Episode 33: June 21, 2009

UPDATE: The entire event should be available in audio format soon; at which time we will replace the current file with four updated files (seeing as how the show was 6 hours long). If you want to listen to other segments, visit the Harry Potter Alliance’s Helping Haiti Heal website.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who donated prizes, and participated in the call. Weather they be Wizard rockers, actors, podcasters, website administrators,  and more!

This has been so much of a group effort, that it is impossible to mention everyone, the production chat said it the best: “WOooooowoooooooOOOOoo!”

UPDATE: As of 3PM EST on January 24; the total amount has been raised to $37,000. We will keep you updated as donations keep coming in.

10PM EST January 24: $39,100

3PM EST January 25: Over $40,000

6PM EST January 26: We’ve hit $45,000!

2PM EST January 28: $50,000

3PM EST January 31: $66,000!

3PM EST February 5: $100,000!

This Saturday, January 23rd, at 2 P.M. EST, HPA’s PotterWatch, PotterCast, MuggleCast, Hogwarts Radio, and FictionAlley will come together for a live fundraising webcast here on Livestream to benefit Partners in Health. This four hour live event will feature a donation drive where donors have the opportunity to win prizes, live performances from many wizard rockers; leaders in fan communities; personal interviews with Haitian-Americans about the importance of giving to Partners In Health; human rights activists; a representative from MIT’s Media Lab discussing ways that we can donate our time using new media; and much more. Help spread the word by Tweeting the following:

A major part of this event will be raising funds to help those in Haiti through Partners In Health.  Countless fan sites, wizard rockers, authors, entertainers, and organizations have donated to this donation drive. To help with this cause, HPANA is donating:

Join us Saturday, January 23rd at 2 P.M. EST right here on Livestream for this live, jam-packed, fundraising event.  Together, we can help Haiti heal.

Hogwarts Radio will be LIVE starting at 3:05 PM EST

When I created HPANA on a whim in late 2002 — over seven years ago — I never anticipated or dared dream that it would become so large and touch so many lives so deeply, including my own. It’s difficult now to imagine my life without the site, without the close friends I would otherwise never have met, without the incredible experiences I’ve shared as a result.

I suspect most of you don’t know that HPANA is entirely custom-built, from the aggregation technology that gives the site its namesake, to the forums, content management systems and user administration. I wanted to pursue two passionate interests simultaneously: my love for the Harry Potter books, and a desire to hone my web programming skills.

From the very beginning, it was evident I stumbled onto something big and everlasting. I sent a (real) post card online via the Royal Mail’s official web site to J.K. Rowling in 2002, and promptly forgot about it. Little did I know, Jo not only received my letter but credited HPANA in 2004 as the first Harry Potter fan site she ever visited.

That honor was in large part due to the efforts of HPANA’s many dedicated staff members over the years. It was also thanks to all of you who made the site a bustling hub of news and community, filling the forums with a whopping 6.9 MILLION posts in 86,000 unique topics, reading nearly 4,000 news articles and browsing 100,000 automagically collected headlines mentioning Harry Potter around the web 24 hours a day.

Now the family we’ve built together is in serious jeopardy. These last sixth months, the site I and so many of you embraced and called home has been running in the red. To make matters worse, I lost my job in October and the ad revenue HPANA depends on to survive has rapidly declined. We’ve reached a cataclysm and that’s why I’m reaching out to you now.

Our datacenter has very kindly kept the servers online while the bills have piled up. But as of January 15 we will owe $1500 that I simply don’t have. I was, and will again be very happy to pay for HPANA’s operation out of my own pocket — once I find work, of course.

In the meantime, I put it to you, our loyal readers and fellow fans, to make a donation if you’d like to see HPANA survive. There are still a number of very big Potter events to follow in 2010 and beyond. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort opens in Florida in just a few short months, followed by the fan conference Infinitus. Then, of course, the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows films in November of this year and July of 2011.

If each of you reading this right now donated just $1 per month in 2010 (just $12 for the year), we’d be all paid up. I am currently working to reduce costs, and will gladly get the site running back on my own dime as soon as I find employment. HPANA has been and will always be free to use and enjoy. I’ve only come to you three times in the past seven years asking for your help, and you stepped up each time. This will be the last.

Click here to make a donation of any amount. As always, if you donate at least $10 you will receive a special insignia in your member profile and will see fewer ads for the entire year. Send me an e-mail if you have any other ideas you’d like to discuss.

Gratefully yours,

Jeff Guillaume
Editor-in-Chief

On January 2, 2008, Hogwarts Radio teamed up with the Harry Potter Automatic News Aggregator to be their official podcast. When originally presented with the idea, Jeff was both enthusiastic and welcoming to the idea of having a podcast for the HPANA. He has been nothing but supportive and encouraging, and that has made the transition so smooth that it has virtually been non-existant. I believe thanks are in order to Jeff (and Jeremy for getting the ball rolling) for accepting Hogwarts Radio into the HPANA family.

This leads into the last point. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEAGUE OF EPIC! For those of you that do not know, during our live January 2nd announcement last year, certain members of the ustream chat (and dedicated listeners of our show) formed a group of the most awesome diehard Harry Potter fans and closest of friends that I have ever seen. Even including some HR hosts.  So, thank you LoE for sticking with the show and for being made of epic awesomeness. Your constant support and love for all things Potter is contagous, and makes everything we do even more fun.

Hogwarts Radio

We want to take this time to thank EVERYONE out there for their support. Without which, we would not have been nominated. Also, a congrats to MuggleNet’s podcast MuggleCast for winning in their category. Thank you again for your ongoing support for Hogwarts Radio, and we look forward to getting out Episode 41 as soon as we can!

• Presenting, the first Spinners Radio LIVE!
• We sit down to talk Harry Potter with our friends at SpinnersCast.
• The trailer is released and we weigh in our thoughts (Pre-HD version release)
• What were our first reactIons?
• Some Wrock to keep you tied over between segments.
• Main Discussion: Can the Avada Kedavra curse kill a Horcrux?
• We talk about how Horcruxes can be destroyed.
• If Avada Kedavra worked on the bit of soul in Harry, why couldn’t the same method be applied to the other “containers”?
• SpinnersCast congradulates Hogwarts Radio on the Podcast Awards
• Trivia Challenge information is given out.

Email staff(at)hogwartsradio(d0t)com or leave a message in the comments telling us what you think. I’m sure Hogwarts Radio will be talking about the trailer in a future episode.

Clear your schedules, and be ready to become part of one event that you won’t want to miss!

First of all, let’s not forget that Hogwarts Radio was nominated in the “General” category for the Podcast Awards. Voting is now open, so visit the link, and vote for us. Make sure you verify your vote, or it won’t count. Remember that you can vote once a day, so keep visiting there! If we win, I’m sure HR will do something special.

Next, Episode 40. Terrance apologizes for the lack of consistent shows. Everyone has been really busy, and everyone’s schedule is screwed up. However, Terrance promises a new show should be out by the end of the week. If not, he lives as 103 Pi– oh, apparently, I’m not supposed to release his address. But if it’s not out, go mob him.

Also, you see that little player on the bottom on episode posts? Yeah, it’s pretty awesome. We’ve started to use Blubrry’s podcasting plugin, “PowerPress” and it’s rather fantastic. It makes podcasting a lot easier, in terms of putting episodes up on the site, and getting them on the feed. Speaking of feeds, we have a new one! So in case whatever you listen to HR with (iTunes automatically switched over) doesn’t recognize the change, our new feed is at http://www.hogwartsradio.com/podcast/feed/ Enjoy!

Speaking of feeds and Powerpress, we also have a new feed! A few months ago we decided to take episodes dating from August ‘08 to December ‘08 off of the main feed. However, we now have a feed just for those episodes, entitled “Hogwarts Radio: Year 1″. You can find the show on iTunes, or go directly to our feed, at http://www.hogwartsradio.com/feed/hogwarts-radio-year-1/ Experience Hogwarts Radio as it was in the early days, or take a trip down memory lane.

Finally, you may have noticed some downtime earlier this week. We changed over to a server that has more memory, because we were getting more load than usual after being nominated in the Podcast Awards. We’re still working on getting the forums back online, but besides that, everything is up and running (and a little faster too).

That’s all the updates that we have for you today! Remember to vote for us on the Podcast Awards, and subscribe to us on iTunes, Zune, or whatever you’d like. Thanks!

Update: Forum registration has been re-enabled. So go over to http://www.hogwartsradio.com/forums and sign up! There will be some updates coming pretty soon.

Hogwarts Radio is now looking for new ON AIR talent! That’s right, we’re seeking a new host to be a part of HPANA’s OFFICIAL podcast! The position details are as follows:

In case if you all missed it, here is our very first episode of Hogwarts Radio!

Pilot Episode: August 1, 2008

Download Here

Running Time 1:04:50 (59.4 MB)

Click link to load page, then select File – Save Page As… to save to your computer.

]]> http://www.hogwartsradio.com/happy-birthday-to-hogwarts-radio/feed/ 7 http://www.hogwartsradio.com/happy-birthday-jk-rowling-and-harry-potter/ http://www.hogwartsradio.com/happy-birthday-jk-rowling-and-harry-potter/#comments Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:31:00 +0000 Terrance http://www.hogwartsradio.com/happy-birthday-jk-rowling-and-harry-potter/ Since it’s now July 31st, we at HPANA would like to wish our favorite author J.K. Rowling and her creation Harry Potter a wonderful and happy birthday.

Let’s all raise our butterbeer glasses and give thanks to the woman who has brought us such enjoyment over the years. Happy birthday Jo and to you Harry and thank you from all your fans for the many years of enjoyment you have given us.

((For the actual news article please see www.hpana.com))

Where: Parc 55 Ball Room
When: July 20th, at 11 P.M.
Who: Anyone at Az who wants to come
Who (again?): We’re looking into Ustreaming the live show so that all of you not going to Azkatraz (like myself) can experience the magic right there, right then. Keep your fingers crossed!

1) We will be checking emails periodically, so if you need to email us, send it to terrance@hogwartsradio.com

2) Be sure to follow both twitters @HogwartsRadio and @HRatAzkatraz so you can get the latest updates on whats going on with all of us.

3) The Hogwarts Radio Hangout is going to be scheduled for July 18th from 7PM-9PM and will be held in the Mission I room. There will be snacks, bottled water, and sodas. You can also purchase an HR tshirt at this time. The event will be not organized, and we will do whatever we want… more than likely answer questions, play games, etc… And hopefully we are looking to broadcast this on the HR ustream channel.

4) Starting at 7PM on July 20th, I will be part of a podcast panel that includes: Andrew Sims (MuggleCast), Travis Prinzi (The Hogs Head Pubcast), Penny and/or Greg Gershman (HP Progs), Juan Liberos/Quinn (SpinnersCast), Robert Standring (SpellCast) and three other individuals. This will be an actual podcast hosted by HPEF, and we will be having a discussion as well. At approximately 11PM Hogwarts Radio will be the final show at the palooza. The show is scheduled to run until 12AM, and we will be discussion various topics as well. We will be selling tshirts, key chains, and magnets all throughout the palooza, and be giving out PRIZES courtesy of Alivans as well.

I think thats the gist of it, and if you have any questions… well… you know how to reach us.

We look forward to an AWESOME convention with you guys that just DAYS AWAY NOW!

Firstly, we’ve begun releasing all our episodes in low bandwidth. There a little less than half the size of our full quality episodes, and are perfect if you’re somewhere with slower internet connection, have limited bandwidth, or maybe don’t want to take up as much room on your iTunes. To put that in perspective, the entire Hogwarts Radio collection is 1.30 GB at full quality, versus the 500 GB it is at low bandwidth. You can subscribe to our low bandwidth episodes on iTunes by going to here.

Next, new transcripts have begun to appear on Hogwarts Radio! Episode 3 was released yesterday, and our transcribers are working hard to keep them up to date. If you’d like to join the transcriber team, email shannon@hogwartsradio.com.

Finally, our feeds. We’ve taken all episodes before the HPANA announcement off our feeds, which by turn means, off iTunes. This is to help us preserve bandwidth, and also so that new listeners aren’t flooded by so many files when they first subscribe. You can still access those episodes on our Episodes page, so don’t think they’re gone for good. You can access the high quality feed at…
http://www.hogwartsradio.com/hogradio.xml
And the low bandwidth feed at…
http://www.hogwartsradio.com/hrlb.xml

Leave your birthday wishes for Terrance in the comments!

Want a prize? Send in your contact information to be on our Live edition of the Who wants to be a Galleonaire!

UPDATE: You can view the show here on the site, or on our ustream page!

Download “Rooftop Rumors” here

http://www.spellcastpodcast.com <---- The Official SpellCast website
http://spellcast.libsyn.com <—- Download their episodes here

Also, we still have our Azkatraz T-shirt contest going on as well. Design the Official Hogwarts Radio tshirt, and you could win a wand, scarf, or Hogwarts Radio poster! Deadline for submission is May 28th, so be sure to get those designs into our staff email listed above.

Finally, we miss getting emails we can read on the show. If you have a rebuttal, question, comment, concern, or anything in general, send it in so we can read it on the show. The easiest way is to use the contact form on the “Contact us” page. We always love getting email’s from you all, so keep sending them! It also lets us know how the show is doing as well, so ANY feedback is great!

Well, that’s it my little pretty’s… or should it be penguins… or lemons… or… ah, nevermind. Look for Episode 31 coming in the next few days! YAY!

Leave Jeremy some  birthday love in the comments.

Leave your (belated) Birthday wishes in the comments!

]]> http://www.hogwartsradio.com/happy-belated-birthday-greyson/feed/ 9 http://www.hogwartsradio.com/episode-29-april-28-2009/ http://www.hogwartsradio.com/episode-29-april-28-2009/#comments Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:29:51 +0000 Terrance http://www.hogwartsradio.com/?p=680 The show kicks off with the host’s biggest fear

Join us as we wish Colin a very Happy Birthday! Leave a comment below for b-day wishes, and lots of love. Thank you Colin for everything you do for Hogwarts Radio. We wish you all the best on your special day!

We are recording a minisode with just trailer reaction/discussion later this evening, and releasing shortly thereafter.

So stay tuned. And remember to check HPANA for news regarding the trailer, which is scheduled for a 9 PM EST release.