This first part is actually a response, mostly to address Bedlam's points regarding yojimbo: EXTRA IMPORTANT PRE-EMPTIVE EDIT: I'm not angry at Bedlam, or really anyone, at all! I want to clarify this ahead of time. I'm not even agitated. Please keep this in mind when figuring the tone of the post while reading it.
As a yojimbo, you get to know the inner workings of things, to a degree, and the safety and liability concerns that go along with a con. Most people don't think about these things, but if we were to ignore them entirely the con could not continue to exist. What most people also don't realize is that we're simply trying to keep you all safe and the con alive for years to come because we, too, enjoy having a con where everyone can geek out (and I use this term affectionately, because it also applies to me) over anime and have fun with other people who share their interests.
If you think it's annoying to be moved in the hallways, to have to move closer to the wall when in line, or to be relocated when sitting somewhere, try thinking about the other side of the coin: How annoying would it be to you if you couldn't get through the hallway because people were inconsiderately standing in the middle of it, completely oblivious to the fact that they were obstructing you from your destination, or forcing you to uncomfortably squeeze or muscle your way through? What if you were running late for the panel you wanted to see, all the way across the hotel, and all the hallways were haphazardly filled with people? Most importantly, what if there was an emergency, or better yet, what if you
were the person having the emergency, and help was delayed because the hallways had to be cleared every single step of the way?
We're honestly not just bossing you around to be jerks, I can certainly vouch for the fact that the folks I worked closely with weren't. We care about your safety and convenience as a whole and the work we do is all
for you.
I'd also like to add that inconsistency in enforcement of rules stems from a couple of causes. First off - we simply do not have enough people to enforce the rules at all times. The number one thing that would help this is if more people would volunteer for staffing, especially for yojimbo positions. One yojimbo simply can not possibly keep track of what everyone in a crowd around them is doing. Not even one really, really good yojimbo. One sleep-deprived-got-three-hours-of-sleep-been-walking-for-hours-on-end-and-had-one-break-for-food-all-day yojimbo, which is what we often get when we're short-staffed, is lucky to remember their room number by the end of the day, let alone attempt to keep track of what the hundred or so people around them are all doing. The final contributing factor, though, is the fact that many, many things are simply judgment calls on the part of the individual. A yojimbo walking by at one time may consider your current location or activity to be safe, another may not. The yojimbo in question may even be mistaken on their call in any given instance, but the fact is that people often see things very differently.
Another thing I'd like to add, and this is specifically regarding a parallel you've drawn, Bedlam, is that you can't really liken this to a job. None of us are paid. In fact, though many people are not aware of this, we actually still pay to be staff, it's not a free ticket. Additionally, we sink a lot of money into this between the hotel room itself (which is pretty much required if you want to have any hope of getting where you need to be on time, let alone stumbling back to your hotel bed/floor when the
long day is done), feeding ourselves, and transportation - those on staff who travel from out of state or the further out cities spend a good chunk of money on gas alone.
Finally, it is not a
fact that you should not expect to thank a person for helping you or other people, let alone for volunteering their time and energy in such copious amounts. If you would thank a person simply for holding a door or saying "bless you" when you sneeze (and I hope you would), why wouldn't you thank them for helping to staff an event that you look forward to for months, or even the entirety of the year?
To wrap this bit up, while it does sound like a rant, and actually largely is one, the real reason I've wrote it is I thought it would be fair to let everyone (this is not targeted solely at Bedlam, I really am sorry if it feels that way) know why things are the way they are and to better inform you so you may know what things are like on the other side of the fence. We often feel under-appreciated for the work we do, but anyone can help to fix that by at least understanding why it is we do what we do and helping us to help your fellow con-goers.
So, on a lighter note, do the right thing: Hug a yojimbo next con and tell them thank you. It would make their day!
My apologies for this issue hijacking the thread. We now return you to your regularly scheduled rants and raves:
I didn't miss the rant and rave, but here's a few points on the con (from a less-staff-ish viewpoint) I thought I'd share with those who did:
RANTS: - Volume level of The Slants concert
-The music was so loud you could hardly hear it, if that makes any sense. I'm not one for earplugs, but working the door at the far end of the event hall I finally gave in and used earplugs. I honestly couldn't tell you if the music was any good because it was nearly impossible to really listen to it. The sound check was sounding pretty good, but then they turned up the volume... This was pretty much already mentioned in the rant and rave, but I figure it's worth mentioning again.
-It's pretty much pointless to complain about this, because they're a bottleneck in any hotel, but the elevators were a huge slowdown both for attendees and staff, and stairs are enough to make anyone curse their every step after so many hours on your feet. These elevators also felt disconcertingly underpowered for such a new location. This is beyond the power of the convention to fix, but not immune to my desire to complain about it.
-There were not enough yojimbo to keep things moving smoothly everywhere at all times. Things slipped under the radar that shouldn't have simply because there weren't enough people to address all issues at once.
RAVES (Yay):
-That was a nice touch. Very awesome.
-You're a great group, honestly! Especially this year. I liked attending, but I like working on staff even more because it's really satisfying to volunteer for a convention with so many nice, friendly people. It's what keeps me coming back.
-Okay, so this is from a yojimbo point of view, but people in lines were amazingly patient, and for the most part, very understanding of the fact that the yojimbo had to keep the impact of the line minimized on traffic flow, with the exception of corners, but everyone knows its hard to keep the corners well organized, especially when you're with friends. Yes, yojimbo know that too, believe it or not
![Grin ;D](https://www.kumoricon.org/forums/Smileys/default/grin.gif)
. You guys were really awesome this year.
-Having a (clean, safe) park nearby to go have fun or relax outside in was nice. I didn't spend any time out there that wasn't en route to get food, find a roommate, or pick up trash, but the time spent out there was relaxing. Yay for having a reason to go outside.
-The space was laaaarge. Very nice. Lots of cool things to buy... unless you are poor like me and have no job ;_;
Though I still bought a few toys because I have no willpower.. sigh