Hello everyone!
Okay, so I'm a wimp and it took me two days to recover from the knockout combination of Symposium-National Event. Despite my lack of heartiness, there are some people that deserve sincere recognition and heartfelt thanks for all they contributed to making the National Event possible.
It takes a cast of thousands to make an event successful, especially one of this nature, and many of them are never seen by the PCs. Bringing together chapters and staffs that have not worked together before is never easy, and the following folks shouldered huge portions of the burden for all of us.
I may have forgotten some folks: this is not by intent, but rather because there are so many people that deserve recognition. Give a shout out if there is someone missing from this list!
Logistics
Matt Watkins - you are a superstar among logistics people, and powered through a very tough situation to make the game fun for everyone. You were none of the problem, and all over the solution. I've said it already, there aren't words adequate to thank you for your contribution to our game.
Seth Bird - you brought a great attitude, were willing to jump fence, and handled chaos like it was nothin'. Thank you so much for helping keep things running smoothly.
Rob Davis - thanks for being the Man from Ohio, and helping pull it all together. I still don't know how you cut tags like that, but somehow you make it work. Great job!
Jessica Bender - you weren't even supposed to be on this team, and yet you jumped in and helped all of Friday night (until 7am!) despite losing game time. You're a tremendous project manager and team player, and somehow you make it all look easy.
Bev Byers - How did Bev get behind desk?? Thank you for hopping fence and helping out when we so desperately needed it!
Jesse Hennessey - Dude. Thank you for making us all laugh, being amazing at all kinds of jobs, and keeping us going until the work got done. You gave me new insight on treasure policy, got through a ton of logistics issues, and cracked jokes that kept us laughing instead of whining about how tired we were. I'd have you on any team that needed to kick some serious bum, because you bring it when needed most.
The Friday Night Crew
These folks helped with everything from a massive shopping run to Staples, to cutting tags until 7 in the morning, to calculating and pulling treasure policy, giving backrubs to people that needed it, and generally making the event happen as smoothly as possible when facing some serious hiccups. You all know how much I value you for many reasons, and again I can only say "thanks" for what you did this past weekend.
Matt Watkins - I've already said how awesome you are, but it bears repeating. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Jesse Hennessey - Yeah, yeah, your head is big enough. You rock. 'Nuff said.
Will Kinkaid - I know you were exhausted, but you didn't whine or complain, and you helped when needed. Thanks for always being willing to step up.
Tab Merkel - Tag cutter, gold-counter, and back-rubber extraordinaire! Thank you for helping make the event happen, and calming me down when I was flustered.
Sean Metzler - You are a wonderful shopping companion, compatriot-in-all-things, and one of the best Rules Marshals I've ever worked with. Thanks for the help with the cart and the craziness.
Lauren Yung - You talked a lot of us down from the edge, and did so with humor and grace. Ohyeah, you also found a good deal on card stock. Thanks for pitching in when things were rough!
Rachel Durfee - I'm pretty sure you think we're all half-crazy, but you're always up for pitching in and keeping things rolling. Thanks for the shopping help and down-to-earth conversation!
Alex Perez - Wow, I probably would have punched my own self in the face if I'd asked myself to calculate that much production. You are a gentleman, and a machine at treasure policy. Thank you SO much!
Jessica Bender - I've already sung your praises, and you deserve so many more.. thank you again for everything you did.
Brian Bender - You stayed up, kept us laughing, and also knew when we all needed to call it quits for the sake of the treasure policy. Thank you for always being part of the A-Team at every event.
Plot
Paul Foisy - It isn't an easy job herding cats from around the country, and you put in tremendous effort to make it work. Thank you for your dedication to making a game that represented the Alliance.
Scott Edwards - You gave us local flavor and helped keep things real in camp. Your job involved so much more than plot this weekend, and you deserve a thousand hugs for all of it.
Brian Bender - You're always wonderful to work with, and somehow get Zen just when I get crazed. Thank you for all of your work, your patience, and your unique outlook on how to help players have the most fun at Alliance.
Matt Byers - You are a master at writing roleplay that wrings laughter and tears within moments of each other, and you're also a stand-up guy. We don't see each other often enough, but I truly appreciate all that you do to make the game better.
Scott Kondrk - For the guy that wasn't going to be involved, you sure did a whole heck of a lot! Thank you for running your own plot, some other people's, and keeping camp a little more sane for your presence.
Dave Darling - You brought Jersey, and you brought it hard. More than that, you helped man Monster Desk all weekend even though it wasn't in the job description! Thank you for your energy and get-it-done mentality!
Tavern
Mike Webb - The smells were amazing, the tastes matched them, and you somehow managed to feed over 100 people and keep them all happy over a long weekend. Well done, sir!
Kirsten Doheney - I barely saw you this weekend because you were slaving in a hot kitchen - thank you for giving up playing to help feed a horde of hungry LARPers!
Sarah Shimko - you cooked with a fever. You are crazy. And awesome.
Monster Desk
Joe Plonski - You had a very tough job in front of you to "assist" without taking over, and you were masterful at it. You did great work this weekend, and I look forward to working with you again in the future!
NPCs
Miranda Papierowicz
Collin Babcock
Jeremy Lopez
Brian Bender
Deirdre Kondrk
Scott Kondrk
Paul Foisy
Chris McGrath
Justin Doheny
Kiersten Doheny
Matt Boyd
Maureen Vaughan
Mike Webb
Rob Ames
Rob Davis
Sarah Shimko
Scott Edwards
Matt Byers
Mike Meeker
"Rocky"
Dawson Davis Jr
John Quigley
Will Hawkins
Sarah Hawkins
Joe Plonski
Jen Reynolds
Joseph Woodyard
Charles Russel
Dane Black
Brandon Sandborn
Dave Darling
Mark Davidson
Sara Funkhouser
Tags
This isn't usually something that comes up at an event, but due to a last-minute crisis, we had a number of people that stepped in to man the paper-cutters and save our butts!
Jesse Smith
Brad Witmer
Kevin Erwin
Jarrod Taylor
Natalie Dye
Cody Steward
Lauren Yung
Mike Chagnon
Jill Segraves
Mark MIckle
Katie Herbert
Alex Perez
Tab Merkel
Please thank the volunteers that donated their time and talent to making a better Alliance this weekend!
Okay, so I'm a wimp and it took me two days to recover from the knockout combination of Symposium-National Event. Despite my lack of heartiness, there are some people that deserve sincere recognition and heartfelt thanks for all they contributed to making the National Event possible.
It takes a cast of thousands to make an event successful, especially one of this nature, and many of them are never seen by the PCs. Bringing together chapters and staffs that have not worked together before is never easy, and the following folks shouldered huge portions of the burden for all of us.
I may have forgotten some folks: this is not by intent, but rather because there are so many people that deserve recognition. Give a shout out if there is someone missing from this list!
Logistics
Matt Watkins - you are a superstar among logistics people, and powered through a very tough situation to make the game fun for everyone. You were none of the problem, and all over the solution. I've said it already, there aren't words adequate to thank you for your contribution to our game.
Seth Bird - you brought a great attitude, were willing to jump fence, and handled chaos like it was nothin'. Thank you so much for helping keep things running smoothly.
Rob Davis - thanks for being the Man from Ohio, and helping pull it all together. I still don't know how you cut tags like that, but somehow you make it work. Great job!
Jessica Bender - you weren't even supposed to be on this team, and yet you jumped in and helped all of Friday night (until 7am!) despite losing game time. You're a tremendous project manager and team player, and somehow you make it all look easy.
Bev Byers - How did Bev get behind desk?? Thank you for hopping fence and helping out when we so desperately needed it!
Jesse Hennessey - Dude. Thank you for making us all laugh, being amazing at all kinds of jobs, and keeping us going until the work got done. You gave me new insight on treasure policy, got through a ton of logistics issues, and cracked jokes that kept us laughing instead of whining about how tired we were. I'd have you on any team that needed to kick some serious bum, because you bring it when needed most.
The Friday Night Crew
These folks helped with everything from a massive shopping run to Staples, to cutting tags until 7 in the morning, to calculating and pulling treasure policy, giving backrubs to people that needed it, and generally making the event happen as smoothly as possible when facing some serious hiccups. You all know how much I value you for many reasons, and again I can only say "thanks" for what you did this past weekend.
Matt Watkins - I've already said how awesome you are, but it bears repeating. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Jesse Hennessey - Yeah, yeah, your head is big enough. You rock. 'Nuff said.
Will Kinkaid - I know you were exhausted, but you didn't whine or complain, and you helped when needed. Thanks for always being willing to step up.
Tab Merkel - Tag cutter, gold-counter, and back-rubber extraordinaire! Thank you for helping make the event happen, and calming me down when I was flustered.
Sean Metzler - You are a wonderful shopping companion, compatriot-in-all-things, and one of the best Rules Marshals I've ever worked with. Thanks for the help with the cart and the craziness.
Lauren Yung - You talked a lot of us down from the edge, and did so with humor and grace. Ohyeah, you also found a good deal on card stock. Thanks for pitching in when things were rough!
Rachel Durfee - I'm pretty sure you think we're all half-crazy, but you're always up for pitching in and keeping things rolling. Thanks for the shopping help and down-to-earth conversation!
Alex Perez - Wow, I probably would have punched my own self in the face if I'd asked myself to calculate that much production. You are a gentleman, and a machine at treasure policy. Thank you SO much!
Jessica Bender - I've already sung your praises, and you deserve so many more.. thank you again for everything you did.
Brian Bender - You stayed up, kept us laughing, and also knew when we all needed to call it quits for the sake of the treasure policy. Thank you for always being part of the A-Team at every event.
Plot
Paul Foisy - It isn't an easy job herding cats from around the country, and you put in tremendous effort to make it work. Thank you for your dedication to making a game that represented the Alliance.
Scott Edwards - You gave us local flavor and helped keep things real in camp. Your job involved so much more than plot this weekend, and you deserve a thousand hugs for all of it.
Brian Bender - You're always wonderful to work with, and somehow get Zen just when I get crazed. Thank you for all of your work, your patience, and your unique outlook on how to help players have the most fun at Alliance.
Matt Byers - You are a master at writing roleplay that wrings laughter and tears within moments of each other, and you're also a stand-up guy. We don't see each other often enough, but I truly appreciate all that you do to make the game better.
Scott Kondrk - For the guy that wasn't going to be involved, you sure did a whole heck of a lot! Thank you for running your own plot, some other people's, and keeping camp a little more sane for your presence.
Dave Darling - You brought Jersey, and you brought it hard. More than that, you helped man Monster Desk all weekend even though it wasn't in the job description! Thank you for your energy and get-it-done mentality!
Tavern
Mike Webb - The smells were amazing, the tastes matched them, and you somehow managed to feed over 100 people and keep them all happy over a long weekend. Well done, sir!
Kirsten Doheney - I barely saw you this weekend because you were slaving in a hot kitchen - thank you for giving up playing to help feed a horde of hungry LARPers!
Sarah Shimko - you cooked with a fever. You are crazy. And awesome.
Monster Desk
Joe Plonski - You had a very tough job in front of you to "assist" without taking over, and you were masterful at it. You did great work this weekend, and I look forward to working with you again in the future!
NPCs
Miranda Papierowicz
Collin Babcock
Jeremy Lopez
Brian Bender
Deirdre Kondrk
Scott Kondrk
Paul Foisy
Chris McGrath
Justin Doheny
Kiersten Doheny
Matt Boyd
Maureen Vaughan
Mike Webb
Rob Ames
Rob Davis
Sarah Shimko
Scott Edwards
Matt Byers
Mike Meeker
"Rocky"
Dawson Davis Jr
John Quigley
Will Hawkins
Sarah Hawkins
Joe Plonski
Jen Reynolds
Joseph Woodyard
Charles Russel
Dane Black
Brandon Sandborn
Dave Darling
Mark Davidson
Sara Funkhouser
Tags
This isn't usually something that comes up at an event, but due to a last-minute crisis, we had a number of people that stepped in to man the paper-cutters and save our butts!
Jesse Smith
Brad Witmer
Kevin Erwin
Jarrod Taylor
Natalie Dye
Cody Steward
Lauren Yung
Mike Chagnon
Jill Segraves
Mark MIckle
Katie Herbert
Alex Perez
Tab Merkel
Please thank the volunteers that donated their time and talent to making a better Alliance this weekend!
I don't know all of your names) OMG 75+ modules tons of wave battles and so much more while still having smiles on my face. Thanks to the folks who made the battering ram and manned the trap mod(Chris and John?), To Maureen and Joy Clark for their vigilant care for my players even when I am making a fight go outside by the grill (thanks for stopping me Dr. Vaughn). For all the ones who made food runs, or RPed their hearts out or came up with last minute details. Justin Doheny, for writting so many mods and being so nice even when you wanted to be meaner. Jen for your awesome noble NPC. Meeker and Rockie cuz you rock and you know it and all the others whose names escape me. 