Yeah I am sorry about that, guys.
There were three expressions of interest: the team that was chosen, Steve’s, and one other group who I declined as I did not feel they had enough people in their group, and their chosen theme was both I felt a little too niche for the flagship, and a little to close to the Flight of the Hindenburg (it was a cool theme, and if expanded out a little I think it would definitely be a contender in a few years time, but at the present it’s a little too close in theme to Hindenburg)
Steve, given your enthusiasm and that your chosen theme was one of the top two discussed in the post-Chimera discussion thread, I believe you have the makings of a great larp on your hands. However, I was reluctant to offer you the flagship position for two reasons. One is that you have two very young children and a third one due in May, and had not found a team to back up your efforts. Even with a team behind you, I would have been somewhat nervous about a team where the spearhead had such massive and fixed time commitments elsewhere. I understand that a newborn is a massive time commitment, and not exactly one that can be put on hold ‘just until Chimera is over’. Secondly, I was nervous about you following through with your commitment to the project after you left the Great Exhibition team six months in without notice or explanation as to why you were no longer present in the team. I understand from your PM to me that this was due to family reasons, which is fair enough, but Rowena and Dave had been relying on you, and you had simply vanished and stopped contributing without explanation.
History of delivering projects is something I look for in my selection process because this is a mammoth task to undertake and I cannot afford for my flagship to fall to bits four months out from the convention, or worse, for Chimera to arrive and there to be an incomplete larp delivered.
I would consider your 1950s high school larp for a future event, with a few alterations. Again, a team is essential, and I see you are actively looking for one, which is great. 55 players is an awkward number for me, because it is simply too small for the flagship (for 2011, I’m aiming for triple digits) and too large for one of the other time slots. This is what I mean when I say that if someone wishes to write for Chimera, it would be best to communicate with me before embarking, so we can make sure your project fits into the convention parameters. I think your larp has great standalone value, as it would be the sort of thing that would be fabulous to use to recruit new people who want to dip their toes into larping with an evening. I think it aslo has the potential to run as the flagship larp of a future Battlecry, AMERICA’s annual gaming convention which is developing a strong larping segment, and for which 55 PCs would be perfect. If you like, I can put you in touch with the larping co-ordinator of Battlecry, Peter Cummuskey. If you want to discuss options for making the 1950s larp appropriate to run at a future Chimera, Steve, I would love to hear from you via PM I am sorry for any confusion over the 2010 flagship position - it was not my intention to mislead or offend.
With regards to the process for selecting the flagship, I have learned that in future I will be far more clear about the application process. I thought my requirements had been clearly posted (i.e. the need for a team and the number of characters I require) but perhaps it was lost amidst the discussion. This was my oversight. Truth be told, I am reluctant to get too formal about it all, as I think KapCon manages with a largely informal and fairly organic process where a team emerges from a group of interested parties, and “bidding” is only done if there is more than one serious team. That said, I would very much dislike treating people unfairly, or appearing to play favourites, so by the time this rolls around next year, I will have hopefully developed a fair middle ground. Please bear with me as I am still learning some of the finer points of convention running
I hope I do not sound overly draconian in this post, I am always happy to discuss ideas for things to run at Chimera, and I’m always happy to hear from people who want to be involved. The essential thing is that we communicate, so I understand what you are trying to do, and you understand what Chimera’s needs and limitations are