America Online Star Wars Fan Club
| Fan Club | |
|---|---|
| Name: | The America Online Star Wars Fan Club (AOLSWFC) |
| Dates: | 1990s |
| Founder(s): | Alec Usticke (through March 1996) |
| Leadership: | Skip Shayotovich, later DallaThBlk and JessaDoc (1996), BrentLynch (March 1996) (note these names and dates need further clarification) |
| Country based in: | |
| Focus: | Star Wars |
| External Links: | arvived version from 1999; current archive |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The America Online Star Wars Fan Club (AOLSWFC) was an early online Star Wars fan club for members of the AOL Internet service.
From one of the founders: "In January 1994, I started a weekly Friday night Star Wars trivia game on America Online. It was the first official AOL Star Wars Fan Club (AOLSWFC) event. After the first year, I turned it over to other hosts and eventually multiple trivia games sprung up -- at its peak, I think there were more than six different games each week. Unfortunately, I don't have reports from many of the nights, but the main one on Friday night is nearly complete." The trivia club also served as an informal newsletter, HoloCroN began to be published.[1]
From the 1996 Usenet Star Wars FAQ: "The America Online Star Wars Fan Club is a collection of over 1,700 fans on AOL and the Internet. In addition to message boards and software libraries, the club holds several online chats, trivia games, and role-playing games each week."[2]
By March 1996, membership climbed to 2,500. In 1996 the club broadened its appeal by announcing:
"[News concerning the SW Online Fan Club]Here is the report from R5D4Red2 concerning the future of the Online SW fan club and the AOL envolvement as well as the "new Holocron".
With this new incoming era, we have changed an awful lot:
- a new name, The Star Wars Online Fan Club, to make it clear that we also have members and interests that aren't strictly AOL-related.
- a brand-new forum area that you can sink your teeth into, with our own chat room!
- a new position: Event Coordinator, which Ghent2 has graciously filled. He will manage the offline AND online events, including a new series of online chats with Andy Mangels, author of "The Essential Guide to Characters," Kevin J. Anderson, author of...well, you should be able to think of at least ONE thing!, Tom Dupree, Star Wars editor at Bantam Books, Tom Veitch, author of the "Dark Empire" series, as well as much of the "Tales of the Jedi" series, and more!
- new chairwomen of the SWOFC, Dallathblk and JessaDoc." "[3]
References
- ^ "Uncle Owen's AOLSWFC website". Archived from the original on 2021-01-26. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
- ^ "Star Wars FAQ Part 2". Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
- ^ "FIDONEWS Vol.1 # 13".