Official Tokio Hotel America -- A Labor of Love

We are all proud members of the official Tokio Hotel America (THA). A thriving beehive of activity for fans to communicate, bond, and celebrate the band and its members in a positive way. THA has 17,458 members; 93 groups of which Never Too Old (NTO) is one; 17,820 discussion threads and 944,288 posts.  Yes, we are a chatty bunch. 

Happy Birthday, Tokio Hotel America. Two years strong.

On that celebratory note: here's the 2nd part of the 3 part interview with Coolbreezegirl. 

NTO: Did the "fan for life" moment serve as the motivation to assist with THA?

CBG: I am a loyal person and, generally, I decide very quickly if I dislike or like something. And if I like it, then there’s usually no stopping me. And whatever I am a fan of, I am willing to spend a lot of time promoting it and spreading the word. I love reading other people’s opinion and thoughts on Tokio Hotel, but most of all I love promoting the band, because I love them so much, and truly feel that people who don’t love the band miss out on so much.

I am an admin at THA, but the blog part of THA existed before my time. (Schnee had started that one as well as the brand name THA). Sometime in the spring of 2007, I started participating in the Tokio Hotel fandom by registering at an English speaking forum. There weren’t many of them at that time and none of them were really good. The English speaking fandom wasn’t what it is now. I craved something news-oriented, something mature, a community that took the band seriously and kept band respect as the highest priority.

Schnee was a member of the same TH forum where I used to hang out at that time.  And in the summer 2007, we got to know each other better when we hung out at a small private forum that wasn’t a Tokio Hotel forum. I quickly realised she and I shared the same ethics and viewpoint on marketing, the same willingness to promote the band relentlessly and put away our own interest and personal wishes on the shelf. Anyway, at that little non-TH forum the idea of creating a new English speaking forum for TH was born. And voila, a few weeks later, THA forum was up and running.

NTO: What makes you proud of the fandom? Is it a lot of work? How do you balance the responsibilities with your other life?

CBG: I have met and got to know some fantastic people thanks to this fandom. People I will keep as dear friends for the rest of my life. Some I have only met online and not in real life, whereas others I met in real life. And as I said before, friends to me are sacred, so I am very grateful.

I am immensely fascinated by this fandom from a sociological aspect. It is bizarre in many instances and shows the worst and best of human behaviour.  It really showcases pettiness, possessiveness, jealousy, manipulations, self-righteousness, as well as joy, love, generosity and helpfulness among fans. I am incredibly proud of THA and what we have achieved. I love how creative our staff and members are and the respect we all show towards the band.

We work with the interest in mind of what is best for the band, not what is best for us or for the fans. I think that is one of the keys as to why THA has been very successful. This vibe is also not apparent among staff but also among many of our members. I think we have a fantastic and inspiring bunch of members hanging at THA.

However, THA requires an extreme amount of time invested to run properly. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to put in nearly as much time as I would want to due to my job which demands a lot of overtime, so I am super grateful for Schnee and Stern (the third admin) and for the rest of our amazing staff.

On behalf of us, on the NTO blog, we truly appreciate all that you, Schnee, and Stern have done and continue to do.  With your efforts, you have branded the fan forum to be a professional labor of love that Tokio Hotel, their management, and all concerned can be proud.

Tomorrow, the final part of CBG's interview, will be posted.