So. many. thank. you’s.

When I wrote out my Acknowledgements for this book, there were close to 2,000 words. My editor looked at this wide-eyed and quickly reminded me that “most acknowledgments are about 500 words – you need to cut it down.” Eeek.

I was gutted! I had SO. VERY. MANY. people to thank for their support in helping me write this book, because so many people were involved in the process. And not just support in providing peer reviews, but their emotional support and kindness throughout the 1+ year process of intense research and writing.

From brilliant and understanding friends who’ve kept me sane, to a loving husband, dog, family, and many industry colleagues who have been absolutely awesome. They are my extended family and this book just simply wouldn’t exist without them. So without further ado, here are my acknowledgements…

THANK YOU’S

Thank you to Jenny Volich, Charlotte Owen, Chris Cudmore, Natasha Tulett, Rachel Singleton, Lachean Humphreys, and the entire team at Kogan Page for their support, enthusiasm, and the incredible invitation to write this book.

A huge thanks to brilliant industry peers who took time to review this book, give feedback, and give their moral support: Stephen Philips, Sue York, KaRene Smith, Laura Fagan, Fiona Blades, and Mike Cooke. With special thanks to three more people:
Annie Pettit, a brilliant mentor and friend who never let up on making me write and contributed many hours of reviewing and editing. Thank you for everything.
And Ray Poynter, another mentor and friend who also spent time providing instrumental reviews.
Thank you to Pamela Schindler for your encouragement, kind words, great advice, and being such an inspiration.

Thank you to others who took the time to review and give feedback of specific chapters; Jane Frost of the Market Research Society, David Wizsniowski, and the mysterious anonymous reviewer (seriously, who are you? Reveal yourself!)

Thank you to Andrew Jeavons, who was the person that made me quit my job and start Research Through Gaming. Thank you for your friendship, support and guidance.

Thanks to the PhD dream team: Dr. David Birks, Dr. Anca Yallop, and Dr. Martina Hutton. Although we only had each other’s company for a year, that time was pivotal and will never be forgotten. I hope this book does you proud.  

Thank you to all Research Through Gaming clients, who’s resolve to do research differently has been incredibly refreshing. Thank you for the opportunities to work with you and the kind permissions to share our work.

Thank you to all RTG participants, who took part in their first ever ResearchGames with us. Thank you for your participation, feedback, and support. The case-studies in this book simply wouldn’t exist without you.

Thank you to Marco Schmidt at Nebu, the first person I spoke with about ‘how cool it would be if surveys were games’. Our ideas will change the world.

Thank you to the talented programmers who have worked on our ResearchGames, making it possible to bring my ideas to life: Vadim Gnadishev and Vitaliy Moskvin from the AlphaWeb Group, and Oscar North, Will Poynter, and Arne Seib.

Thank you to the team at Askia for your support and collaboration, and letting me see what I could push or break. 🙂

Thank you to the experts who gave their time to provide one-to-one interviews, and to the equally talented game designers, cosplayers, and game developers who granted kind permission to use examples of their work.

Thanks to RTG fans, including my industry peers and students, who’ve been following my work and have sent kind messages over the years and words of encouragement for writing this book and starting RTG in the first place. Your messages were always appreciated more than you’ll know (special shout out to Anije Lambert).

Thank you to my mum, for all her love, olives, and support. To my brother Raphael, the biggest gamer I know, for teaching me so much about the variety of ways players can be engrossed in games.

Thank you to my life-long friend Maria Louca. Without her support, I don’t know if I would even be in the mental or physical space to write this book. Thank you for being there.

Last, but certainly not least, thank you to my wonderful husband Paul. Could not have done this without your support, love and kindness, or without all the tea. 🙂