finally admitted it was a joke on MuggleCast #87.
[edit] 2008 April Fool joke
On episode #139 (released March 30th), it was announced that the show is to be split into a ¼ Potter, ¼ Twilight, ¼ Narnia, and ¼ Lord Of The Rings podcast. It was later revealed through a MuggleNet news post to be a joke. This, apparently, was responded to with many different views. While many believed that this was a horrible idea and that they shouldn't go through with it, some believed that it was great and they couldn't wait for the next episode. Still, others had mixed opinions. They revealed that it was all an April Fool's joke on episode #140 entitled "You Just Got Mugglecast'd", which was released on April 5th.
Also, for all of you MuggleCast listeners, the announcement that we'd be putting Twilight, Lord of the Rings, and Narnia discussions into our show was a prank. We fooled lots of you, and we feel bad for those people who e-mailed us lengthly explanations for why it was a really good/bad idea. We'd NEVER bore you with those other books.
—Andrew Sims, http://www.mugglenet.com/app/news/show/1546
[edit] Special episodes
MuggleCast has created a Wall of Fame on their website featuring some of their best, most special, and most celebrated episodes in all their podcasting history. This includes live podcasts, episodes recorded after book and movie releases, episodes that discuss major Harry Potter news, etc. The Wall of Fame can be found here: [2]
[edit] The Leaky Mug
MuggleCast has a friendly rivalry with The Leaky Cauldron and its podcast PotterCast. Hosts of PotterCast have appeared on MuggleCast on occasion and they have teamed up to record joint podcasts, which are titled "The Leaky Mug".
One joint podcast was recorded live in New York City on November 12, 2005 at the Union Square Barnes & Noble, coinciding with the United States premiere of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. During this show, PotterCast host Melissa Anelli, who was at the premiere after party, called in with Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), Katie Leung (Cho Chang), Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggory), Jamie Waylett (Vincent Crabbe), Tolga Safer (Karkaroff's aide), and Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) on the phone.
Two joint live podcasts were held in the summer of 2006. The first was in July at the Lumos 2006 Symposium, a Harry Potter convention that was held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Las Vegas. A few days later, the LeakyMug team held another live podcast in New York City at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square, where the first live podcast had been held. The show was focused around JK Rowling's August 2006 visit to New York and the readings she did for the event "Harry, Carrie, and Garp" at Radio City Music Hall on August 1 and August 2.
A LeakyMug was also held in late September 2006 at the Borders in Westwood, California.
[edit] Summer 2007 road tour
During the summer of 2007, Mugglecast did a tour of live shows across America with the wizard rock band The Remus Lupins, discussing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with the fans. The tour travelled eight states: Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennslyvania. This tour was held right after the release of the 7th Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. During the tour, they analyzed important characters and situations for their episodes, which took place at various bookstores.[14]
[edit] Awards
MuggleCast was voted Podcast of the Year by the 2005 Weblog Awards, which are decided by popular vote. In late September 2006, it was awarded the 2006 People's Choice Award at the 2nd annual Podcast Awards in Ontario, California.
[edit] End of MuggleCast
On Episode 124, the MuggleCasters announced that they would produce only about 16 more weekly episodes of the Harry Potter Podcast. According to that statement, April 6, 2008 would be the date of the final weekly episode. This date, however, is no longer going to be the last weekly podcast as they have been taking longer than expected on the Deathly Hallows discussion. The hosts claim that they have spent a lot of time considering the decision and plan to end because they do not want to begin producing episodes with no structure. MuggleCast will put out occasional episodes for important Harry Potter events.
The MuggleCasters have also announced that there is potential for them to do a podcast for the paperback book release of Deathly Hallows.
[edit] MuggleNet Interactive
|
|
This article or section is written like an advertisement. Please help rewrite this article from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising which would require a fundamental rewrite in order to become encyclopedic for speedy deletion, using {{db-spam}}. (May 2008) |
MuggleNet Interactive (often shortened to MNI) is a website spin-off of MuggleNet that consists of forums. It is an online community, where fans of the Harry Potter books can imagine they are living in the wizarding world as wizards or witches, or just be in a place where they can converse with other "Potter Geeks" like themselves. The site consists of a roleplaying community, called MNI-Wide, where any RP inside the MNI-Wide, universe, will be in constant motion with all other roleplays on the site. There are also classes where students can go and learn about interesting subjects from the Harry Potter books, these subjects include: Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Divination, Herbology, History of Magic, Muggle Studies, Potions, Transfiguration, and a special class called the "Mystery Class" in which any staff member from MNI can teach about something interesting. No one knows when it's going to open, and no one knows when it's going to close. It's a mystery. It also has a currency system, consisting of Galleons, Sickles and Knuts. Another aspect of the site is the quizzes. Students and staff alike can take these quizzes, participate in lessons, and play certain prefect sponsored games, to earn Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts as a way to spend it on other aspects of the site. Fanfiction at Flourish and Blotts, the ability to "wear" avatars and signatures from Madam Malkin's in Diagon Alley, the ability to buy an owl to send private messages to through Eeylops Owl Emporium, and many other places.
The site was originally formed from a 'Personality Quiz' made in 2000, which was later improved and adapted for the full version of the site. It eventually evolved into its 'orange' phase, with sections for Quidditch (including a game), a "Lockhart's Matchmaker" tool and forums.
It underwent a major redesign in 2002. Many new sections were added, such as Diagon Alley, a Duelling game, and Gringotts, where users could access a personal vault containing their galleons collected on the site. There were also numerous 'secrets' hidden on the site. Secrets often consisted of cryptic clues, and were often in various stages. The site became part of Mugglenet in 2002. A new and improved site debuted in July 2007. Currently, there are eleven site secrets. Recently, Ask Snape has returned, along with a new system to award Galleons based on homework marks in classes.
Members' ages range from 8-50 on Mugglenet Interactive. Staff positions are always open (they can dock people's Galleons for free.)
[edit] Merchandising
As of 2005, the MuggleNet network started generating a six-figure income through advertising revenue.[4][5] In addition, beginning in November 2006, MuggleNet introduced a line of branded merchandise, including T-shirts, wands, and other materials.[citation needed] Warner Bros. later issued a cease and desist letter for MuggleNet's sale of unauthorized Harry Potter merchandise.[citation needed] MuggleNet's creator, Emerson Spartz, plans to use "the significant amount of money" earned through the site as "investment capital, as both an entrepreneur and an investor."[15]
[edit] Book
In 2006, in advance of the arrival of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, five MuggleNet staff members (Emerson Spartz, Ben Schoen, Andy Gordon, Gretchen Stull, and Jamie Lawrence.) co-authored the reference book Mugglenet.Com's What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Falls in Love and How Will the Adventure Finally End, a published collection of unofficial fan predictions.
As of July 21, 2007, What Will Happen sold 335,000 copies, totaling $5 million in sales, $2 million of which went to Ulysses Press of South Berkeley, California.[16]Spartz and his co-authors launched an aggressive marketing campaign in June 2007 to promote their work. This included a tour of the United States where they stopped at many bookstores and discussed their various theories and revelations. Emerson went on this tour with Ben Schoen.[17]
[edit] January 2008 hacking
Sometime before 6:30 AM, UTC., on Wednesday January 2, 2008, the site was hacked. The site was apparently deleted and the index page was replaced with a splash page, created by the hackers. At around 12:00 PM, UTC., MuggleNet was taken off-line updated with the following note on their main page:
| “ | "Wednesday night, MuggleNet was the subject of a hacker attack. While we continue to investigate and fix the hacker's doing, we will have our 2007 Year in Review placed below. We'll continue to update this page with news on our status, but as of right now we do not know when MuggleNet will be back online. Thank you for your patience!" | ” |
Emerson Spartz, creator and webmaster of MuggleNet, posted about the hacking on January 5, 2008:
| “ | "MuggleNet gets 'pwned'"
At approximately 7pm on January 2nd, a team of sexually frustrated men (hackers) penetrated MuggleNet's defenses, bravely fighting off Damon's armies of killer dragons and ninjas to breach our servers. The invaders were driven off, however, and the site has been restored. We apologize for the interruption, and will now continue with our regular business of not messing in other people's business. |
” |
The website was restored on January 4th, 2008.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f "The Official Website of Emerson Spartz - Resume".
- ^ a b c "Access Indiana - Business Services Seasrch - Spartz, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-04-19.
- ^ MuggleNet - About Us
- ^ a b c Teigen, Megan. "Mugglenet founder chooses Notre Dame over Hogwarts"/ Notre Dame Magazine. October 2005.
- ^ a b "The twisted economics of Harry Potter". Retrieved on 2008-04-22.
- ^ "The Official Website of Emerson Spartz". Retrieved on 2008-04-19.
- ^ "The Official Website of Emerson Spartz: My Career. Retrieved on 2008-04-19.
- ^ Segal, David. "I read the first four books between 10 and 20 times each. I've read the sixth book twice, but mostly because I had to for the site." "The Other Boy Wizard". Washington Post. August 3, 2006.
- ^ J. K. Rowling official site
- ^ J.K. Rowling Official Site
- ^ J.K. Rowling Official Site - Meeting Melissa and Emerson
- ^ MuggleNet and The Leaky Cauldron interview J.K. Rowling
- ^ [1]
- ^ MuggleCast - MuggleNet's Harry Potter podcast
- ^ "The Official Website of Emerson Spartz: My Career. Retrieved on 2008-04-19.
- ^ Raine, George. "Potter spin-off a hit for tiny Berkeley publisher", San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ MuggleNet news
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- MuggleNet
- MuggleNet Interactive
- MuggleCast
- MuggleCast's website
- Chamber of Secrets Forums: The official forums of MuggleNet.
- The Official MuggleCast Fansite
- The MuggleNet Fan Fiction Site
