It’s hard to believe we released our first issue of The Blue Skittle (TBS) a year ago in May. In the past year I have traveled quite a journey. I am blessed to be working with an amazing and diverse staff and I think TBS reflects this. I know that there are months we struggle with late releases (like this one), and yet our love and passion perseveres.

To commemorate The Blue Skittle’s first year anniversary I can think of no better way to celebrate than to give kudos to the people and communities touching my life because of TBS and gaming. I have always believed that community is such an important part of gaming and through it our gaming experiences are heightened. Being part of a community or one website is basically being part of a village. Each village is attached to another village through various means whether it is word of mouth, a pathway (or link), or part of a joint village, which makes it a city. As people move around from village to village the network grows and more and more people are exposed to each other. What an awesome experience to see and meet so many people! It’s not just the communities’ podcasts, forums, newsletters and magazines that keep them growing, it’s the interactions between people that make them really come alive. These interactions often go beyond our cyber lives to in person meetings.

Over the years I have met some fellow gamers; many of whom I gamed with daily. But through TBS those meetings have increased exponentially—with introductions to innumerable people, communities, and experiences.

Last August, I made the trek to the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle, WA where I met fellow staff members of TBS as well as members of other communities—including some that I didn’t know existed. Kiki Kat and I had decided at PAX to do a pre-PAX dinner to meet other gamers; many of whom were experiencing PAX for the first time just as we were. New friendships and bonds developed between many communities. One thing I noticed with this experience is and the interest and respect people had for each other’s Websites. People promoted and gave props to each other and their sites, and it was a great feeling to see the teamwork and camaraderie.

In February, Gamertag Radio did an event called Community Vibe. I attended this event as well and truly enjoyed myself. I revisited the GTR staff that I met at PAX and developed new friendships as well. This event was totally different than PAX. It was a much smaller and intimate one-day event, but the days before and after were spent hanging out with other gamers who had made the trek to Miami.

In May I drove to Chicago to attend Fragfest2008, an event thrown together by clan FU5; a community of about 30 members. The event had an open invitation to anyone who wanted to attend. This event was awesome for me. (These are the gamers I game with on a nightly basis.) I arrived on Thursday night and left late Sunday evening. After the hundreds of hours I had gamed with them, their event was like being with family. FU5 Kona offered his house as a home-base for us. None of us stayed there, but we were always welcome to show up once we were up for the day to LAN game, BBQ or just chill out. BTW, I have to give props to FU5 Kona for his outstanding internet connection. Imagine, seven Xbox consoles playing on Xbox Live (Live), two laptops doing live video feeds, and a desktop for e-mail and Web surfing—all simultaneously sucking bandwidth—with no lag whatsoever to anyone on either side of Live. AMAZING!

PAX, GTR Community vibe and Fragfest were all very different events uniting gamers, and these are just a small sampling of what the gaming community is all about. The gaming communities are the heart of Live, providing us each with special and unique experiences.

In the coming year, I look forward to gaming with and greeting old friends on Live and in Life, as well as meeting new friends at future events. Anniversary or not; I just want to celebrate and I invite you all to join me at Ooopy and Kiki’s Second Annual Pre-PAX party on August 28, 2008 in Seattle at the Tap House Grill from 8pm - 11 pm. This is a community event and will be a pre-sold ticketed event (no tickets at the door). It will also be a first-come first-buy basis. Tickets are on sale via The Blue Skittle . For details, check out the forums at The Blue Skittle

<3,

Ooopy