Posted by Eight years! I cannot believe that this little project that started in my garage has lasted and grown into what it is now, Temple of Geek! Many of you have heard this story already, but I thought it would be fitting to share one last time.
Where Temple of Geek started
I started Temple of Geek back in 2012 with my good friend, Paul Jones. We used to sit in my garage and have these in-depth conversations about the latest movie we saw or what our thoughts were on a certain theory. We decided that it would be cool to record our conversations.
Podcasting was still a niche thing at the time. We recorded our first episode on March 17th, 2012, and had no idea what we were doing. We recorded our 29 minute and 55-second episode on Batman: Under the Red Hood (I’ve attached it to this post for your listening pleasure).
That first episode was rough, but it lit a fire under both of us to try and turn this into something. We decided after 6 episodes, that we needed to have a website. So, I went to godaddy.com and learned that templeofgeek.com was NOT available! I did the thing most people do on social media, added the word “THE” in front of templeofgeek.com.
The site thetempleofgeek.com was born on April 13th, 2013 almost 1 year after we recorded our first episode. We had two new hosts, Earl Daigle and Vincent Tuitau, that rounded out our weekly discussions. Paul and I were writing content for the site. It was a lot of work, but we were having a blast.
We soon lost Earl and Vincent, but we gained Stacy Bishop, Marcus Gomez, and Amanda Fox-Rosowski. We were running along until that day when tragedy struck and we lost all of our content on the site. Till this day, I still cannot figure out what happened, I just know that I spent many hours trying to get it all back.
I started to design a new look for the site and I was able to obtain the templeofgeek.com domain name. We relaunched with a new site and a revamp to our podcast. Katie Penix and many others joined us at this time. This is what I consider the silver age of Temple of Geek.
We started attending conventions as press and this gave our name some credibility. Guests started to accept interview requests and come on the show. We created 2 new podcasts, Knights of the Game Table and Cosplay Connection. It was becoming more and more and actual website where people could come to absorb content regarding the properties they loved.
Knights of the Game Table ended and Retro Rebel was born. Stacy and Amanda have created something really special with this show. Dave Sato joined us and Katie Penix left. We also gained a hard-working member named Monica Duarte.
The future of Temple of GeekÂ
With Monica under the Temple of Geek banner, new things started happening. We grew our social media. We started several new podcasts and features on the site. We even started to receive press to some of the bigger conventions like SDCC. We even created video content with shows like Portrait of a Fangirl and Temple of Geek Toy Chest.
This brings us here today, 8 years later. After all this growth of our fanbase and building of our team, it is time for me to step away. Yes, I am stepping away from my creation, my child! I am handing it over though to someone who I know will continue to love and nurture it.
Why am I leaving? Honestly, it has to do with time. Currently, I just don’t feel that I can commit the time to the site that I once could. It took me a while to believe that I can leave, but this last year has proven to me that the site can run without me.
I know Monica is going to take this site to fantastic new directions and I cannot wait to see my baby grow up. Monica, thank you for everything you have done for me and the website and thank you for being the person to take over the site.
To the group, thank you for all your hard work! Temple of Geek would not be where it is at today without all of your ideas, passion, and love. I am leaving you in good hands. Monica will take you all to new directions. Follow her lead and continue to give her the same hard work that you gave me.
A note to our followers
To the followers of the Temple of Geek. Thank you for following me on this journey. It has been a crazy wild ride and I don’t know what the future holds for me. I do know that Temple of Geek is going to be around for a long time after me and that excites me. I hope you continue the journey with the website and continue to follow their content.
Who knows, maybe one day I’ll be back in the fold or a guest. I might even create something new. Temple of Geek will always hold a special place in my heart and I will miss being a part of it. Thank you. – Danniel Slade
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You’ll be missed you absolute legend.