CoffeeWars 4: Credits, Thanks, and Greets

First and foremost, our thanks go out to:

• Dark Tangent, Black Beetle and the DefCon Staff: Being an official event made a huge difference to us this year, both in terms of the notice we got, and in terms of essential matters like getting a table. Black Beetle was great about getting back to us quickly on the subject of being official, and DT (just like last year) was helpful at the awards ceremony, and generous (our winner got a VIP badge). The goons made sure we got our table. Thanks, DefCon!
• The Alexis Park Staff: Once again, despite the obvious strain of having a few thousand hackers running around, the Alexis Park Staff went beyond the call of duty. Although we were greeted with some suspicion at first by the Food and Beverage Coordinator, once he checked us out, he was very pleasant and supportive. More importantly, when we ran low on judging forms, the front desk staff were great: they quickly took a blank ballot and made us some more copies. Thanks, Alexis Park!

And now, we introduce the staff:

• Alice: Coordinator of the judging process, keeper of the Magic Sharpie marker, and all-around swell person. Where would we have been without you?
• Etaoin Shrdlu: Master Brewer, chief judge, and full of more attitude than you can shake a stick at. Well... more attitude than you should shake a stick at. I don't really know what happens if you shake a stick at Shrdlu, and you probably shouldn't try.
• MadHat: Filling in wherever he was needed, MadHat dealt with grounds, passed stuff around, and generally provided a steady hand where others would have been too shaky.
• Dr. Vann Harl: Donated our awesome prize, and brought some of the entries for those who could not attend. Dr. Harl was also a judge.
• Foofus: Organizational stickler, statistician, scribe, and spokesmodel. Too bad I don't have enough caffiene tolerance to sample the full variety of entries. Also, I would have been lost without the organizational and logistical support of Sweetypig, who helped with the banner, the acquisition of my entry, and numerous other details.
• Tim: In addition to judging, Tim was the official collector of forms (both entries and ballots). Were it not for his methodical work, chaos would have reigned when it came time to compile the results.

But wait, there's more-- there would be no results whatsoever without the rest of the judges:

• Gurney: I swear this guy only came for CoffeeWars-- I didn't see him again for the rest of the con! That's hardcore, man.
• Grunch: What is a Grunch? It's an excellent guy who has great taste in coffee, that's what! He also contributed some nice photos.
• Cheshire Catalyst: This guy had easily the best signature on the ballots, and he brought his own elite green pen!
• Tweakt: Back for more, after his entry tied last year.

A lot of people came with coffee entries, but we couldn't accept them. There was just too much coffee this year, and the number of contestants exceeded our capacity even before 10:00AM. We were very sorry to have turned folks away-- it wasn't part of the plan, and we'd like to take a moment to honor the would-be coffee warriors whose entries couldn't get judged this time around.

• Cedric Stanton: This guy seems highly knowledgeable about coffee, and donated a bag of very inexpensive beans that he considers to be on a par with far more expensive varieties.
• Amy: Brought a bag of Hawaiian Kona back from the islands herself. Sorry we didn't do a follow-up brewing, Amy-- it was a hectic time.
• Dillo from Team Roadknight: Brought a Laotian coffee (the first I've ever seen).
• RGB: This guy is associated with a small-batch artisan roaster up in the clean mountain air. I bet his stuff-- a French Roast-- is very good, and I hope he returns next year (Secret note to RGB: your bribe was great, and I'd like to return the favor; e-mail me).
• Mike: Las Chives from New Mexico. I didn't get a chance to talk much to Mike, but I hope he returns for next year's festivities.
• Dr. Unix: It was a pity that we had to forego this gentleman's Costa Rican Blue, air-roasted in Kansas City. I suspect it would have been delicious

Apologies once again to all these Followers of the Bean, and an extra round of apologies to those whose names we didn't catch (and who therefore didn't get mentioned here).

Finally, we send out our coffee-soaked love to the following very fine individuals whom we didn't see, for whatever reason:

• Rob Nielson: The founder of CoffeeWars upheld his tradition of Not Showing Up. That's three out of four that you've missed, Rob!
• This space intentionally left blank, for Rob to insert a "Kiss my ass, Foofus" comment.
• Jay Dyson: Another CoffeeWars elder who didn't make it this year. Dude: my bribe to you at ToorCon was wasted!
• CHS: We missed you, man.
• Priest: Seriously, we would have given you coffee, had you only stopped by. We will strive to coordinate better next year. Also, if our plans to expand the war go well, there will be more opportunity. Still, it was good saying hi to you, and good to see that you can walk again!
• Lucid: Dude, that's two years in a row that you have flaked out on us. What's up with that? :)

No doubt some folks have been overlooked. No dout also that some great deeds have gone unmentioned. This is the sad and unintentional byproduct of the huge and unexpected amount of enthusiasm and participation we had this year. All I can say is that we were thrilled by the number and variety of contributions and help we received at CoffeeWars 4, and we hope to be better prepared to do them justice next year.

Thanks again, everyone.