'Rings' Plan: Grab Geeks So Masses Will Follow "We reverse-marketed," Paddison said. "We had to get the fans first. They are our evangelists." He attended Comicon, the annual comic-book convention. He e-mailed Tolkien webmasters at 3 a.m., because that's when they're up trolling the Internet. He met with some. "I had a dialogue with a couple of vampires — at least, they thought they were," Paddison said. "We did not have dinner."