That is what I love, ''World Letterboxing'' ''Atlas Quest'' they are both inclusive names.

I always felt that was the main thing that distinguished Atlas Quest from LbNA--you do could a city search for letterboxers from around the world, and Zimbabwe is supported just as well as the United States. =)

I also love the fact that I could do a letterbox search for a place like San Diego and it would pick up boxes in Tijuana. Even international boundaries aren't 'respected' by Atlas Quest. =) Boundaries are so arbitrary and.... there's just something I don't like about them.

My biggest regret with the name Atlas Quest was that the word 'letterboxing' wasn't in the domain name. I really wanted a generic name for the site rather than a 'brand name', but the word letterboxing is such a long, clunky word to begin with, it's hard to think of a short, simple domain that uses it that wasn't already taken. Which is when I got the idea to use the term 'quest' in place of 'letterboxing.'

The 'Atlas' part of 'Atlas Quest' took a bit longer to think of. After giving up on a good generic name, it opened the possibilities significantly. Seems rather daring to create a brand name for a letterboxing community. So far as I know, it had never been done before or since, but darn it, all the good generic names were already taken.

I ended up looking through a book about Latin and Greek myths for name ideas (there are a lot of companies that name themselves after characters in such myths). Most of the names I immediately discarded under the grounds that they were too complicated to spell and nobody would ever be able to find this site if I used them! But then I read the story of Atlas and I thought, "Of course! Atlas!" What a perfectly descriptive word for our hobby! =)

The name Atlas Quest was born. Actually, I sat on it for a week or so, trying to think of even better ideas, looking through more books and maps, brainstorming with Amanda and a couple of close friends who knew about my project, trying to top it. I also did some Internet searches to make sure the domain was available (it was!) and to see what other companies or people might be using it (and found not one reference anywhere). It almost seemed to good to be true, but I kept looking for an even better name to use. After a week of searching, Atlas Quest was still my best idea, so I bought the domain name and the site went live the next day. =)

-- Ryan

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I thought, "Of course! Atlas!" What a perfectly descriptive word for our hobby! =)

I understand all about Atlas, read about him years ago, so I immediately got the reference with Marjorie and the globe on her back.

Now, where did you get the idea for Marjorie?

KuKu

Man, I can't believe I didn't know about the exchange button on events. Sheesh! It even just shows the ones you haven't exchanged with before! Way to go, Ryan!

so I immediately got the reference with Marjorie and the globe on her back.

Now, where did you get the idea for Marjorie?

Marjorie I mostly stumbled into by accident. I didn't mean to create a mascot. =)

About that time I was about to unleash Atlas Quest on the world, Amanda found an amusing book called Bitter With Baggage Seeks Same, about a lonely little chick in comical pictures. Since Easter was among us, she picked up some chicks of her own to put into letterboxing and Nancy Drew situations, and I heckled her for such a silly endeavor.

When I saw some of the pictures, though, I started getting excited about that. She took one of Marjorie trying to carve a stamp, and I thought it would be wonderful to include in the carving tutorial. And another picture had Marjorie trying to figure out which way was north using a compass, and I thought, 'Brilliant! That can go with the compass tutorial!'

She told me she called the one Marjorie because the chick was yellow, like margarine. =)

Anyhow, I liked those two pictures so much, I decided that all the tutorials should have a chick pict, so I ended up creating the picture of George playing hooky from work (the stamping 101 tutorial).

I think it was Amanda who thought it would be funny to put the world on the chick's back, Atlas-style, and I loved the idea. So we found a little planet to go with her and took the logo picture. Which worked out well--especailly back then, there were very few pictures on the site and a lot of the pages looked like hideous ugly blocks of solid text. Throwing Marjorie in the corner for those pages made a world of difference. Purely a cosmetic change, but some of the pages needed it. *nodding*

Now that I had Marjorie in such a prominent location, it seemed logical to put her on other pages as well. The same photo everywhere would get boring after a while. That's when I created the photo of Marjorie trying to create an account on AQ and complaining that 'Spring Chick' was already taken. Also took the picture of Marjorie getting out of the shower, in her towel, on the Privacy Policy page. =)

Those were all of the Marjorie photos I used by the time the site went live. I've added a few more since then, with the addition of the logbook and website tutorials. Each theme I started including a 'spoof' of the original Marjorie logo.

But it largely happened due to luck and good timing. I never set out to deliberately create the 'Marjorie' of today. =)

-- Ryan

http://www.atlasquest.com/lboxes/showboxinfo.html?gBoxId=11551

I retired that personal traveler since I included AQ's birthday on the calendar this year. I figured it would be too easy for people to get at that point. =)

I consider AQ's birthday the day I bought the domain name, though: June 24, 2004. At that point, there was no turning back! I could have changed my mind about the domain name at any point before then.

-- Ryan

what a cool story as to the birth of the most awesomist LB site EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it is hard to find a domain name that no one else has etc.

I much prefer the start being today - it's my birthday. :-)

AGJ

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I much prefer the start being today - it's my birthday. :-)

Well then a Very Happy Birthday to You!!!

"I retired that personal traveler since I included AQ's birthday on the calendar this year. I figured it would be too easy for people to get at that point. =)"

Retired?!!! What do you mean retired?!!! I've been transfering that date from one log book to another for over a year now just so I'd have it ready in case I should happen to meet up with you again! And trust me, it took some digging to find! =)

Wild Rose (of PBandJ)

And trust me, it took some digging to find!

And I believe it! But the date is too "out in the open" now. I like my boxes--even personal travelers--to be hard to get. =)

-- Ryan

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And I believe it! But the date is too "out in the open" now. I like my boxes--even personal travelers--to be hard to get. =)

*was the last to get it; I had a sneaking suspicion he was going to "show up" at the LBSE gathering last year unannounced so made it a point to take it with me*