Another year over for Summer of Sonic for you guys but sadly the
SoS work doesn’t quite stop for some of us.
But before we pass the torch there are a few things I want to
say.
This is now my 3rd year of Summer of Sonic doing my job, involving some of the more boring parts of SoS, namely legal, health and safety, sorting tickets, getting you guys into the venue and that stuff. This in itself is always a stressful job, this year made not only manageable but rather pleasant by the work of Bmn whom created a fully singing and dancing registration management and ticket issuing system allowing me to sort almost 400 registrations an hour. He is a man I owe both a drink and possibly a bottle too.
To the event itself my first thanks is to the security guards
whom were hired. In the end they were the ones helping to advice my
drained mind and making sure all you guys not only got in and out
safely, but made sure you were all safe from the various people
whom did try to get in and spoil the event (a fair few drunk
football fans for the most part).
However the big hats here goes off to JayZeach, our very own SoS
security guy. Not only did he follow his schedule and patrols, he
went above and beyond it, helping to clear the queue lines outside
for your safety and the general public, helping those who got lost
in fire exits, all the while stepping up to his security badge. As
such he should be proud to wear it, as I am sure he is.
Of course he wasn’t the only one to help me with the doors. Vger has helped me also for 3 years in a row at the entrance, punching tickets and checking details, generally doing the boring jobs with me. This year he thankfully he managed to grab centre stage for a while, where my second thanks comes in, Jemnezmy, whom wasn’t even meant to be staff stood up and volunteered to take over from him, she deserves just as much love from you guys because she worked just as hard the day before as well to make sure you guys could enjoy the event.
Along with that we had two staffers whom during their free time came to help us get you all in, Blitzchris & Gavvie had about 10 minutes training and briefing before being thrown right into the thick of the job, and they performed exceptionally with a rather stressed and panicky Urtheart. The fact that these guys went straight back to DJing afterwards is a testament to exactly how much they were willing to give up for you guys.
To round off your front end team we also had Sonic Yoda and Iceman (again another person not originally meant to be working during SoS) helping to get you guys straight into the main hall to enjoy yourselves, as minor a job as it may have seemed, trust me when I say it helped us immensely.
However they aren’t the last people to thank, I also have to thank you guys. The job is hard enough but what makes it manageable is you lot being rather mild mannered and so supportive. Despite the Sonic community’s reputation you guys prove that it is an exception rather than a rule. The key word there is community, that’s what you guys are, this year you showed us what it was, meeting up before, during and after the event and welcoming every single person with open arms, that’s why so many people enjoyed SoS.
I have other thanks to give too, Casanova/Gnasher, TRiPPY, Umiyuri and her mother, Syaming-li, ShadowFox, Strata, Tall-guy and probably others I have forgotten, who came out from the venue, in some cases missing some stage stuff simply to come and say hello to me out in the lobby, tis really appreciated, though you are all silly buggers for coming to do so, even if you did have the ulterior motive of trying to cool down.
But there is one last thanks I have to give. People wonder why I do what I do, miss out on basically the biggest event of the year and stand bored stiff at an entrance. Well if you consider what some of the other staff sacrifice to make this event happen, you realise what I do is basically bugger all comparatively. AAUK, Dreadknux and T-Bird give huge amounts of their time, effort and money to make this event happen. Yes SEGA support us, but a huge amount of the work comes out of these guys, all 3 of them sacrifice their health, sanity and bank account all for you guys. By no means are these the only guys that sacrifice stuff as you’ve already heard in previous blogs. Nemain, Flyboy and WayPastCool all dragged large amounts of goods huge miles, some of which hard to obtain, for you guys to buy and help contribute towards coving the costs of the event. The Archie guys who sent us loads of original inks of their comics, something which you can not usually buy, just for you guys. Richard Elson for his donations, Nigel Dobbyn for coming down once again, Jun Senoue and Johnny Gioeli for flying half way across the world to do a private gig for you guys, Blake Draco, Echo Hawk, Shadzter, Speedknux, Roarey Raccoon, Turbo, Roareye, Discoponies, Fastfeet, and the other volunteers we had, all do this off their own backs. As the security guard from SoS09 said to me, if that isn’t a true Sonic fan then no one deserves to call themselves a true fan.
Summer of Sonic brings out what I think is the true essence of
the word community, every year it surpasses itself in this aspect.
I’ve seen people win huge prizes, and give them away on the
spot to someone who wanted it more, only to win, by pure luck, an
even better prize later on. I’ve seen people sacrifice their
tickets or brining their friends to help those whom they
don’t even know get into Summer of Sonic purely because of
how upset they were that they missed the opportunity. I’ve
seen a young girl’s face light up simply because she was
allowed to come to the event when she had spent so much effort
flying from the USA she forgot to book her ticket, and as such a
member of staff made sure that she had a ticket, and to go even
further a member of staff played a song she had created for Sonic,
and was listened to by the musicians she loved.
If you can name me another community like this that brings a tear
to the eye of this old and battered Urtheart, then I can safely say
you are lying.
And to answer the question that loads of people ask me, that is the
reason I do my job at Summer of Sonic, that and it’s what
I’m good at.
Bless your little cotton socks there. Top man!
you guys put so much work into this. thanks to everyone who made this day possible!
That was really heartening to read sir. It’s stuff like this that makes me proud to be a member of the Sonic community
“I’ve seen people sacrifice their tickets or brining their friends to help those whom they don’t even know get into Summer of Sonic purely because of how upset they were that they missed the opportunity.”
I’d like to add to this a little, though i will presume it was the same three that I said to speak to you when they arrived at the door.
While outside in the morning patroling the line (yes, that’s as close to as an official designation as it gets) making sure you were all in the one line, weren’t skipping, spilling out all over the street or standing on the public roads, I was approached by a friendly fellow i’d never spoken to before.
I shall call him Mr X, Mr. X seemed like a nice chap, he approached me in a very friendly way, I was expecting him to ask me on what time they’d be expected to get in, rather than that, i ended up more in shock from the question.
Apon approaching me, he asked me if it was possible to transfer tickets, now as far as I know, it’s not, and that he would have to speak to Urtheart on the door, however, I was curious so he explained why for me.
He explained to me that not one, not two, but THREE of the group were willing to GIVE UP their own tickets, and all the time that they had spent queueing outside, and waiting on SoS in general, to three people they had met in the queue and had never spoken to before.
Three, complete, strangers.
As Urtheart said, THIS is what makes the Sonic community, THIS shows us that we don’t ALL fall into the “generalisation” in which we are viewed.
Watching the Sonic community come together, each year enjoying themselves, interacting with people old and new, and willing to sacrifice things for others, as with the rest of the staff, has always been the highlight of my working day there, no matter what else is there, seeing Crush 40, playing Sonic 4, etc. Nothing compares, to seeing all of YOU wearing a smile on that day, and enjoying yourself.
So as Urtheart has done, I thank you all, for making the day what it is, The best Sonic Community event of the year.
~James John “Jay” Zeach
where was sonic colors?
Sos was amazing, although I have only one question: Which staff member was it that my mate sprayed the blue hair dye on? XD
You know it’s totally okay man! There was no way I was gonna leave you on your lonesome without a little banter to get you through the day! As I said to you before, I seriously appreciate the work that you do that can sometimes go unnoticed, but it’s equally as important. So thank you for doing what you do and for being an awesome person. :3
All of you guys deserve a tremendous applause, hell, a knighthood, for doing what you’ve done for the 800+ fans that attended!
I’ve only been to one other show/convention and though SoS was much smaller, it was so much more enjoyable because of the effort you guys had put in and, as you so well put, the community.
Here in Canterbury, Sonic fans seem rather scarce and SoS was a great opportunity for me to meet like minded persons and chat to them. As I posted earlier, even if you guys had to charge for SoS 2011 I would be there in a heartbeat. My utmost thanks to yourself and everyone who made sacrifices, big and small, to make it possible. You are truly an example to humanity!
I am a regular at MCM expo, this was my first SOS. I have to say that if sos and expo fall on the same date expo wont get a look in. SoS is simply amazing, the people are… well i cant find the words but I felt so at home. everyone was smiling, everyone approachable. There are so many thankyous i want to give out, Johhny was late on stage for buzzbombs because he was talking to my little boy (Tyler) who was on Drednknux’s team, then when his team lost, Tyler was tracked down given prizes anyway! then when he told Dreadknux that he would give them all back if he could just meet Sonic… (A serious tear welled up here) Dreadknux went out of his way to make sure Ty had his hug from the hedgehog!
All of you, no matter WHAT you did for SOS should be exploding with pride, you made a little boy (and a big one!) so so happy.
Thank you so much, as a community i wonder if we could do more to help you next time?
Page (aka Tails Doll Guy!)