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

[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

I suggest all folks who like a wide-open art show go to Boskone.

They have the advantage of a con setup that is as horizontal as Arisia is vertical. (Not a knock on Arisia.)

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

i may just have to do that, and even *gasp* lookup when that is. day trip only probably though.

didn't make it to the art show because: distractions, way up top, and it just never entered my brain that it was there, i'm used to them always being at ground level and you go "oh yeah"... i love them too. lunacon isn't so huge a hotel either in some ways, but they have that room.

maybe they could rotate some art to a corded off area (and watched), in the main lobby of the hotel near the elevators. then people would SEE it as they walk by, and more signs to remind people ;) i dunno.

i do like the Hyattttt more than most hotels Arisia has been at. people suggest "get a better hotel"... well, there just aren't many good hotels for this kind of thing IN/NEAR boston. too many compromises. the better ones aren't even near the city. cost. space. timing. isues. antics. i'm well assured that these things have been thought and fought over for years (decades? :>).

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[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

Feb. 15-17.

See, I thought the Park Plaza was perfect.

(Except for the whole not having us back part)

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

and maybe the con grew to adapt to the hotel they stayed in for SOOOO long.

me? i like and endless dealer's row. not small dealer's room (with special exclusive dealers). dragon con has what? 3ish floor the size of arisia for their dealers ;) that's shopping :)

the park plaza ... back in the day ... yah, i liked it. it just feels like the hotel has aged in a way that is more tattered and faded than quaint. i was growing to loathe it. they seemed to feel the same way about some of the overlapping events they have there as well.

i really liked the Weston? in downtown boston. so nifty. the waltham one felt cozy (was very tight to be true).

compared to last year at the Hyatt, this year felt much nicer. better thought out paths/etc. asking the hotel staff randomly, they appear to actually like having us there, and the staff was nice and responsive.

and thanx for the dates, i'll note them.

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[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

The dealer rooms where the dealer control when they are open is, in some ways, better for dealers - if they want to be open at 2am, they can.

If they want to attend a panel, they can, and not have to staff their booth.

[quietann.livejournal.com]

My understanding is that the Copley Westin has even less function space than the Hyatt. That would be a problem. The Waltham one is definitely too small and lacking in function space.

This year did go much better, if for no other reason than that the people who *hated* the Hyatt were not there this year, for the most part. Just taking away that 5% or whatever it is made everything more relaxed, and the con reached and exceeded the membership cap anyway.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

The Boskone hotel is my favorite con hotel ever. Hopefully Arisia can get in there when the contract with the Hyatt expires!

[dda.livejournal.com]

didn't make it to the art show...

As the Art Show Director this year, I'm sorry to hear this; I would have appreciated any feedback. We did have a piece of the AGoH's art in the lobby last year but that lobby is too small to really display anything. We did have some signs on the first floor reminding people and we had a bag check on 16 this year, as well.

But I agree that having to brave an elevator ride to see the Art Show is worse than just wandering down a corridor as in the Park Plaza.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

simply got distracted by other things, and by virtue of years of training that the art show is on the first floor, had a mental blank spot that it even existed, signs or no.

having something on display seems really key in a case like that. the area outside the main ballroom has some "dead space" on either end, for instance.

the elevator wasn't really the issue, i was taking the stairs about 90% of the time.

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[miekec]

(Not having been at Arisia at the PP hotel, so no comparison material, but...) Keeping one of the elevators as the express one between lobby and 14/16 was an awesome solution to the problem. Sure, it didn't solve everything, but it did make the art show so much more accessible.

[thespian.livejournal.com]

I didn't make it to the art show because I assumed, even if some of the artists had to leave, the art show would be open while the con was open. So when I went up on Sunday *morning*, I was turned away because it was closed. Better signage of the hours, more notice if it's closing a full day earlier than the rest of the con, etc.

You've no doubt heard this already, but not in this thread ;-)