Friday, April 24, 2015
Friday, April 17, 2015
Tidbits
Brilliant idea: combine a soup kitchen for the homeless with an animal shelter. The slogan? "Don't euthanize when you can soup-anize!"
Monday, April 13, 2015
Working for Conventions
The benefit of dropping convention staffing as a hobby: no more delivering results in return for emotional abuse and little compensation. I can count on one hand - and have fingers left over - the times I was ever thanked by my con supervisor for the work I did or shown any appreciation for the time spent. I'm pretty light on material compensation (I'll settle for a room and occasional snack), but the intangible elements matter a lot!
There were (sometimes) the generic "We all did great," but never any one-on-one. In fact, in the worst cases, all the personal feedback time would be spent on one or two mistakes with no mention of the successes at all. This isn't even specific to a single con - it's a frighteningly common flaw in how a lot of cons operate and probably why there is frequent turn-over. People won't work where they don't feel valued or respected for their contributions.
It can usually be pegged to specific personality types within the groups. Constantly negative people are the subgroup I've seen most responsible for this issue at several conventions. They are incapable of praising others or in celebrating the success of others - even underlings - and should therefore never be promoted to any supervisory positions.
They give off easily detectable warning signs, too. For example: when you tell them of an accomplishment, they jump straight to raising an objection to it to suppress the mood. If you tell them you were able to bypass a blockade to get vital information for the con, they'll go on about how you have to follow protocol. If you follow protocol, they'll complain about how you could have saved time by going around it. It's not about the specific achievement; it's about them making sure you don't feel good about it.
Put them in a position of authority and now any success of someone under them they'll turn into a failure to the face of that worker, while either ignoring or twisting any positive aspects. The effect is that those under them wear out, some quickly and some slowly, as they act as a grindstone on the soul to wear it away steadily.
There are supervisors who are good at remembering the power of praise to get results. I once saw a guy buy gifts for those under him to congratulate them on a job well done. That was a great example of a leader who inspires his team to work harder next year. However, they are not common enough. I can say there were one or two cons that, on the whole, I had positive experiences with, but it's just not enough to continue keeping it up as a viable hobby. Better for me to invest the time and effort into other projects.
There were (sometimes) the generic "We all did great," but never any one-on-one. In fact, in the worst cases, all the personal feedback time would be spent on one or two mistakes with no mention of the successes at all. This isn't even specific to a single con - it's a frighteningly common flaw in how a lot of cons operate and probably why there is frequent turn-over. People won't work where they don't feel valued or respected for their contributions.
It can usually be pegged to specific personality types within the groups. Constantly negative people are the subgroup I've seen most responsible for this issue at several conventions. They are incapable of praising others or in celebrating the success of others - even underlings - and should therefore never be promoted to any supervisory positions.
They give off easily detectable warning signs, too. For example: when you tell them of an accomplishment, they jump straight to raising an objection to it to suppress the mood. If you tell them you were able to bypass a blockade to get vital information for the con, they'll go on about how you have to follow protocol. If you follow protocol, they'll complain about how you could have saved time by going around it. It's not about the specific achievement; it's about them making sure you don't feel good about it.
Put them in a position of authority and now any success of someone under them they'll turn into a failure to the face of that worker, while either ignoring or twisting any positive aspects. The effect is that those under them wear out, some quickly and some slowly, as they act as a grindstone on the soul to wear it away steadily.
There are supervisors who are good at remembering the power of praise to get results. I once saw a guy buy gifts for those under him to congratulate them on a job well done. That was a great example of a leader who inspires his team to work harder next year. However, they are not common enough. I can say there were one or two cons that, on the whole, I had positive experiences with, but it's just not enough to continue keeping it up as a viable hobby. Better for me to invest the time and effort into other projects.
Friday, April 10, 2015
Tidbits
My response when a student figures something out:
"Congratulations. You have passed the test. Your status as a human is now confirmed."
"Congratulations. You have passed the test. Your status as a human is now confirmed."
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Game Session Quotes
These are all quotes from the same game session of Tephra.
Narrator: He seems like a normal human, aside from the glowing demonic eyes.
--
Narrator: You get a tier 3 bus ride. No random hobo or snooty rich guy sits next to you.
--
Narrator: What attribute do we use for #swag?
Me: Spirit for bluster. Cunning for a rap battle. Dexterity for a dance off. WHY AM I THINKING OF THIS?!
--
Me: We are focused. And by focused I mean oblivious.
--
Me: Why are you trying to blow up Japan? Again?!
--
Other player: We need to disarm him? Sunder! Sunder! Sunder cats, hoooo!
Narrator: He seems like a normal human, aside from the glowing demonic eyes.
--
Narrator: You get a tier 3 bus ride. No random hobo or snooty rich guy sits next to you.
--
Narrator: What attribute do we use for #swag?
Me: Spirit for bluster. Cunning for a rap battle. Dexterity for a dance off. WHY AM I THINKING OF THIS?!
--
Me: We are focused. And by focused I mean oblivious.
--
Me: Why are you trying to blow up Japan? Again?!
--
Other player: We need to disarm him? Sunder! Sunder! Sunder cats, hoooo!
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Friday, April 3, 2015
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
You Are Fake
Remember: no matter how friendly they are to your face, everyone you know is whispering about how much they hate you behind your back. Every mistake and gaffe is being spread through a shadowy network that you are only dimly aware of but will determine your success in life forever. Everyone knows you are a fake, that nothing you do is really any good, and they will never let you achieve any real success.
Happy April Fool's Day, everyone!
Happy April Fool's Day, everyone!
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