The Romp Team
Meet the team that make the Romp magic happen…
Brendon Grail, Event Director, National City Romp Series
Brendon is an expat Queenslander who loves cold, wet, windy Melbourne winters. Brendon has a love of French cars, German food and British ska music. He once dreamt of becoming a professional musician but was crushed when his music teacher told him there was no place for a Jew's harp in the school jazz band. Brendon was runner up in the best & fairest for the under 10’s footy at Gumdale Primary School and has done a Hawaii ironman or two, but a nasty injury sustained in an aerobics class put paid to his more adventurous exploits. Brendon now spends his time grooming his 3 year old son for an early debut in the English Premier League.
Fiona Rhody-Nicoll, Deputy Event Director, National City Romp Series
Princess Fiona although tall, is certainly no ogre. She is, however, Scottish. At times, Fiona can be difficult to understand owing to her thick accent and quiet voice. If you persevere you will find that she never shuts up, and has the rare ability to even continue talking whilst brushing her teeth. Fiona is passionate about brunch, big nights at the pub, dancing and the Botanical Gardens. She loves buying people little presents and filling the house (and office, despite Brendon's allergies) with flowers. On occasion, she has been observed trying to coax stray kittens back to her house… Fiona was the Event Manager for the Melbourne City Romp in 2007, and was crazy enough to come back for even more this year!
Grace Daley, Volunteer Coordinator, 'Go for your life' Melbourne City Romp
Just as most little girls did, Grace had a love affair with horses and was desperate to have a pony of her own. Twenty one years later she realised she hadn’t grown out of this ‘phase’ and that she still wanted a pony, although she had now grown too tall for a pony. A generous 21st birthday present of a term of riding lessons and gear allowed Grace to keep the dream alive, and she has been riding ever since. This love affair with horses has now led to early Saturday morning riding lessons for the past couple of years, albeit on a much bigger horse. Although she now gets up early on weekends to ride after having worked hard recruiting and coordinating 500 volunteers during the week, wild horses wouldn’t keep her away from the stables.
Melissa Mulcahy, Customer Services Co-ordinator, 'Go for your life' Melbourne City Romp
Melissa means Honey Bee. Honey Bees are known among other bee species for their unique capacity for discovering top quality food sources by being able to distinguish between flowers that have little to offer and those that give good rewards. Upon finding such a flower, the honey bee returns to the hive and performs a dance called the 'waggle.' This attracts attention and communicates the whereabouts of the food source. The more vigorous the display the better the food is. Taking a bit of pollen out of this bee's flower, Melissa - our Customer Service Coordinator (who is allergic to bees) is a curious creature who gets a kick out of discovering new places and is always on the look out for all the good stuff in life that can be shared with her friends and family. She doesn't give up easily as she believes there is always a way! She was whisked into her first music festival on the back of a security guards motor bike, negotiated her to the front of a queue of 2000 and onto balcony seats to watch the Guy Fawkes fireworks (her next favorite thing) display in the UK - beer in hand. She loves a good waggle.. ! She is enjoying being part of the 2008 Romp team and knows it's going to be a tremendous occassion for everyone involved. Her secret food source.. weetbix?
