Whoa. Three years have gone by already? Well, technically they went by back in early January, since it was during Winter vacation that I got bored and reading Eragon sparked the idea to create the site… But all technicalities aside, today is our official third anniversary/birthday!
In accordance with my pledge made three years ago, I will again bore you with my third birthday letter in a row. I’m going to keep it rather simple this year, as I am sick and I’ve been up all night working with our server administrator to get things back online for this most auspicious of days.I think that, on the whole, the site grew the most this year, evolving from the stereotypical fan site to more of a media site focused on one topic, by the fans and for the fans. Work around “the office” grew at an alarming pace, and Shur’tugal was forced to grow around the movie’s development. Over the course of the year, we were forced to open our doors to even more staff members, and are proud to say that we now have a staff of over thirty people on Shur’tugal alone! We have learned from all of these experiences, and through them, have enabled ourselves to grow both personally and professionally.
We saw the opening of SF3, the Shurtugal.com Fan Fiction’s official message boards (or Shur’tugal Fan Fiction Forums, as they’re more properly called), PIE – Project Inheritance Encyclopedia, our Inheritance Wiki, the Shur’tugal Galleries, our affiliation with EragonLive, and much more!
And like any good speech, I have a host of people to thank more times than I wish to type out “thank you”.
I think, first and foremost, I owe the biggest thank you to our very own Tim Bach. Tim, you could say, is the light at the end of the tunnel. Tim joined the staff as part of Shur’tugal Fan Fiction before we stole him away for work on the main site. Since then, Tim has proven himself to be one of Shur’tugal’s most valuable staff members, working endlessly to make Shur’tugal bigger and better in every way possible, while balancing school, sports, and sleep. I personally could not ask for a better co-worker or friend.
And of course, there is the rest of the staff, who is just as amazing! Joelle Saveliev, who graced Shur’tugal with her amazing and talented artwork, sketches, graphics, commentary, alter-egos, and more for the past two years. Lindsey, who some how manages college, a job, Shur’tugal Fan Fiction/SF3, four email addresses, and sleep. Allie2, who has seen to PIE since its early days. The entire SFF, SF3, and PIE staff, who – although I can’t name them all because there are about one hundred of you – work harder than most to keep the site’s fan fiction, fan fiction forums, and Wiki in tip-top shape… a job which we all appreciate! Kim Kincaid (Fatty Lumpkin), who takes care of our fan artists better than anyone else could! Big thanks to Bookman and his valiant team of comment moderators for doing such a wonderful job keeping the comments in tip-top shape. And also, thank you to Bob for his PHP support and all of his help with the premiere! (I know I’m forgetting someone! Sorry if I forgot you, it’s late!)
Big thank yous go to Fox 2000 – especially our good friend Carol – for keeping us up to date on everything Eragon for the past year, and for giving Shur’tugal many unique opportunities to cover every aspect of the movie for the fans. Everyone at Vivendi Universal, for keeping us up to date on the Eragon video game, and for giving us even more unique opportunities to be the number one news source for Eragon game news. A big thank you to our great friends at Random House. And a huge thank you to the Paolini family and their agent, Simon Lipskar, for their never-ending support!
Last, but most definitely not least, the biggest thank you goes to the fans who visit our site day in and day out, offering us tips, help, and support. Without you guys, Shur’tugal would be nothing. We owe the past three years to all of you, and look forward to seeing Inheritance through to the end.
And now, just 364 more days to go until you get to read yet another memorable thank you letter marking yet another Shur’tugal anniversary!
Thanks again!
Cheers,
—
Mike Macauley
Shurtugal.com, Owner
