Hi everyone,
Now that I have my internet back (yay!) I can finally catch up on all my posting. Sweet Diatribe, how I have missed you. The most important post I have been behind on is the post where I thank everyone that helped make Chimera possible. Chimera takes a huge effort to organise, and I really want to thank all the people that helped me somewhere in the process. And given how revoltingly ill I got just in time for the convention, their help was all the more valuable to help keep things going.
Simone (Moo) Michaux - I can’t tell you guys enough what amazing woman Moo is. She worked quietly with me behind the scenes for months on end, not only dealing with her own stuff as Gear and GM Liaison but giving me endless support and feedback on Chimera in general. Moo handled all communication with the Game Masters, from the early stages of getting information for the website about the games, to following up deadlines, to arranging their gear requests, to being available to discuss game matters, to being there on the day to hand them their kit and point them to their playing space. Her role was not a small one, though it was one that was very much behind the scenes. Having her capable and dependable support in the months leading up to the convention made all the difference in the smooth running of the event, and the continued functioning of my nervous system.
Nikki van den Bergh - Nikki was invaluable in the week leading up to Chimera. Not only did she score us that V sponsorship that kept us going all weekend long, but when almost the entirety of the Chimera team was struck down by plague in the week leading up to the event (things looked pretty dire on Tuesday, let me tell you) she was the one that took the last minute to-do list on, to cut through the ever expanding last minute to-do list and to deal with endless frantic demands. She also opted to not play in any games in order to ensure the smooth running of the weekend by being ever present on the admin desk, tallying votes and helping making sure things stayed on track. With her having the admin firmly in hand, I was free to collapse in a diseased heap quietly out of sight.
Ryan Paddy - Ryan is the unsung hero behind that amazing Chimera website we have. The website is hugely important to Chimera because not only is it really informative about the event, it’s a great little way to give people all the information they need to know about the event. Registering was easy and it’s got an awesome professional look to it - all thanks to Ryan!
James Cooper - James was a valuable member of the Chimera team, helping out with whatever task needed doing, no matter how boring or strange or last minute, things from running games to putting together the Great Exhibition slideshow, to helping with money, to washing dishes in the kitchen.
Tigger Brunton and Muppet Brown - Because me and Nikki’s boyfriends (respectively) get stuck running random Chimera related errands, getting roped into meetings, having to live with stacks of Chimera clutter and dealing with organisational stress. Their patience, love and support is one of the secret ingredients to making Chimera awesome.
The Great Exhibition Team: Rowena Knill, Dave Luxton, Liz McCombe, Hamish Meads and Gary Freedman - for giving up months of evenings, weekends and their entire social lives in order to write a fantastic, high quality and hugely fun game. Writing a larp on that scale is far harder than most people imagine. Thank you guys for giving us our fabulous Saturday night centrepiece!
Kim Smits - Kim was the one that kept us all fed during the event. She carefully planned a menu that was not only a step up from usual larp fare, but remained affordable. Her donating her time (she took time off work to work for us for free!) allowed us to feed people on site with affordable, tasty meals, for no reward. Thank you Kim 
Matt Moore - for spending an entire weekend doing dishes for us. Legend.
Judit Klein - for taking photos of us in a ninja fashion all weekend so we can preserve the weekend forever.
Craig Neilson - for lending his formidabble technological outfit to the Great Exhibition.
David Harrop - for building the fine steampunk inventions to display at the Great Exhibition.
Vanya Essin and Blair Purkiss - for running last minute errands for me with very little notice. Blair gave up an entire Saturday afternoon to do Chimera shopping with me at Sylvia Park. Thanks so much!
The Game Masters: Raoul Griffiths, Gareth Sandford, Walter Hamer, Vanya Essin, Simone Michaux, Tigger Brunton, Porl Bowdler, Joel Williams, Dave McIsaac, Jared Hansen, Stephanie Pegg, Ryan Paddy, James Cooper, Erin Hockings, Malcolm Harbrow, Donna Giltrap, Matt Moore, Patrick Cummuskey, Peter Cummuskey, Jason Farley, and Muppet Brown - all of whom wrote or ran a game at Chimera, some of them more than one, some of them in varying degrees of last minute. Chimera couldn’t have happened without your work and creativity, thank you so much.
Last but not least, the 80+ fine people in this photo, for coming along and bringing it all to life, for putting time and money and love and effort into your costumes and characters, for bringing such amazing energy along. You guys rock.
