About

What is Flonkerton?
It is defined as the national sport of Icelandic paper companies. It is also Lauren’s (aka ladama of mild “fanvid” fame) attempt at a “The Office” fansite.

Who runs Flonkerton?
That’d be me. Hi, I’m Lauren, a twenty-something gal from Colorado who first saw The Office in September ‘06, and have been getting looks from my friends due to my obsession with the show ever since. I studied graphic design (can you tell by the awesome graphics on this site?) but am now actually living in Japan “teaching” English (you can read about my mis-adventures here) Sadly, when an episode airs in the States, it’s about 11am Friday where I am, so no spoilers for at least a few hours, please.

What makes Flonkerton different from another other Office Fansites?
My goal is to create a site that compliments other sites in the Office Community. I don’t know if I really have a “niche” other than to hopefully be a place Office Fans enjoy coming to. I would say my focus is more on the show itself and on the fans rather than on the actors, though I may occasionally post about their non-Office projects (But OfficeTally and the LJ Community are probably better places to go for that kind of news).

Flonkerton Features
Here are some of the “series” that are features on this site:

• Recaps: As of the “Halloween” episode, I’m never going to complete episode summaries in the old format, so I’m once again revamping my episode recaps. Now I’m going to have a bullet list listing the main plot points in each episode, hopefully they will be fun to write and read. I will also have my 10 favorite quotes (20 for hour-long episodes), trivia, a poll to grade the episode. I’m going with the short list in favorite of having links to episode transcripts provided by OfficeQuotes.net. Maybe I’ll still do the slideshows, but you’re searching for a specific screen cap, you’re better off finding it at Office Caps or in the LJ Office Community.
• Pam Pong: Hey, I loves me some Jim and Pam and I’m not going to apologize for it. But in order to keep my recaps (hopefully) free of fangirly squees, I have the Pam Pong posts, kind of a checklist of the PB&J action in each episode. It’s pointless, shippy fun. And now I have discussion questions to go with it!
• Fanworks Spotlights: The great thing about the Office fandom is how crazy/obsessed/talented it’s fans are, and I hope to bring a little attention to these talented flans by have fanworks spotlights. So far I’m focused on fan art and vids, but if you see any fanwork you think needs to be on this page, please contact me.
• Random Poll: Exactly what it says, I post polls about pretty random topics, like Jim’s Hair, or Awesome Office Meltdowns, and you vote and discuss.
• Office Mysteries: The Office is a very well crafted show that gives a lot of heed to it’s “canon” but that doesn’t mean fans aren’t sometime left scratching their heads. If questions like “Did Jim go to Australia?”, “Who is that gray haired lady I sometimes see in the Annex?” or “How exactly do you spell Pam’s last name” keeps you up at night, this is the series for you.
• Viewing Club: This starting as a way to pass time in the summer, but I think I’ll continue it on “off” weeks during the season. Basically, when NBC airs a repeat, I post a viewing list of other episodes with a similar theme and some discussion questions.

Other F.A.Q.s
How do I get in touch with you?
- All comments, questions, suggestions, submissions, whatevers should be sent to flonkerton.mods@gmail.com. That email is solely for this site, so I’ll probably check it about once a day. If you have a super pressing matter you can write to my personal email address: ladama [at] gmail.com

I have an Office site, can we partner up?
- If you have a site devoted to the show, a character or pairing, or one of the regular cast members, I would love to be affiliated with you. Learn more here: Become a Flonkerton affiliate!

I want to help Flonkerton! What can I do?
- So far Flonkerton is a one-fan-show, I make all the graphics, write all the posts, and gather all the info. The best way to help me is to be a tipster, if you see a bit of trivia missing from an episode post, or come across something fun or interesting like an Office game or an article analyzing the show, you can email me or comment somewhere on the site. Also I appreciate any and all suggestions: what the random poll of the week should be, what Office Mystery I should investigate, what fanwork I should feature, anything. And lastly you can help promote the site by simply linking to it and spreading the word.

What’s your stance on spoilers?
I do post the title of the next episode on the front page. I don’t personally consider the NBC episode synopsis, promo photos, or TV promo spots spoilers, but I know a lot of fans do, so I try to always post these things with warnings. I’m a bit of a spoiler addict-in-recovery, so this site will generally steer clear of spoilers.

There is a glaring grammar/spelling error in such-and-such post.
Confession time: I’m not the best speller, I spelled “of” a-v in the first grade, okay? Combine that with not being a great typist, and living in a country where English is used in creative ways like this, you’re going to get a few errors. If you see a spelling or grammar error, please kindly point it out in a comment (or even better, in an email to ladama [at] gmail.com). “Kind” is the key word here, I’m a nice, understanding person, but like anyone else I can only take so much grammar policing before I snap and tell you this is a fansite and not the freakin’ New Yorker and punch a hole in a virtual wall.

Why do I have to click outside links to get to polls and slideshows?
- This site is hosted on WordPress.com, and they are very strict about Javascript and Flash since this a multiuser environment and Java and Flash can compromise the site’s security. As a result I have to link to outside pages for slideshows and polls as well as some other things. I apologize if you find this inconvenient. I always cross-post polls on Flonkerton’s Myspace Blog.

The tags/categories take me to some WordPress-wide results page.
- Maybe some people find it useful, but I find a bit irritating that if you click on a tag at the end of a post, it shows you every post marked with that tag on WordPress.com. To make your Flonkerton navigating experience easier, stick with clicking the category links in the sidebar (under “Filing System”)

I commented to a post, but it’s awaiting moderation
- To avoid spam, I do screen comments. WordPress has a pretty good spam filter, but the occasional spam does get though. Once your first comment is approved, futures comments from the same IP are posted immediately. Please post comments, I love comments, it makes running this site worth while.

Is Flonkerton on MySpace?
- You know it is! Basically I post promo videos on my profile, add songs I feel compliment that week’s episode, and blog entries about what’s new here at the site. Go visit Flonkerton’s MySpace, I’m a better friend than Tom, I promise.

How do I get the latest Flonkerton updates?
- If you really want to be immediately notified of updates, I just signed up for Twitter. You can now see every update, large or small, in an RSS feed towards the bottom of the sidebar. If you are on Twitter, you can follow Flonkerton’s Twitter Page.

Do you know [so and so] from the show?
- Sadly, no, like most of you, I’m just a fan. Other than being “friends” with a few of the cast and crew members on Myspace, I have no contact with any of the actors or creators nor do I have any of their contact info.

Are you affiliated with the show or with NBC?
- (boring disclaimer stuff) “The Office” is copyright NBC-Universal. Flonkerton is a fan-created site, and has no association with anyone from “The Office”, NBC, or any of their sponsors.