Thanks! (2014)

Czequestria 2014 - mane hall
Mane Hall just before the start, Czequestria 2014; photo by CreepyRiver

“Know that your time is coming soon,
as the Sun rises, so does the Moon…”

This piece of the song sounded in my head all last week – it didn’t stop even after Czequestria started and has lasted until now. I would like to say a lot of things about the last weekend – so I’ll take it gradually and start with what I think is most important:

Thanks!

My personal thanks to all those who contributed together to the fact that the first My Little Pony con in the Czech Republic and Slovakia was better than I expected! And so that this is not just an anonymous “thank you” to the group of people:

To all the guests that they accepted the invitation and honored us with their presence!

Anneli Heed – for sharing her experience with us, revealing to us some aspects of professional voice acting, and also for the singing performance at the Saturday party

Eile Monty – for performance at panels dedicated to music and voice acting and also for amazing singing performance at Saturday party

The Overmare Studios: Hamish Milne, Dragmaister, Adam Sporka (AdamJ), Nahka, and IvoryKeysADSR – for everything they revealed to us about their “Fallout: Equestria” game

Yami Björk and her assistant Jens – for inspiring lectures on cosplay and for moderating the cosplay contest

AdamJ & IvoryKeysADSR & Kočky mají pré – for Saturday’s performance at the party with 20% cooler music and singing

Perry – for a fantastic charity auction, which – as I hope – showed everyone that similar events are definitely not boring if you can present them in the right way

To all those who contributed to the preparations and realization of Czequestria!

Melgarh – for all organization, preparation of possible and impossible, invitations and care of guests, all PR (on Twitter, Facebook, on CZ/SK brony forums and their foreign counterparts), lanyards, brochures with information, preparation of crowdfunding and T-shirt design, for kicking the back bark of my body (when needed) and for taking over my tasks when I could no longer get them done because of exhaustion, the representation of CZ/SK bronies in the EPCU, preparation, and moderation of the panels, solving all sorts of problems… and about a thousand other things, without which Czequestria could not be successful

Tom0147 – for incredible patience and endurance not only in the preparation of Friday’s LARP and all the related things (screenwriting, several reworkings, beta testing…), which required as much time and energy as no other part of Czequestria

Pajzl – for all staff organization, including shifts schedule, communication with people who helped with Czequestria, advice on handling finances, vigilant security on site, which respected by guests and visitors, as well as for the transport of goods and people around Prague

CreepyRiver – for all the organization regarding vendors, buttons with the theme of Czequestria and Libuše (well… for the others too), for constant help in driving around Prague, transporting people and material to all possible and impossible places and willing to help whenever it was needed

Claymon – for transporting mainly guests from/to Czequestria at any time of the day or night, no matter how many kilometers a day or night he has already driven, for help at the con site, and also for the willingness he showed whenever we asked him for help

AdamJ – for caring for the guests (even though he was a guest himself), driving them to the consite and back at any time, and for the constant smile, optimism, and good mood he supplied us with all the time

pidi – for charity auction preparation, Saturday music performance, help with the LARP, guest care, music panel, technical help with panels and help with the organization in general, when the rest of us were running out of breath and time, help with preparations the day before and for more and more, which often fell on his shoulders, and which he seized with determination and vigor of his own, even though they were not his tasks. Also for the unofficial Czequestria promo video, the organizers of other cones were almost afraid to talk about. He rightly deserves the organizer’s team green T-shirt!

Vojta (tydlitele) and d’Artagnan – for the preparation and participation in LARP as an NPC and especially for the provision of the sound part of the whole of Czequestria, both in the main hall and on Saturday party – whether it was sound or the operation and rental of all audio equipment. Great job, guys!

xsoft – for the preparation/organization of Trotmania DDR, My Little Karaoke, and other music games at the consite, as well as for any initiative in the unofficial original promotion of Czequestria. Also for valuable advice about the organization, which helped us avoid the often-repeated mistakes in preparing the conventions and for personal support in difficult times.

To the filming team of Czequestria news:: Assassin, Skejpr (cut); Jiří Bystřický, Honzdir (camera); Jiří Královec (drone pilot); Sabrielka (moderator); AdamJ, EileMonty, MelodicPony music); madA12345, Michy (photos); pipa943 (subtitles); RainbowBrony (assistant); Zrzek, Dex (sound); Aya Yai (Libussa) – for the wonderful Czequestria news made in record time, breathtaking shots and documentation of  the LARP and the whole con

Northern Cross – for creating the cover of the con information brochure with avatars of guests and organizers, also for Libussa in many forms, who greeted the Czequestrie website visitors from the very beginning

jerry411 – for the “Dinky’s Destiny & MLP: FiM animation” panel, also for the amazing official promo video of Czequestria and Perry, because it was her voice that she gave to Libussa, the mascot of Prague

my sister, my mom, and Ithill – for preparing snacks/decorations for the cupcake contest in record time and at the same time high quality, although it was not their duty. Greetings from the guests who really enjoyed them!

Telofy – representing Bronies for Good, who will take care of the funds from the charity auction and ensure that they will be used for charity purposes not once, but in a way that the help we provide makes sense

Corwin – for organizing a cupcake decoration contest and patience in the moments when twenty bronies from five European countries slept in our apartment

To all those who participated in LARP: Tom0147, the main organizer of this event, and his closest collaborators Michy, AutumnBreeze, Kája, and pidi. Furthermore, for the great help in all sorts of possible and impossible activities from the revision of the story, beta test of the route to the preparation of materials for the LARP participants: Hanka, MrMaidx, Antošík, Honzdir, AlkelU3. Also for the translation of texts into English by pipa943 and Frolda. For generous proofreading of his own precision, which is the work of Northern Cross (now known as Cwossie).

To all NPCs on LARP, for giving this game a human/pony soul and for a job well done: Vojta (tydlitele), pidi, Yami Björk, Eile Monty, Alkel u3, Iluzon, d’Artagnan, pipa943, Cwossie, Frolda, Antošík, Kája, AutumnBreeze

To the entire staff at the con site: AutumnBreeze (paramedic, security), Aya Yai (locker room), Bori (security), DragonsCz (security, locker room, papercraft), Krajkhour (karaoke/DDR), pipa943 (security, games), QjmasterCZ (security ), Quint-t-W (locker room), sirMichael (security, medic), Nephala (locker room), Black (medic – medic), IzV (karaoke / DDR), Lumík (security), Dan (security) – for help not only with assigned tasks but also whenever visitors or organizers asked them for help, whatever it was. You have my big thanks because it was you who turned Czequestria into a real con, which the visitors enjoyed to the last piece, thanks to your selfless willingness to help contribute to the joint work!

To all vendors: 99% Angel CUSTOMS, Autokrator’s Chest, Schimy, Dračí křídlo, BladeRain, My Little Workshop, Dragoniana, Xeelee, and Perry – for all the merch they brought that participants could get as a tangible memory of the con. Special thanks go to Antošík for selling things with the Czequestria theme and also for the fact that it was possible to pick up things from the Kreativci Sobě campaign at his stall.

Ithill and Madeleine (catra) – for the constant supply of food, coffee, and good mood during the time of preparation and continuous cleaning in our home, so the rest of the organizers and sleepers had clean dishes at disposal and an environment where we could work

KD Krakov staff – for the willingness, whenever we asked him for help or a change in the planned schedule

my girlfriend Madeleine (catra), as well as the loved ones of all the organizers – for strong nerves and patience with us for the last six months when we (although we did not like it) neglected you sometimes more, sometimes less

And of course thanks to all the attendees who arrived! Without you, Czequestria would not be possible – thank you on behalf of all those who participated in the preparations, and I look forward to the next meeting!

– Jaroslav “Jamis” Haken –
chairman of  Czequestria 2014