Kumoricon weekend

[IchigoBunny]

I've attended this con since 2005 when i was in high school the con was easy to get to as well as attend. Now that i am older and with a retail job i realized that the weekend that has been chosen for this is Labor day weekend which for retail workers is a "Blacked out" weekend which means we aren't suppose to request off and in most cases we will not be able allowed the time off. Fortunately i have been able to get the time to come but i was wondering if there is anyway for future cons to be moved one weekend earlier or later? For most of us veterans that would make things so much easier. I just wanted to bring this to staff attention.

[Venusgate]

Unfortunately, retail is the odd-man as I would bet 95% of other professions (including mine) get mandatory labor-day off.

I leave it to the staff to weigh the prospect of moving it - but I would be curious on how many people would be able to dependably get a three day weekend vs. how many more congoers from retail fields we could host.

[chelseahavoc]

sad but true =/ when i was in retail that one year the only way i got it off was by informing my employer i had a mandatory vacation that weekend during my interview....

[IchigoBunny]

I know it sounds like im just talking retail but there are quite a few other jobs that have this same issue as well. Besides a lot of parents are preparing to send their kids back to school that weekend and its probably hard to do both at the same time.

[kiichain]

oyos

the only effective way to convince your boss to get the time off for labor day is to guarantee them that you'll work a different holiday. any company cannot force you to work "every single" holiday that they are open for, they have to balance it out that some people won't work it on some holidays and it switches to the other people for other holidays. i used to be a server at a restaurant that 'never' closes for holidays and i made such promises to be there at other times if they let me have one or two holiday weekends off.

[IchigoBunny]

oyos

the only effective way to convince your boss to get the time off for labor day is to guarantee them that you'll work a different holiday. any company cannot force you to work "every single" holiday that they are open for, they have to balance it out that some people won't work it on some holidays and it switches to the other people for other holidays. i used to be a server at a restaurant that 'never' closes for holidays and i made such promises to be there at other times if they let me have one or two holiday weekends off.

That isn't the problem for me though i usually work it out but over the last couple years ive been thinking about it.

[Kimiski]

I've noticed this too in my quest for part time jobs....  I'm very wary on how I should approach the subject of Kumoricon. I want the job but at the same time I don't want to lie about the days off... but every employer is reluctant on busy holiday weekends. I know for the State Fair jobs I have been specifically told we NEED people there Labor Day Weekend...

[Venusgate]

I've noticed this too in my quest for part time jobs....  I'm very wary on how I should approach the subject of Kumoricon. I want the job but at the same time I don't want to lie about the days off... but every employer is reluctant on busy holiday weekends. I know for the State Fair jobs I have been specifically told we NEED people there Labor Day Weekend...

Say labor-day weekend is a "Family Tradition Vacation"

[Sui Fong]

When I first started going to k-con I had this problem (as I've always worked retail), but what I would do is bring in some of our HR's favorite chocolate, and then request the day off at least 4 months in advance. Works every time. (now most people just know I'm an anime buff and don't even bother saying anything when I ask for that weekend off)

[Washougal_Otaku]

For many jobs, if you request the time off soon enough, you should get the time off.  For my current line of work, I get that weekend off, whether I like it or not.  (I'm so lucky in that regard).  However, with my previous jobs, this was pretty tough.  One year, I only got the weekend off over everyone else that had made the request because of how soon I put the request in.

Though I can see the logic to the original proposal, I favor keeping it the way it is.

[Acheron]

I'm neither a mod nor staff, so this is just complete speculation, but I know Sakuracon gets a better deal on con space due to it falling on a holiday, so I don't think it's unreasonable to say that Kumoricon being over Labor Day might be saving the con a ton of money.

I'm self-employed, so this has never been a deal for me, so I might be a bit biased though.

[VampireFangs103]

Yeah, I know at my job we get labor day off, and I think a lot of places give that day off as well. :/ That's probably why it usually works best for that weekend for most people, because a wide majority of people have that day off. If it was on a normal weekend, nobody would have it off (assuming it's a full time job).

Then again, I don't work in retail. I work in a factory. lol. However, I'm taking the friday off so I can get there a day early, and I just told my boss that my family is going out of town for the weekend. Which to me isn't much of a lie. I am in fact going out of town for the holiday weekend, with people I consider my family, though they may not be blood related. Most jobs have a hard time turning down requests if they're family/school related.

[Kimiski]

I've noticed this too in my quest for part time jobs....  I'm very wary on how I should approach the subject of Kumoricon. I want the job but at the same time I don't want to lie about the days off... but every employer is reluctant on busy holiday weekends. I know for the State Fair jobs I have been specifically told we NEED people there Labor Day Weekend...

Say labor-day weekend is a "Family Tradition Vacation"

To get a job at the State Fair one year I said I could work it, knowing I couldn't, then had a "family emergency" but you can only do that so many times before they catch on, and then ruin a good job reference. xD This year in my resume I put Kumoricon down as, "Current Volunteer Work" since I'll be helping out this year, and then I can explain in the interview what that entails and how I need to be there labor day weekend.

[kalagei]

I really don't see the con moving weekends anytime soon...

but at least it's not Easter weekend like Sakura-con.

I hated that at my first Sak.... "So mom, dad... I won't be here for Easter..." They didn't talk to me until mother's day.

[LadyFiede]

I love my new job and my boss.  I mentioned that I was going to a con on labor day weekend and he was perfectly fine with it.  He didn't mind me taking easter weekend off for Sakuracon either!  I think it helps that we have enough people working, and not enough hours some times, but it's still really nice.  Actually my last job wasn't too horrible, I always got sak off fine, but other stuff was a pain. :/  I found the best thing you can do is ask very far in advance so that you are first on the list to get that time off.  Or compromise and say you'll work another holiday instead.  I was able to get Thanksgiving off at my last job by saying I'd work Xmas.

[Washougal_Otaku]

I really don't see the con moving weekends anytime soon...

but at least it's not Easter weekend like Sakura-con.

I hated that at my first Sak.... "So mom, dad... I won't be here for Easter..." They didn't talk to me until mother's day.

I can relate. I celebrate Passover, which is almost always the same weekend. During this time, I can't eat anything with leavening, meaning: no ramen or other noodles, no Pocky, no Subway, no Taco del Mar, virtually nothing of Asian origin or at the nearby restaurants.

[DSaturn]

I always tell whoever I'm working for that I am available to work every other holiday except for Labor Day. My family isn't big on celebrating the holidays, except for Christmas, and even that one we celebrate a week earlier so that everyone can have their own personal Christmas with their individual family.