Posted by Staff | February 21, 2010, 11:20 (EST) | 16 Comments
Category: Fandom, Website

A year ago today we registered the domain ‘vampire-diaries.net’ and set up a little website and blog. Our mission was to get up information about the Vampire Diaries books, and to keep fans up-to-date with news about the impending TV series. At the time we didn’t know who would be cast in the roles of our beloved characters, what was being planned for the story, or even if the TV series was going to go anywhere beyond the ordered pilot. It never even crossed our minds that this site would grow anywhere near as big as it has. Yet here we are a year later with a TV series that keeps on blowing people’s minds, a website that keeps on growing, and a fandom that is just plain awesome.

We didn’t get here alone, though. A lot of people helped us out along the way, and we’d like to take this opportunity to express our thanks to you all.

• Thank you to L.J. Smith for creating the Vampire Diaries book series all those years ago. You sparked our imaginations and led us both to a 10+ year friendship.
   
• Thank you to all our old-school fandom friends who helped us out with content, costs, and shoulders to lean on. We love you guys so much.
   
• Thanks to Marcos Siega for being so patient and accommodating in those early days of pilot-filming, when he was quite literally the only source of information we had.
   
• Thanks to the cast & crew of the TV series for rocking it out on the show and giving us grade A television to look forward to each week. Special thanks to Michael, Ian, Nina, Katerina, and Candice for the kind words they’ve had for us and our site.
   
• Thanks to our fellow Vampire Diaries and cast fan sites who have been there with info, advice, support, and horrible puns. We’ve made some really awesome friends.
   
• Thank you to the folks over at the Ian Somerhalder forums on MediaBlvd for their good humour and making us feel so welcome in their space.
   
• Thank you to Carina, Connie, Jen, Lucia, and Melissa for various reasons, including hanging out at Comic-Con, fun times with podcasts, twitter madness, and support in times of weird. Here’s to Paleyfest, guys!
   
• Thank you to Susan, Ellie and Jess for stepping up to help mod the forums and get the wiki whipped into shape. Welcome them to the team!
   
• Thank you to everyone on our forums and on twitter. You’re an insane bunch with a wicked sense of humour, and we appreciate every laugh and entertaining message you’ve ever had for us.
   
• Thanks to every single person who has visited the site, especially those of you who have clicked on an ad or purchased something on Amazon through us. You keep the site going, and for that we are eternally grateful.
   
• A special thank you to one particular seasoned gentleman who has supported us nearly from the start and who – when we were fretting over implementing ads – found our ad-free idealism quaint, gave us a virtual pat on the head, and said, “Get the [bleepin'] ads.” You put us at ease, sir, and we’ll never forget it.
   
• And last, but certainly not least, extra-special thanks to Kev and Julie. If we start in on the why, we’ll never stop. We <3 you guys.

 
We’re sure that this next year is going to be even more fantastic than last year, and we look forward to experiencing it with you all.

Love,
Red + Vee

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