Objects In Motion
Site Administrator and Webmaster Ranger Endymion / Ben Read is stepping back from his role on the campaign. Here’s why — and where we go from here.
I’ve held of writing and publishing this post as long as I can. But now with our baby’s birth date looming imminently in the foreground of our lives, I must step back from several personal projects that have been important to me. Freebabylon5.com is one of those projects I must reluctantly let go.
This is a sad day for me but I’m so happy to have been such a part of this.
How it All Started
When Jan asked me to build this site for the fledgling #FreeBabylon5 campaign I was honoured, and determined to help the fan base “get organised and get loud” as JMS had said on twitter.
I built this site for no monetary reward at all – for me it is a thank you to JMS for such a fantastic series.
Jan and other fans were already doing a sterling job getting loud – organizing flashmobs, meetups, convention panels, producing merchandise, T-shirts and organizing Thunderclap campaigns.
We already have plenty of fan websites offering analysis, commentaries, podcasts, artwork, you name it. But I saw that this site could become something greater: it could become a port of call to all of your efforts to get Babylon 5 noticed. It could be a place where the fans’ message could become amplified. I knew it would help us to “get organized” more. I saw FreeBabylon5.com as a hub for all the other content that you fans have generated and keep on generating for the sake of #FreeBabylon5.
After the launch I have spent roughly two hours a week every week updating the site content, refining it’s appearance, adding new sections and trying to improve its SEO value.
Breaking News
I was particularly pleased when Jan was at SDCC and reported that JMS was doing a movie. I happened to be awake at the time (it was early on Sunday morning, Jan had posted late the previous night in the US), and wrote a blog post straight away.
That got us noticed. We were the first site to report on that news, and our traffic went through the roof.
There have been some accidents along the way (who doesn’t remember when I crashed the site for 2 days right after the movie announcement?!) but today we are getting over 1,000 unique visitors per month, and I hope that you value the site and think it’s earned its place among the fandom.
The pinnacle of this work has been for me the fantastic gift of the “Babylon 5 At Twenty” book that was given to me by JMS’ Babylon 5 Books. If you, JMS, or Sandra are reading this, thank you so much for that treasured gift.
If you haven’t managed to purchase the Babylon 5 at Twenty book from Babylon 5 Books, I can highly recommend it.
Where Now?
What does the future hold for this site? Well, I’m leaving it in the very capable hands of Jan, and I’ll be floating around to contribute at sporadic intervals (in between diaper changes, no doubt!). But we still want more fans to be part of this site.
You can help! The site code is on GitHub, and I would be delighted if any fans who are technically minded would like to have a stab at improving it.
We’re always looking for new contributors too. Have you got something to say about Babylon 5 or the campaign? You can really help us by contributing articles, news stories and keeping other fans informed of new initiatives other fans are making.
So please, if you have anything to contribute, get in touch! I still think we could do more to “get organised” and fulfil our goal of getting Babylon 5 showing on TV stations in the US.
I look forward to seeing that happen, and to the planned reboot, with keen anticipation. In the meantime, you can reach me on the Twitter handle @muzzlehatch_.