05.17.13
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Pottermore wins at Bookseller Industry Awards

The Pottermore Shop

Pottermore won the Digital Strategy Award at The Bookseller Industry Awards for their launch strategy for the Pottermore Shop, shown above.

This past Tuesday, Pottermore won the Digital Strategy of the Year Award at The Bookseller Industry Awards. They beat out some tough competition, including Random House, Kobo, Penguin, and even Bloomsbury.

The award was given to the Pottermore team for their “clear strategy to deliver a fully immersive experience” with the Pottermore Shop and its “phenomenal commercial results,” according to The Bookseller website. Pottermore CEO Charlie Redmayne was at the ceremony to collect the award.

Philip Jones of FutureBook wrote an interesting article about Pottermore’s win and why they deserved it. It is definitely worth a read.

From the article:

So why Pottermore [than the other candidates]? The important thing is to separate the strategy from the fact that this is the Harry Potter brand. Potter guarantees an audience, it does not secure success.

Pottermore did not win the award simply because it had the Harry Potter brand, it won because of the vision, and because of the execution of that vision. Pottermore could have been a disaster. If you want the background here it is: Pottermore, before its launch, was being written off. The strategy, as stated at its slightly premature announcement, looked overly ambitious, and what we had seen of the site up until the launch point, seemed a touch flakey. On the e-book side, all we really knew was that OverDrive was involved, and even that had some shaking their heads. Few could square the circle on how Pottermore would live up to its promise of making the e-books widely available across all devices from one location.

The Bookseller Industry Awards celebrates the very best of the publishing and book industry, recognizing the successes of everything from retailing to libraries in the publishing world. The Pottermore Team is headed by CEO Charlie Redmayne and CTO Julian Thomas, and includes a number of professionals who help run Pottermore.

Congratulations to the Pottermore team on winning the award! You’ve done an amazing job over the past year and I’m sure you’ll continue to do amazing things. :-)

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05.08.13
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Universal Orlando announces Wizarding World Expansion, opening in 2014

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley RenderingLR

Concept art for the expansion was also released. Click for high-res.

Today, after months of speculation and rumors, Universal Orlando Resort finally confirmed and announced plans of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion.

According to the press release, the expanded area will open in 2014 and will include Diagon Alley and a London-themed area and will be located in Universal Studios Florida theme park, a separate park from where the current Wizarding World stands. It will officially be known as The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley.

More from the press release:

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Building on the global phenomenon that is The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Universal Orlando Resort and Warner Bros. Entertainment today announced an expansion of historic proportion with the entirely new themed environment, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley.

Scheduled to open in 2014, the world’s first centrally themed, multi-park experience expands The Wizarding World of Harry Potter across both Universal Orlando theme parks and allows Universal’s creative team to bring an unparalleled vision to this unique project.  The new area will bring to life some of the experiences and places found in and around London in the Harry Potter books and films, offering brand-new adventures for fans and theme park guests from around the world.

Diagon Alley and ‘London’ will be located within the Universal Studios Florida theme park, which is adjacent to Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park, where guests now experience Hogwarts and Hogsmeade.  The new area within Universal Studios will be just as expansive, immersive and authentic as the existing themed environment.

And – just like in the books and films – guests will be able to travel between ‘London’ and Hogsmeade aboard the Hogwarts Express.

Work on the new area is already underway.  When complete, it will feature shops, a restaurant and an innovative, marquee attraction based on Gringotts bank – all directly inspired by the fiction and films.

More details on The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley will be released over time.

To bring Diagon Alley and ‘London’ to life, Universal’s creative team is working closely with Warner Bros. and the production design team from the Harry Potter films – just as it did for Hogwarts and Hogsmeade.

“I’m so pleased that The Wizarding World of Harry Potter has proved so popular to date, and I’m sure that the attention to detail in creating the new Diagon Alley area will make this an even better experience,” said J.K. Rowling.

“We are continuing the journey and adding an entirely new level of adventure,” said Tom Williams, Chairman of Universal Parks & Resorts.  “And we are bringing the same drive, commitment, enthusiasm and innovation to this project as we did to the first.”

“We are thrilled to offer the legions of fans the opportunity to embark on this new journey and experience Diagon Alley as it was brought to life in the books and films,” said Brad Globe, president, Warner Bros. Consumer Products.

“Our vision is to create two amazing theme park experiences that combine into one, complete, magical journey,” said Alice Norsworthy, executive vice president, marketing and sales for Universal Orlando Resort.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade opened at Universal’s Islands of Adventure in June 2010 as a fully immersive Harry Potter themed environment – bringing to life the bestselling books by J.K. Rowling and the blockbuster feature films from Warner Bros.  Since that time, it has become a global phenomenon, entertaining millions of people from around the world.

Visitors to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter are swept into the adventures of Harry Potter.  They can tour Hogwarts castle, shop in Hogsmeade and dine at the Three Broomsticks.  They can soar above Hogwarts with Harry, be chosen by a wand at Ollivanders, sample Butterbeer and much more.

05.06.13
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Tutorials for PoA Installment Two & Introducing the Weekly Roundup

Dear Readers,

For those of you who watch our tutorials, we have some news for you:

We have continued with our video tutorial guide series through Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with the release of tutorials through chapters eight and fifteen. You can watch the videos on YouTube right here. We hope they are helpful! :-) If you have any suggestions for the videos, please feel free to comment below/on the videos. We love to hear from our viewers.

Also, starting next Saturday, we will be posting a Weekly Roundup on our Tumblr page. It will be an accumulation of stories we posted throughout the week and other Harry Potter news stories we found online. We will then post this (most likely as a link) on the main website.

Have a great week!

Sincerely,

Dan

Webmaster, Pottermore News

04.29.13
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Wizarding World of Harry Potter Hollywood approved, construction to begin this summer

hpthemepark

James and Oliver Phelps, Fred and George Weasley in the Harry Potter films, at the initial announcement of the Hollywood theme park, December 2011.

NBC Universal has announced that plans for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood have been approved and construction will start this summer.

The Harry Potter theme park is a $500 million part of NBC Universal’s “Evolution Plan”, a $1.6 Billion investment in production and tourism in the Los Angeles area. In a press release, Ron Meyer, president and COO of Universal Studios, said that “Evolution” “sets the stage for our next 100 years in Los Angeles.”

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood is set to open 2015 or 2016, according to initial reports back in December 2011. The park will be similar, but not entirely identical to the one in Florida. The Hogwarts castle will still serve as the centerpiece of the theme park.

Don’t forget that along with the new Wizarding World in Hollywood, the original Orlando park will also be expanded. The expansion will reportedly include a replica of the Hogwarts Express and London/Diagon Alley, including Gringotts and Leaky Cauldron pub. Construction photos are constantly being shared by our friends at Hypable.com. Check out the latest here and here.

04.29.13
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The Royals visit the Warner Bros. Studio Tour with J.K. Rowling

This past Friday the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London played host to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate, along with Prince Harry to commemorate the studio’s official opening. Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and a number of the cast and crew from the films were also there to greet them.

While at the studio, the Duke of Cambridge made a great speech praising J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter. Here’s an excerpt:

‬‪The journey to today began most obviously with the now legendary story of an aspiring author – J K Rowling – translating her phenomenal imagination onto paper in the form of the Harry Potter series. But in another sense, the journey to today began way before, since this country has a long and proud literary and visual arts history – a history that is unmatched in the world for its variety, its commercial success and its longevity.‬‪

The Duke and Duchess also participated in a wizard duel using wands like those in the films, and Prince Harry was seen on the set of the Weasley’s kitchen. The Associated Press reported that they were accompanied by 500 children and adults from Their Royal Highnesses supported charities.

Kate can be seen in the picture below mingling with J.K. Rowling:

wbstudiotourthumb

The Royals are known Harry Potter fans; in January, Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla visited King’s Cross station and were photographed in front of Platform 9¾.

To see more pictures of the event, click below:

04.29.13
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Updated: Reward for the third Pottermore House Cup announced

Slytherin won the third House Cup

Slytherin won the third House Cup

A Brief Update:

Today Pottermore announced that, in return for winning the third House Cup, members of Slytherin House will receive early access to a unique Monstrose Magpies badge. The Montrose Magpies are “the most successful Quidditch team in British and Irish league history” in the world of Harry Potter.

Slytherins will be able to find the badge in their trunk over the next few days and it will be accompanied by an owl notifications. Members of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff will be able to collect the badge in one of the moments of the next installment of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Congratulations to Slytherin for winning the House Cup!

Updated: The badge was added to the trunks of Slytherin House’s members today. Check it out below:

Magpie Mag

The Montrose Magpies badge

04.25.13
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Pottermore announces the winner of the third House Cup…

Slytherin has won the third Pottermore House Cup!

Slytherin has won the third Pottermore House Cup!

Today, Pottermore announced the winners of the third House Cup competition.

And the winner is… Slytherin! Congratulations snakes!

Here are the final standings:

1st Place: Slytherin - 26,990,924 points

2nd Place: Ravenclaw - 26,916,194 points

3rd Place: Gryffindor – 26,740,44 points

4th Place: Hufflepuff - 26,715,401 points

It was another very close race, but ultimately Slytherin House came through at the end and won. Ravenclaw won second, Gryffindor third, and Hufflepuff came in last, unfortunately. This is the second time Slytherin has won the House Cup; they also won the first Pottermore House last June.

Pottermore has transformed the previously purple Great Hall banners into green once again, in honor of Slytherin’s victory. You can see how the Great Hall looks in the picture above.

The prize for this House Cup is a special badge that Slytherin House members will later be able to collect on Pottermore.com. As explained in an earlier post, details of the badge will be announced very soon, most likely tomorrow. We’ll keep you updated!

As for now, the points have been reset and thus the fourth House Cup competition commences! Happy Dueling and Brewing! :-)

04.17.13
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Pottermore announces third House Cup award date, House Pride Week

Pottermore has announced that the third Pottermore House Cup will be awarded Thursday, April 25.

They announced the House Cup in a post on the Pottermore Insider:

This is the third Pottermore House Cup – a friendly contest between the four houses who compete to earn the most house points and win the Pottermore House Cup. Points can be earned by successfully brewing a potion or winning a duel and the house  with the most points is named the winner.

This contest’s winner will be revealed on Thursday April 25 (and the hour-glasses will be concealed from Tuesday April 23 until the winner is announced).

Along with the House Cup, Pottermore announced that they will also be celebrating House Pride Week this week. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Pottermore shared prideful messages from users in the houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin, respectively. Thursday and Friday will see us with messages from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

The winner of this House Cup will not get new chapters or artwork, but rather a Pottermore Badge that “will later be collectible on Pottermore.com.” Pottermore stated that “details of the badge will be revealed upon the announcement of the third Pottermore House Cup winner.”

And with that, let the brewing and dueling ensue! Good luck to all the houses!

04.10.13
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Chapters 8-15 of Prisoner of Azkaban released on Pottermore

A Brief but Important Update:

Pottermore has released chapters eight through fifteen of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Visit Pottermore.com and explore the new chapters.

From the Insider post:

We are excited to announce that the next instalment of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is now ready to explore. In this instalment you will witness a re-enactment of the beheading of Nearly Headless Nick, learn about the ancient wizarding game of Gobstones, pick up sweets in Honeydukes and see the ‘most haunted dwelling in Britain’ – the Shrieking Shack.

Pottermore also announced that with these new chapters, a new “Spoiler Alert” feature has been set into place.

For the first time, some of the new Moments have been released with accompanying audio book snippets for our UK, US and German users. We have also introduced a new spoiler alert feature on selected exclusive entries from J.K. Rowling. If you are about to read anything that may give away storylines or information from beyond that particular Moment on Pottermore.com, an alert will appear. You then have the choice to continue reading or to navigate away and come back at a later time so as not to spoil your own journey through the stories. You can disable the spoiler warning any time it appears and manage your spoiler settings in Account Settings.

Happy Exploring!