A QUICK WORD OF THANKS…

In 2022, Den of Geek celebrated our 15th anniversary. But this year, I’m celebrating a little milestone of my own.

THIS SPRING WILL MARK 10 years that I’ve been here at Den of Geek, and I apologize for this column finding me in an uncharacteristically reflective mood. It’s been a remarkable decade, one that I definitely never would have considered possible at a previous stage of my life. In that time, I’ve watched this company grow from a relatively small online audience to one that reaches millions of people every single month, that encompasses video, podcasts, and the very print product you hold in your hands right now. I went from essentially having to sneak into my first press rooms and interviews at places like San Diego Comic-Con to watching our team host some of the biggest stars in the world in our own interview suites while tens of thousands of attendees get a magazine that continues to get bigger and better with every issue placed directly in their hands while they line up for panels, signings, screenings, and all the other things we love about fan gatherings. It’s been a real honor to keep you folks company during those moments.

I’m not even sure what my ambitions were when I took this job other than to provide the most fun and insightful coverage we possibly could to our audience. At the time, a print magazine alone felt unrealistic, an idea whose time had passed (how wrong I was!), and we certainly didn’t have the resources to produce podcasts, shows, and live events, nor did I ever truly think that we’d be able to routinely get those insights directly from some of the biggest names in movies, TV, games, comics, and more. I didn’t anticipate that this mag would be available in hundreds of comic shops, places I considered virtually sacred when I was a kid growing up, and sci-fi, horror, and superheroes were about the least cool things you could possibly be into (how things have changed!). Clearly, I was thinking too small at the time because I didn’t reckon with the fact that I’d be surrounded by some of the smartest, most creative, and most hardworking people in the business.

Perhaps I also didn’t fully anticipate just how hungry readers were for a website and magazine like this one. And in the course of the last decade, we’ve learned quite a bit about what it takes to grow (and hopefully keep) a passionate audience that loves everything we cover even more than we do. Hopefully, we’ve made you feel like part of our conversation during that time, too. Thanks to my team and to each and every one of you for letting me do all this cool stuff over the last ten years.

Mike Cecchini, Editor-in-Chief