Moonfair 2012

Isobelle Carmody

Creator of the concept of Moonfair! ;)

Moonfair Magic

I am not a digital native, I am a digital immigrant. When I grew up there was no internet and no web. Back then there were computers but they were as big as buildings, so no normal person had one. Not even rich folk had one. And we were not rich. We didn't have a typewriter in the house. We didn't have a phone either, and we didn't have a TV - At least, I think we did when I was about five minutes old then the license was revoked or something. Apparently you needed a license to drive a TV back in the dark ages when my parents were doing their begetting. So, not only could I not imagine being published - that being as unimaginable as actually writing to an author, the idea simply never even occurred to me when I started writing Obernewtyn, with a pen and then on a typewriter. The idea of a personal computer and an invisible web of communications was something that guys like Philip K Dick wrote about, and it was called Science Fiction. Or if you wanted to be uppity, speculative fiction.

Yet a few decades later, here I am with a computer, so deeply connected to the web on various levels that I would need surgery to be extracted, and actually taking the invisible communications absolutely seriously. To the extent that I ran an online book launch, lived it for a month and lamented its takedown!

But for me, the first step into the web was Obernewtyn.net.

How's that for post-modern?

But until the fan site existed I simply ignored it all. I did get a computer and taught myself laboriously to use it, but the internet seemed like it was all invisible untouchable stuff - emails, websites, computer games. If asked to do something in cyberspace, I mostly said no, and when was forced into it, I felt it was wasted time and creativity because I could not hold it or touch it or point to it. It was just too ephemeral for me to grasp.

Then the fan site came into being and I had to take that seriously. People who read my books liked them so such that they build a fortress of solitude in the ether! That was awesome. They were out there in Cyberspace creating threads and theories and talking up a storm about my books and a million other subjects and I wanted to see what was going on. So I dipped a toe in and visited incognito, after setting myself up a membership. Over the years I slipped in and out of a couple of memberships, decided it was too dangerous to read fan fiction about a series I was working on, laughed at jokes and puns and admired the cleverness and wit and simple deep knowledge and profound understanding people had of my stories. And I LOVED the creative playfulness of the Moonfair right from the get-go. It was so much fun to watch and imagine. I LOVED the fact that there were guilds and people joined them, and that they would compete. It was as if my imagined world came to life and I was able to visit.

So here we are on the tenth anniversary of the Obernewtyn fan site Moonfair, and I wanted to come on without a mask, to say what a truly awesome creation it is that you have all made, and how much I admire its creators and those of you who have taken part in it.

My warmest congratulations and let the Tenth Moonfair revels begin!

Min

Mystics guildmember, MoO of Obernet and Moonfairy since the early days.

I love that while people come and go on Obernet all the time, Moonfair is generally something a member will come back to the poor old site for, even just to have a look at it, if not to enter anything. We all remember our first Moonfair, and it offers that sort of special nostalgia. Lauren started something very big and amazing when she organised the first one - thank you so much Lauren!

Moonfair reminds me of what the web used to be; people getting together, being passionate about a thing they love. Creating something because they want to, not because they're being paid to, or for some douchey advertising or marketing reason. Obernet encompasses this as well, but Moonfair really highlights it, I think.

Creating Moonfair each year has allowed me to experiment and be creative, as a web developer. Moonfair is the only time I get to build anything that isn't bound by some restriction or other any more; I sort of cling to it like my last little piece of creative freedom :P. The majority of web jobs are completely regulated, by either the client, or the limitations of the content management system it has to work around (even Obernet itself is restricted by it's CMS). Moonfair is open, so the focus can be on the best, most visually fun or beautiful way to display the content (although looking back at some of the past designs make me cringe now). I'm not afraid to experiment or spend time learning new things for the Moonfair site; a thing you rarely get to do when you're pushing out work to a deadline (for example, last year's Mystics comp - Cassy's laptop - HUGE experiment in jQuery which I now use almost every day in my day job).

This year's Moonfair was always going to be a tricky design to tackle because it had to be something really special. As soon as I read The Sending in it's draft, back at the beginning of 2011, the location of the 10th Moonfair, in my mind, had to be either the Taillard Observatory, or the Skylake. I wasn't up to making what I wanted visually happen, but luckily I have the best partner in the world who is an amazing designer, who sketched out the basis of what I was picturing in a matter of minutes! It's from Paul's original sketch that the Moonfair site was built off this year (the homepage), so, thank you Paul!

I love the collaborative nature of the creation process. Moonfair is one of those events that brings the community back to Obernet, usually before September / launch. Once the design is determined - and we Moonfairies all go through a concept / feedback process before anything is coded - the real fun begins. The guilds get together an plan, make motivational signatures, and you end up talking to people you usually might not, to create competitions. It's not that I enjoy the creation of Moonfair more than Moonfair itself; they are just two separate things. I love the two months of fortune telling fun that we Mystics do and the interactive story the Dreamies always host; I love sitting on the train, idly staring at nothing, trying to figure out what I'm going to write about or design as a particular competition entry.

I love being a Moonfairy, to plot and plan and organise awards, and collect entries as they flood in (and the competition entry inbox is almost always flooded with entries once Moonfair starts!). Collaborating on a project is an important thing for me and the creation of Moonfair is always a team effort. The entire idea for this special Moonfairy section this year came from ElspethInnle. I knew I wanted to have constellations in the design, but the physical objects - quill, palate and puzzles piece - came straight from Agyllian. Moonfairies are awesome *high fives*!

...anyway yeah, I've gone on quite long enough. Happy 10th anniversary, Moonfair (and happy 13th anniversary, Obernet!) - here's to the next 10 years of moonfairing fun!

Luv, Min

ElspethInnle

Mystics Guildmistress, MoO, and Moonfairy starting 2012

I remember my first Moonfair back in 2006 – I’d been a member for a couple of months, but was still getting used to all the layouts, etc and just wandered around the boards mainly. When Moonfair came along, I remember thinking how cool it was with all the competitions, especially the ways the Guilds captured the different seasons. That’s when I started becoming active on the boards, taking part in the leaf party, stealing the Moonfair cup away from other guilds and spending way too much time on Obernet when I should have been studying for my school certificate .

I’m not sure which years I did what, but back when the guilds had to come up with all of the competitions I was an ML2 (sadly they’re rather obsolete now) and I’ve been MLW for a couple of years running, with this year my first as a full blown Moonfairy. It’s so exciting to see how all of the behind the scene things work and to be able to contribute competitions and ideas.

My favourite thing about Moonfair has always been the giddy feeling right before Moonfair opens on September first, feeling like a little kid on Christmas morning. Then the site opens and we see once again the absolutely spectacular designs Min comes up with every single year, and we get our first look at the range of competitions that our members have collaborated on and we get to say our little piece about them. And of course, it’s a time for guilds to come together and battle it out for the shiny Moonfair trophy. Which is always a hoot.

So this year we get to celebrate ten years of Moonfair, ten years since the wonderful Lauren reimagined the original concept of Moonfair from Isobelle Carmody’s works, and this year we get to make it extra special with a whole range of Moonfairy comps that will take us on a trip down memory lane. So thankyou to all of the Moonfairies (past and present) for bringing Moonfair to life each year, and to all of the members who have contributed over the years and have made them all unforgettable. Happy Anniversary Moonfair!

Helena

Wanderers Guilden

My first Moonfair was actually before I joined the site! I was lurking about, trying to decide whether to join or not the entire way through September and October. The craziness and fun during Moonfair was the reason why I originally joined the site back in 2007. Every Moonfair since then has always been just as full of excitement for me as my first one- it's the best time of the year! Merry 10th Anniversary, Moonfair!

Ness

Dreamweavers guildmember

I've been around Ober.net for a few years (even if as a lurker for most of it), and have had the pleasure of being involved with quite a few moonfairs. I can't say which Moonfair was my first, I honestly don't remember.

There were a couple of years when I helped out with the behind the scenes stuff. Firstly as a ML2, and then as the Dreamweavers Moonfair site builder (MLW it might have been called?). My favourite part of being a behind the scenes helper was making the Dreamweavers comp ideas come to life. I loved making the maze competition we held one year because it was so complex and I knew everyone would enjoy it. (I had to have a map of it to refer to so I wouldn't get lost while making it!) We also once had a pirate competition where the ship itself was the way to navigate around the competitions. I remember spending so much time fiddling with it, to get it just right! Complicated competitions like those (I remember there was an Ashlings or Mystics one with passwords that was delightfully difficult!) plus all the hidden object comps which would have everyone scouring every inch of every page, highlighting every written word and obsessing over which images made the cursor change, are my favourite memories of the bygone Moonfairs.

While the creation of the Moonfair has changed over the years, the one thing that hasn't changed, for me, is being excited about seeing what on earth the Moonfairies had cooked up for the Moonfair website design each year. This might seem silly to some, but for me the unveiling of Moonfair is the climax after months of waiting, preparation, and failed attempts at guessing how the design would incorporate all the elements of that years theme. To me, the Moonfair website itself was the embodiment of everyone's excitement and passion, and both it's making and unveiling was what drove everyone into a competition entering frenzy. I like to think that it still does.

I wish everyone a wonderful Moonfair! Happy 10th Moonfair Anniversary Ober.net!