Mar 14, 2011

Welcome to the 2nd Annual FanstRAvaganzaaaaaa!!!

 
*FanstRAvaganza Day 1*

Hi.  I'm Nat and I'll be your
hostess in this particular corner of the
FanstRAvaganza party this week.

Welcome, welcome!

"What is Fanstrav-a-ma-call-it?"
you might ask.

Said in my fake posh British accent:
The Richard Armitage Fanstravaganza
(the full and proper name, which has since been abbreviated)
is an international, multi-blog, week-long event (usually held in March)
which celebrates Richard Armitage and his fans.

Get it?  FANstRAvaganza. :)

Now let's "kick" things off with a little background info...

The History of the FanstRAvaganza:

Long ago...
in the year 2010...
there was a Richard Armitage admirer from Italy 
named Maria Grazia.
(You may know her from THIS lovely blog.)

She came up with the brilliant idea of having an "RA gala"
which would involve several bloggers and feature polls
about Armitage-related topics.

MG suggested the idea to
Mulubinba of An RA Viewer's Perspective 
and Nat of The Richard Armitage Fan Blog,
who thought it was a great idea. 

With Mulubinba's support and advice,
Nat rounded up a few other bloggers to join the group.

At first, this gala was on the path of being an award ceremony of sorts
(like the RA Oscars or something) featuring many poll categories such as:
BEST RA FANFIC, BEST RA FORUM, BEST RA WEBSITE, BEST FAN VID, etc.
And the award for BEST HUNK EVER goes to... me!
After carefully compiling a list of nominations and dividing topics,
the participating bloggers realized that these poll questions could actually cause
 unwanted competition and hurt feelings amongst the RA fan community, which
was a risk they didn't want to take.  (This was meant to be fun!)

The original group of bloggers reformatted their plan,
deciding to feature polls about Richard Armitage's work instead.
Ragtag suggested that they also showcase fans and their creations throughout the week.
While brainstorming what to call the event,  Servetus at Me + Richard (who was brand new
to blogging at the time) suggested the ingenious  title of "Fanstravaganza".  (Good thing she
was around... Nat had her heart set on "The RA Awards of Awesomeness!!!"
or something of that cheesy nature when it was an award event.)

New topics were chosen, a logo was created,
Fanstravaganza 2010
and the first-ever FanstRAvaganza was held
with great success.  (Meaning much participation, many laughs,
new friends made, and new blogs discovered.)
Last year's festivities and links- HERE.

This year brings more than twice as many participating bloggers with
new topics, polls and fan highlights.  Some blogs may be new to you,
so be sure to "blog hop" and participate as much as possible.

Okay, I'll stop writing in 3rd person now. :)

I had a hard time deciding on a topic this year...
but since one of my favorite things about being an RA
fan is other RA fans, I decided to focus on Armitage admirers
in general.  So stay tuned this week!  I'll be featuring fan spotlights,
RA character fan letters, a game, and a certain stick figure
may be making an appearance. :)

Other participating blogs for 2011:
Me + Richard
An RA Viewer's Perspective
The Spooks Fan Blog
The Squeee!
Avalon's Blog
Phylly's Faves
RA Frenzy
The Quill Tip

All of the above links are also included in
my "enjoyable blogs" list on the sidebar and will
be marked with ** by their names this week.
(I like the blog list feature because it tells me when someone has posted
something and doesn't close this screen when I click on a link.)

We hope you enjoy the festivities.
Let the fun begin!

24 comments:

MillyMe said...

Squee! It's fanstRAvaganza time again! A whole week of indulging in all things Armitage! I enjoyed it last year and I know it'll be even bigger and better this year!
The exclamation marks reveal my enthusiasm! :)

mulubinba said...

Sounds good Nat!! Looking forward to your posts :)

Musa said...

FanstRAvaganza is finally here! Thank you for the history of this momentous event, very useful for a newby like me :)

Look forward especially to finding our more about a certain stick figure bloke.

Anonymous said...

It begins! Thank you, Nat, for all your inspired work this year, and for your role in getting FanstRAv2011 off to a great week.

fitzg

Avalon said...

Hooray!

Anonymous said...

The day has arrived!

Thanks for the story on how FanstRAvanganza was 'created'. I was here at the time but didn't remember all the details.
Last year, I was only some 'months old' fan and knew a couple of blogs. This event introduced me to other great bloggers and many hours of fun.

OML :)

Charlotte H. said...

I'm so happy to be a part of this! Let the fun begin!

Maria Grazia said...

Thanks lovely Nat for the kind mention! This year your event seems even grander!We've spread the love, it seems and the numbers of RA bloggers and admirers grows and grows. Richard deserves all this. And even more!

Violet8886 said...

What a way to kick off spring! :) I love the last pics of RA seemingly dancing with his Lee from Cold Feet haircut and silk-like suit. Yup, time to get down and have fun this week! :):)

Ivania said...

YAY!!!
this makes me so happy!!
woohoo!

bccmee said...

Good times! Thanks for including me too. :)

Anonymous said...

Hiya Nat,

Just wanted to wave and check in. Thanks for the history because I had no clue. :)

(BTW, the catcha word for this comment is "vaggings." Seems sort of appropo, don'tcha think?

BETH said...

Just because I love ♥♥♥ RA AAAHHH! Besos from Argentina

tyme_4_t said...

RA-ganza...just what the doctor ordered~looking forward to being swept up again in this happy madness...

Anonymous said...

As a blogger, I was so grateful to be included last year as an infant Armitage fan, and now as a historian, I'm glad that you wrote the history of the event down, even if it outs me as the person who thought up "Fanstravaganza," which I think is just as cheesy as RA Awards of Awesomeness or more so.

Happy Fanstravaganza, dear Natalie!

NovemberBride said...

I don't know, Serv, but I'm thinking either Fanstravaganza OR
RA Awards of Awesomeness are equally troublesome to type!! LOL!!

STICK FIGURE RICHARD???!!!! Oh yay. thudddd!

Charleybrown said...

Great idea! I won't have time to partake of all the festivities but I've mentioned it on my blog for others who might not know of all the RA love out there!

Twinkling Moon said...

Another impressive group of blogs lined up for this year :) Loved hearing about the evolution of the big event.

I haven't been able to check out blog sites lately, too much in real life (i'm moving to another city and starting a new chapter in my career) but will check in as frequently as I can. I know that having a group of friends that I have met via the RAfandom will be nice to have as I adjust to a new life.

So blog away my friends :)

MTA: is that pic of Mr. A seemingly dancing really him? I always wonder that when I see that photo

Nat at RA FanBlog said...

I'm glad you're all here for the fun! :)

pi said...

I didn't know how this all came to be. Really impressive. It takes a driving passion and creativity to make it happen. Kudos! Mr A is a lucky dog.

Mel said...

Ahhhhhh (very loud girlish screaming) :) i only just found this blog and just in time for the FanstRAganza, i cant describe how glad I am. I absolutely love Richard Armitage. thanks so much creating this! :)

Anonymous said...

I'm thoroughly enjoying FanstRAvaganza. Thanks so much to you and all the other bloggers for making this such a wonderful birthday week ( my birthday is this upcoming Saturday) so this has been like opening 15 different birthday gifts every day of this week.

BTW, I'm looking forward to your next SFR installment :)


Busy Bee

Anonymous said...

Loving this FanstRAvaganza! Thanks to you and all the other bloggers for this wonderful week of all things RA. It's my birthday tomorrow, so this has been like opening 14+ birthday presents every day of this week.

busy bee

Phylly3 said...

I am so happy and grateful to be included in this year's FanstRAvaganza! I think the name is perfect and I love the banner by our anonymous graphic artist friend! Thanks so much for being the driving force behind this joyous event!