I'm sorry you missed out. It's cold comfort but so did I and a number of other people, I'm sure.
My job is not nearly so immediately essential as yours (I work IT at a major university), and I could have watched the forums, but that would mean I'd have to neglect my duties, which would inconvenience (though unlike your duties, not endanger) lots of people, not the least my team mates and our users (we had a few hundred students affected by a failure which we were trying to resolve while the 'Ganza was going on).

I think there are a number of people in our position to a greater or lesser extent, each 'Ganza.

Just like you I'm not surprised but a little disappointed to miss out all the same.

At the risk of sounding like a sore loser, I think it would be interesting to run some 'Ganzas with different rules/formats at times to allow higher chances of success for those that do find the traditional 'Ganza hard to "get to".

I can probably dream up a several formats that might work but the one I have come up with over the last day or so and like best is a sort of reverse 'Ganza.
The start time is chosen after the requests are placed. The 'Ganza is open for a period of time, say 9am-9pm. You email your choices as normal. After 9pm Jerry then chooses a time between 9am and 9pm. The order of service is from whatever time Jerry chooses. so if Jerry chooses say 10:15, then someone whose request arrived at 10:15 would get served first, someone whose request arrived at 10:16 second and so on until noon. If there is anything left over after the 9pm people are served, then you wrap round and start serving the 9am people, then the 9:01am people, etc etc. By having a nice long open window you increase the chances of people being able to participate at one end of their day/shift or the other. To increase the tease factor Jerry could elect to not tell us the time he chose.

Another one I like is same format as now, but different timings.
e.g. run a normal 'Ganza at 10am instead of 10pm. So those people who work days will be on the same footing as those who work nights normally are.

A third would be some sort of online treasure hunt. You know a series of clues are published and the people who get the answer right are served in order of receiving the right answer.

No format will suit everyone, but by varying formats and timings occasionally then perhaps you can spread the pleasure and pain around a bit.

On the other hand, there's always bribery, which fully comforms with the 'Ganza tradition (and treachery)!!!!!!
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