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Summer of Sonic Past

SOS 10 Overview: AAUK (Pt 2)

August 12th, 2010 by ArchangelUK

Hi everybody, I’m currently (trying) to get some sense of a break – alas things seem to be conspiring against me as usual. It’ll be nice one day to not have to worry about this sort of thing, very nice, as it stands though I’m always going to have to come back and do something. So as I’m here I might as well give praise to a few who should perhaps be getting a mite more credit on top of that issued already by my esteemed co-organisers. Who knows maybe as its me that’ll be worth more – like a double praise-bow. Or a pint of Strongbow.

Incidentally I was going to address things regarding my decision to stop being an active part of SOS after SOS11, but that ended up rather taking over the piece so I’ll leave that for another day – I also want to word it just right. It needs to be worded right… For now lets just shine the spotlight on a few individuals.

ADAM/T-BIRD

Make no bones about it, Adam was frickin’ GOD this year, instrumental in helping me to get Crush 40 over here for you guys be it whispering sweet nothings into Jun and Johnny’s ears to get them to agree in principle to come or helping me sweet talk SEGA Japan into allowing Crush 40 to come down and perform with his awesome proposal writing skills. Adam was also responsible for much more, he (along with Svend) forked out part of Johnny’s plane ticket, covered the hire of the band equipment (which reminds me I owe him £200 towards that) and the organisation of an awful lot over the Friday and Saturday.

Adam was my suave, sophisticated and much better looking wingman this year. He said to me in about May when we were really getting into things that he didn’t realise SOS took as much as it did in organising. Fact of the matter is he handled his side expertly in spite of a lot of surprises and bumps in the way… and on the day he was a tour de force considering a rather unpleasant experience with an unknown agent in his meal the night before.

Kudos and thank you sir.

JOSH/URTHEART

If you look up the term “unsung hero” in an encyclopedia (because Dictionaries DO NOT HAVE PICTURES IN THEM) you’ll probably find Urtheart. Lewis (Sonic Yoda) posted the following in the SSMB and it sums up my thoughts somewhat.

I need to give a very special message to a particular member of the SoS staff:

There’s been one man who has staffed every SoS so far and has received almost no recognition for what he has done. His name is Josh ‘Urtheart’ Cartlidge and he has volunteered his time and effort to man the doors and deal with security every year. He does this for absolutely nothing and spends the majority of his day on the doors to make sure everyone is checked into the convention following the correct procedure.

Now, this probably sounds a bit dull. “Yeah, so what? How hard can it be to make sure people get in?” Well if you think that you need to wise up and realise that Josh misses everything you get to enjoy. Playing Sonic 4? Forget it. Meeting Nigel Dobbyn? Forget it. Watching Crush 40? Clear off!

What bugs me most about this is that Josh didn’t need to be on the doors all day because he had 2 paid and qualified members of security helping, yet he still fully committed to his role. That’s dedication and as far as I can see, he didn’t even receive a certificate for his 3 years of service.

Seriously, if you were a Sonic fan giving up your time to staff a Sonic convention, you would at least hope you get to enjoy it on the same level as everyone else. Josh puts in some incredible effort to do what he does and he takes all the flak you give him when you’re waiting to get in or end up disappointed that you missed getting a goodie bag.

Next year there needs to be as many people cosplaying as Josh as there was this year as Shadow! Make sure you show Urtheart just how valued he is in the Sonic community at the next possible occasion. Thank you Urth for doing such an amazing job year-in, year-out.

Couldn’t say better than that.

LEWIS/SONIC YODA

Being Sonic might seem a pretty cushy job, what Lewis does though is BECOME Sonic. Also the Sonic costume is NOT a nice place to be, if we hired an “actor” to play Sonic they’d last about 10-15 mins before disappearing off for a break. What Lewis does every year is do about 5x the amount of time they do, REPEATEDLY. Seriously we beg him to stop and he wants to go back out there for everyone the silly sod.  Not only that he was Wentos this year – and that coat is HOT. When he’s not in a costume he’s keen to help out in any way.

My thanks mate.

JAY/BLAKE DRACO & PHIL/VGER

You already know Vger very well for being such a great sport with Carameldansen. Blake helped run the ASR tournament with Dale/Shadtzer.  What you don’t know is that in the set-up and closedown these two were EVERYWHERE. Whenever someone needed a team to help with something Blake was there and helping out without complaint – if you needed some help he was at your side immediately. Vger deserves thanks for taking a lead role in the closedown of the event and helping me out in a time of trial.  Both worked like trojans to little fanfare – I’d like to give them such now.

ALLAN/ROARZ/ROARY RACCOON

Roarz wasn’t even a member of staff – but was quick to volunteer his services as runner supplying the crew with liquid refreshments and even buying a FREAKIN’ FAN for people.  Ultimately the best joy was just seeing Roarz again for the first time since SOS 08 and seeing him so happy.  I’d like to offer my thanks for his kind offers and for helping out in various ways.

The entire crew deserves your respect and thanks, as they have mine.  That’s all for now.

-ArchangelUK-

8 Responses to “SOS 10 Overview: AAUK (Pt 2)”

  1. Thomas says:

    Without you and all of the staff members (named and not named) who made SoS 10 possible, as a visitor/fan of sonic i want to thank you all for making the day very special and rememberable ^^ However just a simple thanks doesn’t seem or feel to be enough to show how much we fans are grateful to you guys for what you’ve done. I’ll think of a way to do that somehow ^^; but again i thank you all for making it such a fun day.

  2. Antony 'PsychoSk8r' Turner says:

    Thomas speaks the truth. Sums up everything I want to say. =P

  3. Casanova says:

    I think you’re wonderful, for all the work and effort you put into these things, simple text words on a reply don’t really do it justice, but everyone thinks you’re wonderful, because whilst we’ve not idea how much you do. We know that you do a great deal, and that makes you wonderful. At least thats what I think anyway.

  4. Jakeiiii says:

    You guys are awesome! I loved SOS, and I’ll definitely go next year! Thank you ALL :D

  5. Harry says:

    Yes, you guys definitely deserve an infinite amount of praise for everything you did and everything that you sacrificed in order to make SoS possible. I agree with everything that has been said and I really feel like words can’t describe how grateful everyone is. I know that you have done an amazing job on SoS this year and you will do for the years to come. Thank you all for a wonderful event. :)

  6. A big round of applause goes out to all the SOS members and staff for not only setting up such a fantastic event but also managing it throughout the day. Seriously, you guys deserve all the respect and more. As an event set up by Sonic fans many of you [the staff] miss out on large parts or even all of the events that take place despite obvious attachments to them. The level of sacrifice is so large but believe me when I say that I and undoubtfully the majority of attendees are thankful for it.

    I loved the Summer of Sonic ’10 and I can’t wait for next year!

  7. Sonic Yoda says:

    Thanks for the kind words AAUK. I have nothing but respect for you and have always been in your debt for the help you’ve given me with my site and for making the Sonic community a great place to be. I also care a lot about your health! Hope you’re recovering well.

  8. thanx 4 all the good times sonic im one of fangirls and i luv the song”they call me sonic”.

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The Summer of Sonic is a convention based in Central London, UK. Event created by Svend Joscelyne, presented by The Sonic Stadium and Sonic Wrecks. Supported by SEGA Europe and SPOnG. Attendees of all ages are welcome, but visitors under 15 years of age should be accompanied by a suitable parent or guardian - the organisers accept no responsibility for those attending the event. Anything brought in by attendees to showcase are the sole responsibility of their owners. Be careful when meeting strangers you know online elsewhere; The Summer of Sonic is a safe neutral location for fans of Sonic the Hedgehog to meet up. All content copyright © The Summer of Sonic 2010, fan content published is the copyright © of respective artists and fans. Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters are copyright © SEGA. All Rights Reserved. Website powered by WordPress.