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

[thanos73.livejournal.com]

I have been attending and working the con since 92. I have been a staffer, I have fun departments and divisions, I have been on the corporate board and I have been just an attendee. I have been on the inside and the outside of Arisia. I have heard all the comments for years and years about how Arisia is this or that. I can tell you this, Arisia is what people make of it. Maybe the con is now run by more people who are in the alternative lifestyles, years ago it was run by the more "vinilla" crowd. It will evolve and change, because that is what Arisia does. It does not remain the same over time, it morphs. This year it is the most diverse sci/fi and fantasy con, a couple years ago it was multi-speculative fiction and been more. The "back to roots" idea, it has gone back to its roots and away again and will go back. Why, cause the people who started the con, the people who ran it for years and the people who run it now want it that way.
It changes and if you want to help change it, the you must help run it.

As for staff attitudes, yea people have attitudes, name me a human being who does not. You can either accept it, tell the person to fuck off and die or just tell someone higher in charge. Trust me, cause I speak from experience, we listen to complaints. I have had to take people down who were on power trips and have my own attitude checked. The staff is human, panelists are human and the attendees are human, we all need to respect each other and understand this. I know this is probably the toughest thing to do, especially when you are already angry.

Lastly and most importantly, you only get out what you put in. This comes in every aspect of life. If you do not make the effort to have fun and just expect it to lay down in your lap and wiggle, your gonna have a very empty lap. I could only go for a few short hours due to an injury I had earlier in the week, but I made the most of those few short hours cause I made damn sure I had fun!