Good day, all.

I am giovanni.gen, and I have an important update to share.

In short, I am stepping down as lead of the Sonic Hacking Contest, giving up ownership, and resigning from all of my positions.

Throughout the year, my mental health has been undeniably compromised by excess stress in my life, part of which directly caused by my efforts in day-to-day management of the Sonic Hacking Contest.

In addition, due to serious family complications, I've had to prematurely step away from my duties as a Judge, and offload management of the Contest Period to the remainder of Leadership. For transparency's sake, if it wasn't already previously noted, I have not casted any vote as a Judge, and I could not complete my evaluations. Those affected by the latter will clearly notice it in their evaluations.

These factors considered have led me to the conclusion that I am in no condition to continue managing the Sonic Hacking Contest. I hope that my efforts have been satisfactory.

With all that out of the way, I hereby transfer ownership of the Sonic Hacking Contest to Naoto_NTP. I hope that he and all else that will stay along for the ride will be able to do good with this event.

As for me, I am planning to scale back my Internet presence. For a while, I will retreat from most places, but I hope I'll be able to bounce back and return in the future.

With all this said, I thank you all for your continued support of the Sonic Hacking Contest, and I offer my special thanks to those in and out of Staff who chose to support me in any step of the way here.