Arisia needs an attitude adjustment.

[donnad.livejournal.com]

I am sure this will offend many people, and if it does I apologize, but I feel it has to be said.

I am disgusted and appalled at the rudeness and sense of entitlement I encountered from many of this year's staff members. And I am not the only person who noticed this.


An example...
I got up early on Sunday and went down to the staff den, I was there about 15 minutes before it was supposed to open, but the lovely staff den ladies let me in anyway. I told them I needed food so I could take some meds, but I could see they weren't quite ready yet and asked what I could do to help them get stuff put out. They gave me a couple things to do (and a danish so I could take my meds) and I went off to help. At 8:02AM a person walked in, I was just plugging in the kettle to heat water, sie wanted tea so I told hir it would be a few minutes while the water heated that I had just plugged it in. Hir response was very snobbishly "What do you mean the water is not hot yet?" I looked at hir and said well, you weren't here 10 minutes ago to plug it in. You want it faster, then feel free to come in early and help. These ladies were up just as late as the rest of us, they are doing their best." and I walked away.
Sure sie hadn't had hir morning caffiene yet, but that was no excuse to jump all over me because the kettle isn't hot. Sie had a coffee maker in hir room, there was nothing preventing hir from using it. This is just one instance I personally encountered in the den, I witnessed many more acts of rudeness directed at the ladies running the den and other staff members in the den, during my visits there. (I was not den staff, I was just helping out while waiting for the food to be ready.)

In general many staff members were surly, rude, and just basically snappish, many came across with the "I'm staff, I'm better than you" or the I'm staff therefore I'm entitled to [...] ahead of you" attitude.

In my opinion, If you want to be involved in Arisia, and deal with hundreds of fans and random people all weekend and can't keep a pleasant attitude, no matter how stressed you get, or how tired or overworked you are, perhaps you shouldn't be doing that job. It's like any job that involves dealing with the customer, you have to keep it all to yourself so as to not take it out on the unsuspecting and not offend. I was personally offended by many of the attitudes I encountered during the weekend by staff members I did not know and who didn't know me. There are places to let it all out, you shouldn't be snapping and rude to the attendees or they will stop coming and we cant have an Arisia without them.

I have a whole essay/rant about Arisia and it's changing dynamic as of late, How I feel it's strayed from it's original mission to be all inclusive and such, how it's more of a fannish lifestyle and polyamory based con now instead of Science Fiction and Fantasy based as originally intended, and how it really needs to be able to encompass all things equally*, but I will likely not subject people to it.

Personally with the next Arisia being the 20th, I would love to see the theme be "Back to Basics" or "Back to our Roots." But since I am just a lowly staff member, costumer and artist (who BTW has worked at every Arisia in some capacity to the point of never having to purchase a membership to Arisia yet) and really do not want any other responsibility right now, who am I to say what should happen?


*Of the panels offered pre-con, 47 "fannish lifestyle" panels this year and only 12 art, 12 filk, and 8 costume panels is not treating all things equally.

Comments

[palusbuteo.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed the convention as much as I could, despite having a very full Demonstration schedule as well as the Art Show.

I thank all of the hard working staff who put up with way too much but still manage to pull through each year.

I think the idea of the "Elevator Monitors" - the *official* ones with the Staff, mind you, not the self-appointed jerks who apparently were using it for themselves....I thought the idea was a very good one and to me it seemed to work very well this year as opposed to the horror show of last year, although there were still a few jams. It's hard to ask the general public to re-program themselves to *not* instinctively reach for the door, instead the button. It's not a great design/system for an elevator IMHO, but then, the Hyatt was not designed for a convention like Arisia; likewise, I don't see anyone offering to foot the bill for a hotel that can accomodate a convention on the level of Arisia in years past. And honestly, the Park Plaza wasn't all it was cracked up to be, either...So you have to take things as they come and try to managed what you can....Unless you *are* stinking rich, as then I want to talk with you about...things... XD

I have found that there are more Jerks and Pricks among conventioneers in the last few years. A sad trend.

Although the situation in the Staff room was unfortunate, I don't think the snap should have been taken personally. How few hours of sleep had that staffer been getting the nite before? How ragged were they dealing with some of the Premadonnas and self-proclaimed Emperors/esses of the World did they have to deal with every 5 minutes? Some people are really cranky in the morning, I know because I am too cranky in the morning, but, I'm trying to not let that dictate how I treat others.

I hate to have to kick out my Soapbox a little bit here, but, I'm tired of hearing the whining and moaning about the Art Show being on the top floor. Again, this particular Hotel is not the best layout, but, I don't see anyone offering another hotel that is any better. I'm glad they had 'designated express elevator' during the weekend, I think that is smart use of the available facilities.
Where else is it going to be put? I'm just happy there's a space given for the Art show at all!

No matter what hotel Arisia ends up in, *someone* won't like it, and they'll make sure everyone within earshot knows it. That's just a sad sign of modern life. You can't satifsy everyone all of the time, so you have to make do with what's available, and if someone really wants to see something change, they ought to get involved with the process. Some people appear to exist solely to complain about anything and everything, and are so overdemanding they ruin the experience for those of us who are just happy to try and be a part of the gig.

As for the "Alternative Lifestyles" panels that appear to be gaining in popularity, and with my personal opinions about them aside, it's an indication of a new interest. I'm glad that Programming has put several of these panels at a later time to help reduce issues with parents/children, but it also comes down to us conventioneers. I choose not to go to these panels because they just don't interest me. If people feel their favorite subject/genre/whichever is fading, they too need to step up and ask for or organize to have more panels that interest them. It's not Arisia's job to 'protect your kids' or even 'protect' you. I think it is likely these interests and lifestyles, as with anything, come and go, gain and fade, as the years go. If it turns out to "take over" Arisia, then it would be time to consider the formation of a new convention for that specific area of interests. It happened before with the Boskone split (as I understand it ~ but that's before my time and neither here nor there)...

I think the idea of a "back to roots" theme is a good idea and certainly worth a shot.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Excellent comment, and yes! I forgot to also give props to the express elevators! As a mom and a Fast Track panelist, I sometimes really just need to get to the 14th floor. Accommodating young fen like that was a great idea.

[nippyfrog.livejournal.com]

It's not my job to find a suitable hotel. I feel the art show problem should have never been a problem because a hotel that cannot accommodate an art show like it should is simply not a suitable location.

[cos]

... but by your standard, maybe there simply doesn't exist a suitable location for Arisia anywhere in metro Boston. The hotel search was very extensive and there were serious problems with every option. Based on what I read, this Hyatt was definitely the best choice available.

[dda.livejournal.com]

... but by your standard, maybe there simply doesn't exist a suitable location for Arisia anywhere in metro Boston.

The Hyatt isn't in "metro Boston," either. Having been at the meeting where all the hotel options were discussed and voted on, I still believe that Providence was the best choice and I also believe that the Fetish Flea's experience confirms that.

The Hyatt is too small for Arisia; extending the con for another day doesn't address that.

[cos]

The Hyatt isn't in "metro Boston," either

Umm, what?!?

[dda.livejournal.com]

I believe it is called the Cambridge Hyatt because it isn't in Boston, it is in Cambridge. And while many folks consider "Boston" to encompass Cambridge and other towns, it ain't so.

[cos]

"metro Boston", silly. I live in Cambridge and worked for a city council candidate in 2005, so I'm well aware of the fact that it is a separate municipality. I'm equally aware of the fact that Arisia and its attendees don't care what municipality we're in when talking about geographical location, but we *do* care about being in metro Boston, an area which encompasses quite a number of cities and towns. And although the Waltham Westin that hosted Arisia 1998 was also in metro Boston, we'd prefer to be centrally located in the city and near the T. By those considerations, there are many areas of the city of Boston that are less well located than any random spot you pick in Cambridge. Saying that Cambridge isn't in metro Boston is 100% ridiculous. Or maybe you get extra credit on that one.

[ron_newman]

"metro" means "metropolitan area", and Cambridge is certainly part of Boston's metro area. Providence is not, by most reasonable definitions.