The ARIFC

The Ariana Richards Internet Fan Community (ARIFC), whose headquarters reside at this web site (www.ariana.org), represents the on-line fanbase of the actress Ms. Ariana Richards. Recently, from the 25th of May 2002, Ariana.org was made the official site covering Ms. Richards' film and television career. The ARIFC is made up primarily of the many fan-maintained web sites dedicated to Ms. Richards, the Ariana Richards Internet Fan Community Mailing List (ARIFCML), Newsgroup (alt.fan.arianarichards), and Chat Room (#ArianaRichards on IRCNet).

Ariana.org serves to showcase the activity of Ms. Richards' fans, as well as provide a place where she can interact with her many friends around the world. This interaction includes postings from Ms. Richards (to the ARIFC Forums) and our provision of exclusive material in the form of pictures and other media.

The Ariana Richards Internet Fan Club (ARIFC) was originally started in late 1995, with the creation of the Ariana Richards Mailing List, graciously provided by Mr. Andreas Schuetz of Germany. At that time, there were already many web sites dedicated to Ms. Richards, and many people began to wonder whether or not she would ever acknowledge her fans in the online community. Some members of the mailing list began to consider ways by which they might be able to meet or speak with her. So it was that Mr. Gregory B. Jackson of the United States made the suggestion that an internet fan club be established. Having worked in the entertainment industry, Mr. Jackson knew that the only way for a celebrity to be contacted was to go through his or her agent/manager. However, it was decided that before such a move could be made, the proposed internet fan club's features needed to be developed.

Websites and a mailing list were clearly not enough. It was decided that to best expand the fan club, a UseNet newsgroup and chat room would be needed. Mr. Wim Godden of Belgium took it upon himself to establish alt.fan.arianarichards, the newsgroup which would be the ARIFC's presence in the UseNet community. Mr. Godden also established the IRC chat room #Ariana (Now #ArianaRichards), which was used by ARIFC members as a means to communicate with each other in real-time.

With all four corners of the Internet (web sites, newsgroup, mailing list and chat room) occupied by an ARIFC presence, Mr. Jackson, as the only co-founder of the fan club residing in the United States, contacted Ms. Richards' manager, the Burstein Company (at that time), thus opening a dialog with official representation.

It was Mr. Jackson's goal to attempt to obtain official recognition for the ARIFC. After several calls and faxes to the Burstein Company, the request was ultimately denied and contact was broken off for a time. On September 11th 1997, when Mr. Jackson decided to call the Burstein Company to extend the ARIFC's happy birthday wish to Ms. Richards, he learned that she was no longer under their management.

About a month later, Mr. Jackson managed to obtain contact information for Hardin/Eckstein Management, Ms. Richards' new management company. Again, appeals were made to officialize the ARIFC, which were once again denied. Rather than just give up, Mr. Jackson decided to request whatever information Ms. Richards' management could offer. He learned that she was cast in a movie called "Sin of Silence" (which later was renamed to "Race Against Fear").

Shortly after, Ms. Richards' manager received a directive from Mr. Gary Richards, her father, to discontinue contact with the ARIFC. Mr. Richards did say, however, that the fan club could exist under three conditions:

(1) That all aspects of it be done in good taste.

(2) That copyright ownership be respected at all times

(3) That it be made clear that the fan club is unofficial.

Those conditions have been met, and so the ARIFC is alive and well today.

Some time after breaking off of contact with Ms. Diane Hardin, Mr. Jackson chanced upon a connection to someone in close association with Ms. Richards. This contact ultimately became a source of valuable information for the ARIFC, providing answers to questions surrounding many important issues, as well as even a picture of Ms. Richards taken at the grand opening of Universal Studios' "Florida's Islands of Adventure" park in 1999.

That picture inspired hope in the members of the ARIFC. It was positive proof that those close to Ms. Richards were indeed aware of the fan club and its activities.

Shortly after this picture was received, the ARIFC's central website, Ariana.org began to undergo a major redesign. For three months, a team of designers pondered and built a new web site and offered it, along with the fan club itself, as a gift to Ms. Richards on her twentieth birthday. So pleased with the ARIFC's hard work and dedication was she that the ARIFC's website was declared "Approved and Appreciated by Ariana"

Shortly after the approval from Ms. Richards, the ARIFC's name was changed from The Ariana Richards Internet Fan Club to The Ariana Richards Internet Fan Community to better reflect it's existence as an online community that is open to all of Ariana's friends around the world, rather than an officialish fan club with membership dues.

In late 2001, It was decided that Ariana.org needed a facelift, having existed for a good 2 years. The Ariana.org Development Team 2002, with some new members on board started work on a new, cutting-edge site. The new site was announced on New Year's Day 2002.

On May 25, 2002, Ariana.org was named by Ms. Richards and her representation as "The Official Film and Television Web Site for Ariana Richards."

The above three conditions by which we operate still stand unchanged. Officialization has not affected them at all. Ariana does not have an official fan club, and we make no claims to be one. We are the community of Ms. Richards' friends around the world, and when our forums go live in due course, it will be an official community because it will be the community that is part of Ariana.org and its official status will extend around the community forums.

Ariana.org itself was hosted by HostWay.com, with the bill kindly paid for by long-time ARIFC staff member Mr. Wayne Bell. At this time, the site has been moved to servers operated directly by Mr. David Sexton. In early 2002, work was initated on a new site to replace the 2002 iteration of Ariana.org. The new site, "Ariana.org 2003", like its precedessor, was designed by Mr. X.L. Ho.

The 2007 version of the website has been moved into a Content Management System (CMS) application. This new way of doing things allows us to easily provide dynamic updates and changes to the site. Accounts can be setup for all staff to make changes as necessary without the need to understand the underlying programming of the site. Entire layout changes can be applied easily.

The Four Corners of the Internet Covered

In any community or situation for that matter, well developed, stable communications systems are essential. Ariana.org, as the headquarters of the ARIFC serves as a central hub linking fan sites together in the gargantuan international network we call the Internet.

The community forums, which are the core communications medium of the ARIFC, allows fans of Ms. Richards to communicate with each other. It is also the first place where news and announcements are posted, allowing members access to breaking news before the web site is updated with it. To join the fan community, please head over to the Community Forums.

The UseNet newsgroup, alt.fan.arianarichards, allows public discussion of Ariana in the UseNet community. All you need to participate in this newsgroup is a newsserver that carries alt.fan.arianarichards feeds. There are many free newsservers available. simply locate one which allows both reading and posting and you should have no trouble. If you have trouble locating a newsserver, Google Groups should provide you with a solution. The newsgroup is moderated by Mr. Wim Godden, one of the co-founders of the ARIFC. This newsgroup is not actively used, so posts made to it may not appear.


Ariana.org - Behind the Scenes

AtherWorld -  Community Coordinatior:

AtherWorld's involvement in Ms. Richards' online fan community began on alt.fan.teen.starlets. Back then, he used the online identity of "The Honor Guard," and assisted Mr. Jackson in keeping the newsgroup's discussion of Ariana respectful. AtherWorld's current responsibility is to maintain the ARIFC's link list and to keep fans updated as to airing dates of upcoming appearances of Ms. Richards on television.

AtherWorld is also the co-owner (with David Sexton) of Sci Fi/Lunatic's Richards Ladies Archive, a site catering to fans of Ms. Richards and her sister, Bethany.


David Sexton - System Administrator: 

Mr. Sexton is in charge of maintaining the Community Forums. He also owns and operates the server hosting all of Ariana.org's online facilities. Mr. Sexton has been involved in Information Technology from various angles - from retail all the way to network management. He has studied both Information Technology (Client/User Support) and Retail Management. He is currently employed by the University of Ballarat within the ICT division.  

Mr. Sexton handles relations between Ariana.org and Ms. Richards - a role previously managed by Mr. X.L. Ho.

Mr. Sexton is the founder (Lunatic!) of Sci Fi/Lunatic's Richards Ladies Archives, and has an active role in the maintenance and operations of the largest Ariana Richards fansite on the Internet. He also maintains and hosts a number of other websites - both fansites and commercial.


Wayne Bell - Domain Contributor:

Mr. Bell is a long-time member of the ARIFC. The presence of this web site on its own domain is owed to him, as he continues to ensure that Ariana.org's domain name registration is kept current. On top of that, He was gracious enough to cover the hosting cost for this site until it was moved to its current server


X.L. Ho - Development Manager:

Mr. Ho is the person behind the development of Ariana.org versions 2002 and 2003. Formerly the Graphics Supervisor, he took over the position of Chief Web Designer (now Devlopment Manager) from Mr. Jean-Francois Lemay in late 2001, when the latter expressed an inability to continue in that role due to other commitments.

Mr. Ho is currently employed by Hewlett Packard in Singapore. Mr. Ho holds Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. He is an avid gamer, and computer hardware enthusiast.

Andrew Jackson - Forum Moderator:

Andrew 'Andyroo' Jackson has been a member of the ARIFC since 2001. Andrew is a self-confessed obsessive fan of Ariana and is a collector of somer of her works of art. Being part of a Theatre Company in England, he had done a short piece about his obsession with Ariana and he has been asked to repeat the performance on occasions. As well as theatre, Andrew is also an artist and writer and is always looking for new ways to have fun on the forums. 

Andrew was made a moderator of the forums mid 2006, and was introduced officially as a staff member in 2007. Andrew is the first "new staff" member to Ariana.org in 5 years.

 Gregory Jackson - Content Coordinator:

Gregory Jackson (No relation to Andrew) is one of the original co-founders of the ARIFC, and was the direct contact between the community and Ariana for several years before taking a personal break back in 2004. In late 2007, he returned to the administrative staff and serves as Content Coordinator... Which means, he Coordinates with the rest of the administrative staff to keep the news section updated and to assist with special projects, either directly or indirectly, such as the Media Center and the 2007 Christmas Greeting to Ariana.