May 10, 2018

Happy 8th Birthday, edwardlifegem.com!

Hi there!

I am proud to announce that today is this website's 8th Birthday. I made this website 8 years ago today to make blog posts about Wizard101. Since then, I've attended events such as the Diary of a Wizard events, had interviews, made posts about online safety, became a Pirate101 Fansite owner, and even started hosting events. Since 2010, I've made it a priority to bring more people in the community together using this website. These past 8 years have been a great experience!



As a backstory, I created this website on May 10th, 2010 with a good friend, Mary Dreamshade. We created our websites because we were inspired by many of the great Fansite owners - one of them being The Friendly Necromancer aka our community manager, Tom Purdue! The Friendly Necromancer, Ravenwood Radio, Diary of a Wizard & many other great fansites were fine examples of community leaders at that time. I was inspired by them to be a friend to those who needed a friend. 

Back in 2008, two years before the creation of my website, I had personal issues such as anxiety and depression due to a loss of close family members. I had these issues and didn't really care much about keeping friends, making new friends, or really much at all. This was until I joined Wizard101 after watching viewing an advertisement on television on July 4th, 2009. This was the date I decided to join Wizard101. 

Since joining Wizard101, my anxiety and depression have virtually disappeared, made a lot of great friends, chose a career path, and more. Now, not everything is perfect, but I am so glad I decided to move forward. I've been asked many times why I still play Wizard101 & make blog posts about it. The reason is to pass it forward just as the old community leaders have done for me when I joined during a tough time in my life. I want to help others who may be going through the same thing. This website has been used for 8 years to do just that. 

The Future Of This Website
The future is looking bright! I have a lot of plans for this website. One of these plans is to starting making blog posts again. I've been behind on my blog posts for a few years now. I miss making blog posts like I did during my first few years of blogging. I hope to make that type of return soon! I think it would be great to have more interviews, questing posts, and of course event posts. Speak of events.

We started streaming events last year to improve the quality of the events that we have. So far, it's been a success! We are always working hard to improve these events - and we do improve upon each event as we go. Compared to our first event, I'd say we've improved our events so much that even I don't mind boasting about the events - that's saying a lot because I don't like boasting! They have been great and I look forward to improving them. The purpose of these events will always be about bringing people together, but they'll never be about how many attend. I look forward to making many more event posts over the next who knows how many years.

I have a lot more planned and I hope you stick by to see these goals. I will continue making blog posts for years to come! A lot of you have stuck by me during tough times since the beginning and I am grateful for that. Thank you for all of your support. I look forward to making a difference in this community. Although I'm not a conventional fansite owner, I do care a lot about this community. I've stayed with y'all for over eight years (even before my website). I will continue staying here to try to make a positive difference in this community. Thank you for allowing me to do that! 

Thank You For Your Support



Your support over these past eight years has meant a lot to me. I thank you for your support whether you just now started supporting me or supported me for eight years. I also want to thank Kingsisle for giving me a chance to share news about this website and our events. I am also grateful for their support! Here's to many more years of Wizard101, Pirate101, Kingsisle, this community and to edwardlifegem.com! Let's continue making a positive difference together!

Read Previous May 10th (Bloggerversary) Posts


Until next time, I'll see you around the spiral!

April 8, 2018

Future Events - What Would You Like To See?

Hi there!

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend. The past week has been somewhat busy since I'm nearing the end of the semester. I have however been able to make more posts as of late since homework is settling down. Today, I wanted to ask everyone an important question about events. What would you like to see at events in the future?

We try to improve events as we have them. We look at the small mistakes we make at previous events and then find ways to not only fix those mistakes but make something even better. During the first few events early last year, we didn't have activities. Everyone waited for many hours up until our main event. Last Halloween we decided to add activities & streaming. Activities helped to make it a lot more fun to wait for the main activity and streaming helped provide an understanding of the event. Both reduced the amount of confusion for events - however, we're still promoting that we now stream these events. 



Our main goal will always be to bring the community closer together. The future is looking bright and I hope all of you are able to join us on this awesome journey. We're always open to ideas for improvement. Remember to let us know if you think we should add or remove something. Your support (that includes advice) means a lot to us. Well, I should get going because I have homework to do. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day! Until next time, I'll see you around the spiral. 


April 5, 2018

Fansite Festival - Sunday, April 15th: Autumn & Edward

Hello Wizards!

I hope you're excited about the upcoming Fansite Festival. The Fansite Festival is an annual event organized by @SheldonCentral. There is an entire day full of awesome activities put on by the Fansites of this community for both Wizard101 and Pirate101. We'll be throwing a Pirate101 event this year. Keep reading for more information not only about our event but other events that will take place!


When?
Sunday, April 15th 
at 1:00 pm CDT / 2:00 pm EDT 

Where? 
Avery's Office 
One Eyed Jack Realm

Streaming?

More Information
This year Autumn and I will be having a Pirate101 event where we all create new pirates and quest throughout the free areas in Pirate101. Shortly after, we'll do our very own NXP event in Skull Island. Will you join us to try our this amazing game? I hope you can join us! You will not need a membership to join this event, as we'll be questing and sinking ships in free areas in Pirate101. Try to create your pirate before the event - but remember not to quest without us! Hope you're able to see us (Silly Edward & Silly Autumn - our new pirate names) at this event. Here are a few steps you can do before you attend this event:

 Step 1
 Create a New Pirate on the Pirate101 Website

Step 2 
Watch The Stream on April 15th at 1:00 pm CDT

I hope you will also check out all of the other activities that will take place on the Fansite Festival Day! There are many Wizard101 and Pirate101 events that'll take place by other amazing hosts. Please check out more information by visiting (http://fansitefestival.com/events.html) or you can follow the Official Fansite Festival Twitter (https://twitter.com/FansiteFest).