Ten Years of EvaMonkey.com
By The Eva Monkey on Thursday, January 31st, 2013
Ten year ago today, I launched EvaMonkey.com.
Ten years.
TEN.
Do you have any idea how long that is in internet time?
It should be noted that the site has been around for a bit longer than that, I began the site in the summer of 2002, hosting it on a Keenspace server for a web comic that never got started (don’t ask). But it was not until late in the month of January that I went and registered the domain and formally launched EvaMonkey.com. It’s been a long time, especially so when you consider the lifespan of the typical fansite. Do people even still make fansites anymore? Or do Facebook pages, Twitters, Tumblrs and subreddits fill that need for people? At any rate, ten years of service to one’s fandom seems like an especially big milestone for me, one that I feel deserves some reflection, so indulge me if you will.
Early in 2002, I was in my freshman year of college, and ultimately, I didn’t pick the right school or major. I would eventually drop out and transfer to another school, which proved a much better fit. But to cope with the situation, I started tinkering with blogs and building websites. I started journaling on blogspot, and building a personal page on Tripod which, among other things, included the beginnings of some resources to explain and detail Evangelion. I would forget this detail for many years, but eventually it would coalesce into Eva Monkey, my attempt at bringing together all the fragmented information and voices into one significant, singular resource to help other fans better understand and appreciate Evangelion as a creative work. At some level I did not achieve my goal, however in the long run, I believe I did, and if not, it really doesn’t matter.
In 2003, EvaMonkey.com launched. Shortly afterward, I hosted my first Evangelion panel at Katsucon. It was during a snow storm, was very small, and barely happened. But it was the start of something. I would go on to host panels at numerous other conventions, from right here in Baltimore, out to Chicago, Boston, and Virginia Beach. I’ve met a lot of cool people, made some friends, lost some friends, and generally speaking, had a great time, all while spending way too much money on gas and hotel rooms, and all while “getting too old for this shit“.
In 2004, I launched a forum here on Eva Monkey, a forum which would grow and swell, occasionally becoming so massive that it would actually tank my hosting account. Eventually it would become so massive it would slam into the Evangelion Commentary Project, and become what is now known as Eva Geeks. Eva Geeks is, for all intents and purposes, what Eva Monkey should have been, but not what it would have been if I had done it all on my own, as I had intended. But in time, I realized that I needed to take a break from this monster, and enlist the help of others, while also helping others, and creating a sense of longevity for my ambitions. Eva Geeks has since thrived and flourished to my delight and pride.
I would go off for about a year to make silly videos for YouTube with some friends from college, lost a friend I had made through Eva, and consequently would grow to miss this fandom. I started a new direction for Eva Monkey. And I would take whatever opportunities I had to blog about Evangelion and it’s fandom, host panels at conventions, speak on podcasts, and just generally be an enthusiastic advocate of Eva Geeks, and Eva fandom as a whole. Hopefully I succeeded in some small measure.
There’s so much I could talk about, there’s a lot more to the past ten years, but I really don’t think anyone has the heart to read it all. I just want to share a (somewhat) brief history of this site and say thanks for reading. Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm, your stories, your thoughts, and your ideas, it’s made it all worthwhile.
Email me anytime at theevamonkey@evamonkey.com.