These people that I would like to thank personally for help during Kama Con. I apologize for the snarkiness that I exhibited during my Whirling Dervish and/or Walking Zombie Phases. I'm also probably leaving people out for which I apologize.
Kama- for starting it all
Tom Davidson- for kicking my rear when necessary to keep the planning stages moving and for taking care of the pizza
ElJay- for handling the t-shirts, which were totally awesome
The Anonymous Donor- for generous contributions so other people could have fun
Sndrake, Diane, Farmgirl, Fiazko and Theca- for help with the airport pickups and deliveries.
Special mention under the airport category goes to Celia who hates O'Hare but took the Meese to the airport in my mini-van while I was too delirious from sleep deprivation. (She's ruining her evil reputation by being nice.)
Fiazko- for helping with the financial collections and organization in addition to her airport run
Punwit- for being forgiving
Celia, The Tick and Rivka - for taking care and caring about me personally and making sure I relaxed and had fun too.
ElJay and Mackillian- for their "group project" contributions REMINDER: Anyone who got signatures on their Kama Con shirts with the white fabric marker needs to iron it to heat set it, BEFORE they wash it.
And last but not least: Theca, Hobbes and Celia- For the considerate presents you brought me. Chik-Fil-A and the Livestrong band.
AJ
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
You do realize that celia is just lulling you into a false sense of security, right? The other shoe will drop. Oh, will it drop.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Um, you left out somebody Very Important!
Our Hostess, AJ, who arranged everything and coordinated people and made it all Possible!
What would we do without you, dear? I think everyone had a very good time, and I know that I am grateful for all your hard work.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Well there were no catastrophic failures AJ
Oh yes, A huge thanks goes to Annie for organizing the big Saturday trip to the city.
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
Aww, you are welcome AJ. Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
*flicks tail, looks around, settles down and does kitty yoga*
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
CT, please check your e-mail or voice mail if you can. AJ (She did) Thank you CT, I hope that solves the problem! AJ
[ August 16, 2004, 12:15 PM: Message edited by: BannaOj ]
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
We really need an AJ appreciation thread - it's not at all surprising that it was AJ who started a thread thanking people for chipping in with some help here and there.
The general consensus is that KamaCon was a huge success - including the coordination of the pickups of people at various airports, bus terminals, etc.
I think the exchange I had with Tom Davidson sums it up.
I said that none of this would have happened without AJ taking this on and paying so much attention to every detail.
Tom's reply: "Oh, it still would have happened. It just would have been a disaster."
He is so right.
We all owe AJ a big thanks for all the work making this such a smooth and fun time for all the rest of us.
AJ
Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
I wasn't there, but I'll thank you, AJ! For the first time in forever, I could actually keep up with the posting on the 'rack.
*tucks jealousy away*
*grumbles*
So glad you all had fun . . .
*sobs*
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Oh and he's not on hatrack but thank you to my Steve, who put up with people descending on him after he had had a long day on Saturday, and eventually still worked up the energy to attempt to be cheerful.
And then this morning he went out and took care of breakfast for the people who were staying at my place Sunday night.
(And he's doing laundry for me all day today.)
AJ
[ August 16, 2004, 12:22 PM: Message edited by: BannaOj ]
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
*bump* already on the second page and I know people haven't seen it yet.
AJ
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Once again, Tom has pithily summed it up.
Thank you, AJ! For everything you did to make the con run so incredibly smoothly. And especially for all the EXTRA effort you went to on my behalf.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Posted by punwit (Member # 6388) on :
I'd like to add my sincere appreciation for AJ's efforts as well as her hospitality and kindness. Thanks again for the lift and sharing your home. Also since it didn't get any play the first time around I'm gonna repeat my earlier statement, your green bedroom was AWESOME! Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
AnnaJo was absolutely amazing! She pulled this off without a hitch!
And also, AJ - you picked the perfect hotel. I mean, it had everything we needed, it was surrounded by great places to eat, and places to shop and everything was within walking distance -- it was right off the freeway so non-Chicagoans like me found it very very easily. It was just perfect.
I don't know how you did it and still stayed so upbeat during the entire weekend. You're a gem.
Hugs, Farmgirl
Posted by Christy (Member # 4397) on :
Thanks again Anna! I'm glad you were able to have a little fun, too! It really did turn out well and EVERYONE enjoyed themselves.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Farmgirl, there were a few hitches (I guess I did a good job of hiding them) but no catastrophic failures. AJ
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
Hooray for AJ and all her little kamacon helpers!
Posted by Richard Berg (Member # 133) on :
AJ, you rock. 'Nuf said.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
I think AJ is actually the person I was most surprised by in terms of not having a good mental picture of what she looked like in real life. Of course, I pictured her as a giant banana the color of a ripe orange, but that's neither here nor there.
What I really have to say is that she just is completely wonderful and the most surprising thing about her appearance is that she left her halo at home. She earned it, she should wear it, ya know?
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
actually bob, the swimsuit that gave me my nickname, was highlighter yellow. Don't have it any more, it got torn up in a water polo game.
AJ
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
Thanks to AJ and Steve!
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
Thanks AJ. You did a great job.
Out of curiousity, what were the hitches?
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Not telling I have to keep some secrets and let everyone think there weren't any!
Um, let's see for anyone who is planning something in the future:
2-3 reservation/payment issues with the hotel. Stranding Richard Berg at the airport for an extra hour, not making it to pick up Kat on time. Not working out a better system of getting people to the airport for departures and being too delirious to drive the Meese myself. Needing more snack food and muffins, miscalculating on the pizza amounts.
AJ
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
Clearly I need to watch more water polo.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Consider the fact that they often do fingernail checks on both girls and guys before they are allowed in the water...
AJ
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
The thing is though CT, while I'm sorry she got left (I wasn't even there and had no responsibility in that whatsoever) It was better that xnera was the one lost than just about anyone else, because she is the person that knows the city the best. When I got the panicking call going "we lost her" (and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it at that point) at least I could count on xnera to find her way as necessary and didn't fret as much as I would have if it had been someone else.
AJ
[ August 18, 2004, 10:39 AM: Message edited by: BannaOj ]
Posted by JonnyNotSoBravo (Member # 5715) on :
Personally I was glad about the extra pizza. I was eating that great stuff for the whole weekend. That was MY snack food!
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
((((((((((AJ))))))))))
Hobbes Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Thanks to:
AJ - for playing Mom to a bunch of ungrateful brats
Theca - for playing chauffer to a bunch of navigationally impaired Mormons
Kat - for finding every LDS church in the greater Chicago area and arranging for a great immersion study opportunity that greatly improved my Spanish
Kama - for bringing all that fantastic Polish chocolate, most of which ended up in my suitcase
Tom - for being the promptest, most reliable chauffer in the group
Noah - for suggesting the rockin' awesome swing dance trip
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
quote: for finding every LDS church in the greater Chicago area and arranging for a great immersion study opportunity that greatly improved my Spanish
*puts head in hands* Oh, that was so embarassing. Still, it sort of worked out - it was pretty fun in Spanish. Ginormous thank yous to Theca and blackwolve for the rides!!
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Sort of worked out? I loved it!
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Yay! It was fun. And our translator was cute.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
What is this? You guys went to a Spanish-speaking LDS church Sunday morning? I didn't hear about that. That sounds so cool
My LDS friend here would have loved it -- since he did his mission in Spain, and he helped me pass my horrible Spanish class in college...
Farmgirl
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
I need to write out KamaCon. I have an outline, and I'm trying to remember everything. Maybe I'll do that today, before I forget everything. It can't possibly be the definitive account, because so many people had such different experiences, but it would be nice to get accounts from everywhere as pieces to the puzzle.
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
I have some stuff written out as well (including the 'infamous Katie incident', as it will now and forever be called), but am deciding if I should bother posting it, as most stuff has been covered already. Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Oh my goodness... I do not recognize this "incident" of which you speak.
Write it, Mike. I'll write mine today, and maybe Hobbes would be willing to add his accounts to the one thread. I would LOVE to hear everyone's version. There are so many people I barely spoke, much less got to spend time with. It simply wasn't long enough, so I want to vicariously get my Hatrack hits.
[ August 19, 2004, 02:31 PM: Message edited by: katharina ]
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
The One Thread? Is it written in the unutterable language of Mordor?
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
It is reminiscient of the power requisite to invoke the planning of a dozen more gatherings.
You know who we need an account from? Kama!!!! She's the only one that gets to go to ALL of the parties, and I know I want to hear about her impressions of America from Frisco in New York to the gathering in New Jersey.
Posted by Christy (Member # 4397) on :
My account is here. I'm not sure which is the ONE thread There are so many.
*would love to read everyone's accounts, especially Kama's*
[ August 19, 2004, 05:46 PM: Message edited by: Christy ]
Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
AJ, you deserve the biggest thank you for putting so much planning into this.
but i should also thank all of the people who knew about the keys and didn't let on. you kids rock. yous is all my minions now.
[ August 19, 2004, 06:38 PM: Message edited by: celia60 ]
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
REMINDER: Anyone who got signatures on their Kama Con shirts with the white fabric marker needs to iron it to heat set it, BEFORE they wash it.![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Hail]](graemlins/hail.gif)
AJ
![[Kiss]](graemlins/kiss.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[Blushing]](graemlins/blushing.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Thanks AJ. You did a great job.![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
I have to keep some secrets and let everyone think there weren't any!![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)