An ICv2 Release. ICv2 is celebrating its 10th Anniversary this week with a new look for its website, a look back at the past decade, and a look forward at the most exciting period of change for ICv2 since its launch year.
The new ICv2.com website, which launched on January 31st (10 years to the day from the launch of the original ICv2.com), displays a new moniker, “Inside Geek Culture,” reflecting ICv2’s focus in all its activities, including the site. “In ICv2’s first 10 years, we’ve become known as the #1 source of information for people in the geek culture business, and we wanted our tagline to reflect that focus,” ICv2 President Milton Griepp said.
The original website, named ICv2 because it was “version 2” of Internal Correspondence, a magazine published from the early 80s until 1996, targeted comic and game stores and other retailers selling geek culture categories. Among the articles published in the first weeks was one noting the potential of a game called Mage Knight and its maker, WizKids Games (see “December [2000] Product of the Month”). Mage Knight had a great run in the early part of the last decade and is going to be the basis for a new game due for release later this year. And WizKids went on to become one of the fastest-growing game companies of the decade, creating a new category, the collectible miniatures game.
Another article published in the first few weeks was an article noting the passing of Stan Lee Media, a short-lived dot com that was one of Stan Lee’s first efforts to create new content without Marvel (see “Stan Lee Media Tanks”). Since then, Lee’s career has reached new heights, with his numerous projects with a plethora of partners all run through POW Entertainment, a new Lee company that acquired some of the assets of Stan Lee Media.
Since that launch back in 2001, ICv2 has expanded its readership to include readers around the world in every business that touches geek culture, librarians and educators, tastemakers, and dedicated fans, taking all of them “Inside Geek Culture.”
The new ICv2.com has improved navigation and functionality and a new, refreshed graphic design by Popcult. Among the new navigational features are a revised Top Articles module that shows the most popular content on the site, and new areas of the site for columns and reviews (splitting from Talk Back comments and previews, respectively). New functions include sharing tools, video, an improved RSS feed, and improvements to the tools used to load content onto the site.
In the coming weeks, ICv2 Pro, a new, private area of the site with even more in depth information and opportunities for interaction, will launch.
ICv2 has also expanded its services in the last week, announcing that it is now representing retailer services for comiXology. “ICv2 can offer a full range of marketing, sales, and management services directed at geek culture retailers,” Griepp said. “We’re very excited about the opportunity to work with comiXology to expand adoption of its Online Pull List service and to help launch Digital Storefronts for retailers.
“Our first 10 years were just the beginning,” Griepp said. “We couldn’t be more excited about where we’re going and the opportunities ahead.”
ICv2 also publishes a magazine, Internal Correspondence, four times a year; runs conferences, such as the highly successful ICv2 Conference on Comics and Digital last October; and provides consulting services.
For more information on ICv2, contact Milton Griepp, President of ICv2, at MGriepp@ICv2.com.
For information on ICv2.com and Internal Correspondence advertising and sponsorships, contact Steve Bond at SBond@ICv2.com.
For information on sponsoring ICv2 Conferences or to get help with your retailer-facing programs, contact Milton Griepp at MGriepp@ICv2.com.
