Dear TFNationals,
We've all faced many obstacles in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on families, livelihoods and plans across the globe. Wherever you are reading this message, we hope you're safe and taking good care of yourselves, both physically and mentally during these testing times.
As for us: TFNation has suffered the double whammy of not being able to generate income from conventions, while also not qualifying for the financial support offered to some industries. With bills still needing to be paid regularly, it is a particularly dark situation; we have seen other conventions and companies we work with closing doors entirely. In short, this is a "convention ending" situation.
... but TFNation still functions.
Through the generosity of those who made donations, and the goodwill of attendees who chose to rollover their tickets, we were able to keep the wheels turning through summer. Now, it is time for us to push forward, while supporting those who have supported us. To do so we will need to devise new ways to keep our operations viable until events can safely return; create new and exciting ways for the community to come together, whilst we are forced apart. TFNation will need to change, to Transform.
Today, then, we are announcing our plans to drive TFNation forwards, providing new entertainment and value to the Transformers community. Our plan has three phases:
Phase One - TFN YouTube
We're rebooting our YouTube channel to keep you entertained while you're keeping safe. As well as uploading past event footage - including material from the well-received Big Broadcast of 2020 - we are also in the process of shooting exciting new footage for interviews, documentary-style productions and comedy segments we hope you'll really enjoy!
If you've not done so already, please head over to our channel and subscribe – don't forget to click the bell icon to make sure you never miss our new releases, which will be coming soon!
For those of you who enjoy our live content, we still have some watchalongs, quizzes and other fun activities planned for our Twitch channel. Remember to subscribe over at TFNation Official to stay informed.
Phase Two - TFN Patreon
As of today, we have launched the official TFNation Patreon account.
Here you will be able to support TFNation with small monthly payments (starting from just £1.00) in exchange for an array of benefits including early access to videos, exclusive access to content created specifically for Patreon, and special behind the scenes peeks at what TFNation is doing while you're not looking!
Please check out the Patreon page today to see the various ways in which you can support TFNation, and the rewards available at each tier!
Phase Three - TFN Online Events
TFNation remains committed to hosting the best celebrations of the Transformers fandom... and we're not going to let the lack of a physical venue stand in our way!
Over the coming months, we will be offering a variety of online events, starting with a virtual version of our popular fan meet-up TFN: The Gathering. We're also working on exciting new ideas, including an array of free-to-attend and ticketed online events. We're keen to bring you high-quality offerings which include longtime convention favourites such as guests, interviews, Q&A panels, workshops and more... much more than meets the eye!
This combination of free-to-attend and paid offerings will hopefully enable TFNation to remain viable, while also providing some much needed robotic fun during these unpredictable times. We appreciate some of these ideas represent a bit of a culture change, but hope as many of you as possible will choose to support us through this shift, until we can all be together again. All we need is a little energon... and a lot of you.
See you online soon!
- The TFNation Crew