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

[nippyfrog.livejournal.com]

Yeah the elevator business started to get sort or ridiculous. Yes- there is a weight limit, but also the elevators are "smart" in the sense they have alarms in them when the weight limit is exceeded. It's a weight limit, not a number of people limit. I found a bunch of times people didn't want to back into the back of the elevator at all—maybe because they were afraid of standing near the glass windows. That said, the fact of the matter is that is where the elevator opened up and had the majority of space. Often I found no one was even standing in that huge space and telling me there was no room for my small figure in there.
You get a lot of people telling you what to do to the degree of micro-management and it simply takes a lot of the fun away and sort of ruins the moment.

When we first got there I brought a friend who hasn't gone to Arisia before and he said to me: "Wow this is a fact con booklet!"
Someone at the desk near us snapped, "Well. It's a four day con." His tone insinuated a silent "idiot" at the end of that remark. We just ignored it, but the sense of power/entitlement that sometimes you find at cons did seem more pronounced this year.

Not to say I didn't have fun when I did!
However, I do know that some of the people in my group were considering not going next year because of it.

I also want to touch on the fact that I am more than open-minded about the alternate lifestyles you find at cons, I even enjoy going to panels about it and learning about things etc. But I feel like while it is something that shouldn't be IGNORED, this is a science fiction/fantasy convention. I found a lack of panels I had much interest in going to considering there's only so much I want to hear about alternate lifestyles, not because I don't respect them, but because it's not something I am relating to and since I came there for a different reason. :)

End the end- yes I agree a back to basic's theme is a great idea!
Also- while the panel participants are there to guide the conversation - I feel as though there are some panelists who have lost the sense that they are there to engage the audience and let them participate in the discussion as well. It's not exactly an overwhelming issue I found, but rather something that maybe people ought to be reminded of. We're all here to have fun! :P
Speaking of an awesome panel - the Mad Scientist Laugh contest was my favorite panel this year. The panelists had a perfect lead and charisma while engaging the audience to really participate and crack jokes and have fun. No one even had an itch of taking a small amount of power and abusing it.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Yes- there is a weight limit, but also the elevators are "smart" in the sense they have alarms in them when the weight limit is exceeded. It's a weight limit, not a number of people limit.

*nods* One particular elevator ride comes to mind. I'd been waiting for quite some time, and got on the not-quite-full elevator when it arrived. The person closest to the door began to passive-aggressively snipe about there being too many people on the elevator (I was the only person who'd gotten on).

Her to her friend: "You know, there's only supposed to be eight people on here."
Me: "Actually, it's not a number-of-people issue."
Her: "The elevator will break."
Me: "They broke last year because people were throwing their arms out in front of the door sensors and knocking them offline. Eight is a purely arbitrary number."

And she *continued* to bitch the whole way up. I did eventually feel the need to say "Excuse me. I am disabled. I need to ride the elevator. This elevator is not full, and I suggest that you talk to ops if you don't believe me regarding the number-of-people issue. Or read the signs posted on every elevator door."

About half of the time I rode the elevator, I had to repress the urge to flip the cretins off when I disembarked.

This was easily the worst part of the convention. The nastiness and rudeness of the elevator nazis.

(And it was a problem last year, too; I remember not being allowed to get into an elevator with my daughter because there were seven little kids in it, coming down from Fast Track. But eight very overweight people in the elevator, that's apparently okay. Seriously, anyone who goes by the eight-person limit without taking relative weights into account is a complete idiot.)

Much as this solution may suck for staff, I think it's the best we've got: elevator monitors. I never had a problem when folks like happypete and jmspencer were on elevator duty. They handled things with humor and style, and people were not assholes.

Phew! Yeah. Can you see I have Issues with this?

Complicating matters: yes, I am disabled. No, you can't tell by looking at me (unless I'm tired). Yes, I really, truly do need to use the elevators instead of the stairs. Trust me, I'd take the stairs were I physically able to do so. But that's one of the things that my body just can't handle even on the good days.

You can't tell if someone's disabled or able-bodied just by looking at them. So don't assume.

"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"

Seriously, other than the elevator hell, I had a great time. Really enjoyed all of my panels, really enjoyed the parties and gaming and everything. The Surprise Short-Story Challenge was something new and interesting, and I got to do the Mentos-in-Diet-Coke thing in Hands-On Science for Kids. I could go on about this forever, and likely will on my own journal. :)

[nippyfrog.livejournal.com]

(Seriously, anyone who goes by the eight-person limit without taking relative weights into account is a complete idiot.)

hahahah! I can't agree with you more about the elevator business. Also like you said - if someone wants to use the elevator you just have to accept that they have their reasons. It's definitely a tiring sentiment that people seem to think they can tell people who can and can't use the elevators.

Mine was not as pressing as a disability - I was in a towel and I came from the pool - and I didn't want to be running up to the 8th floor in a towel. hehe I had come down in clothes but the pool water was less than clean >_> and I didn't want to put my clothes back on until I showered. I had no flip flops with me to do it in the spa area so I was wandering back up to my room feeling sort of naked :P

But the fact of the matter is- sometimes you are just tired and you aren't up to climbing the stairs at that moment. You just want to get up to your room and flop on the bed.

As you said - the elevator thing is really frustrating haha!
But I had my share of awesome times at the con. I wish I had got to see the Mentos-in-Diet-Coke thing! Some of the kids panels seem more attractive to me than the adult ones! :P

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Heh. I'm calmer now... :)

But the fact of the matter is- sometimes you are just tired and you aren't up to climbing the stairs at that moment.

Right. It doesn't have to be a disability thing. Cons are tiring. Sometimes people just get worn out, and that's every bit as valid.

I wish I had got to see the Mentos-in-Diet-Coke thing! Some of the kids panels seem more attractive to me than the adult ones! :P

Y'know, people said that last year, too, and we discussed doing Hands-On Science for Grownups. We really should've done that this year! Maybe next year.

[tonysalieri.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the elevator situation really has gotten crazy. I mean, hell, the Park Plaza had elevator action in spades. I know this place is more fragile, but it's not like this is ConFusion 2000, where there are only two elevators that keep overheating and trapping people every five minutes.

These elevators can carry a LOT of weight. How do I know? Because the freight elevators were broken on Friday, and the hotel told us we should carry the heavy, heavy pieces of the bar we were hauling up to our suite through the passenger elevators. It was unpleasant, but we did it, and never once did I feel unsafe or worried. Because I've BEEN on overloaded elevators in the past, and they are remarkable at making any number and amount of alarming noises when their weight limits are past the saftey tolerance. :)

I did my best to resort to the stairs whenever possible. I honestly think that the biggest "problem" caused by the move from the Park Plaza has been the elevators. And um..the way some folks have dealt with the issue personally *heh*.

I agree..more staff involvement with elevator monitoring might be the key. It sucks, but if we have "elevator vigilantes" suddenly taking the situation into their own hands, that's really ungood.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

I honestly think that the biggest "problem" caused by the move from the Park Plaza has been the elevators. And um..the way some folks have dealt with the issue personally *heh*.

I agree. The situation with the location of the art show, et cetera, is not good... but it's nothing like the elevators. Tempers flare like whoa.

It sucks, but if we have "elevator vigilantes" suddenly taking the situation into their own hands, that's really ungood.

Yup.

[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

The art show plays right into the elevator issues, too.

Good thing I was not in the elevator when they woman harrassed you.

She might have been on a quick "down" elevator.