[Deptheads] Report Preface

[Evil5757 at aol.com]

Hello everyone.
 
On my drive home from Gamex, I thought about how we did, what we did, and  
how we can do things better.  There was one thing that weighed heavily on  my 
mind throughout, and I wanted to touch on that before submitting my After  
Action Report for Gamex.
 
There is a pattern to my involvement in conventions over the past 8  years.  
We are at the point where some of the staff doesn’t want me around  for 
various reasons.  When I go to a convention and about a quarter or so  of the staff 
refuses to look at me, turns away from me, or looks at me with  “that look,” 
trust me, I’ve seen it before.  The last GenCon I worked in my  5th year as 
both the Boardgame and Miniatures Department head, with over 1700  events 
coordinated and run.  After the convention, I turned in a 7 page,  typed after 
action report stating what could be improved with at least 2 options  on how 
improvements could be accomplished.  I was told I was no longer  needed because I’m 
too much trouble.  I imagine by now there has been at  least one Strategicon 
owner asking or inquiring if I am necessary or should be  cut loose.  The 
reason I bring this up is because the next step is to  ignore what I have to say 
about the convention, problems that need to be  addressed, possible 
improvements, etc.  If I’m ignored, nothing I have to  offer can be used and I might as 
well not be there.
 
I take my task for Strategicon very seriously.  I was brought on board  to 
look for things we are doing wrong or can improve upon, and bring forward  
options to fix these problems.  When I sat down with Eric when this all  started, 
one thing we both agreed on was that a major problem with the owners of  
Strategicon was complacency and letting things be as they were.  Neither of  us 
wanted Strategicon to get like that again.  I have spent over $800 of my  own 
money in helping Strategicon because I want it to succeed and be something  to 
look forward to again.  This is why I am here.
 
NOTHING I write or say is personal.  I don’t care who is in charge of  a 
position, department, or event.  I look at the event or situation itself  and if I 
see a possible improvement, I will say it.  I KNOW that everyone  here is 
doing their best to do the best they can, there is no doubt about  that.  When I 
decided to make the Special Projects Team over a year ago, I  began 
considering what, how, why and everything else about how the team and it’s  events will 
run.  I figured all possibilities and all problems I might  encounter, and 
began with Orccon.  After Gamex, I took my team to lunch and  we talked about how 
to make it better.  We came up with 9 things to change  or update to make 
things better.  That was after a year of planning.   After Gateway, we will come 
up with at least 5 more things to change and  improve.  I am treating everyone 
else the same way, because I know you  think about what you want to do, and 
how to do it.  If I see something that  can be improved, I will say so.  It’s 
not personal, but some people are  taking it personal.
 
To make a convention work, you must always look for improvement in all  
areas.  I don’t want people thinking about Strategicon as “same thing 3  times a 
year.”  I want them to look forward to the changes we make  convention to 
convention to make their gaming experience better every  time.  My team at Gamex 
consisted of 3 people who had given up on  Strategicon and hadn’t been there 
since 1999.  They loved it and are  already planning out Gateway.  That is how we 
want everyone to react to  coming back to our conventions.  
 
How we do this is to look at EVERY aspect of the convention each  time.  From 
the color of the badges to signage to maps to scheduling,  EVERYTHING.  We can
’t change everything from convention to convention, but  we can endeavor to 
change 10 things at a time.  A great example is our  signage.  We had none.  
Now we have some.  How can we improve it  for Gateway?  Every convention, one 
more sign, one more improvement…it adds  up.  It’s nothing personal against 
Eric or whoever is in charge of  signs.  I am the perfect example of it….I 
designed the events, the  schedule, everything about my department – and in 3 days 
my team found 9  improvements I hadn’t thought of or rules out in a year of 
planning.  
 
I truly think this is a great group of people running Strategicon.  I  
genuinely like each of you and look forward to going to the convention and  talking 
with you.  If you don’t like me that’s OK, but don’t let the  convention 
suffer because you want to ignore what I have to say about things  that could use 
improvement.  I have done ALL of your jobs before in my 30  years of staffing 
conventions, all more than once, and I understand the  difficulties associated 
with each position, from flying to OAK and running a  convention, to RPG 
director, to running the Dealer’s Room, to Registration, I’ve  done it.  I think 
everyone is doing a great job, but we can always do  better and yes, I am 
including myself.
 
Complacency sucks.  Don’t fall in that trap.
 
 
 
John Paiva
Strategicon Advisor
Special Projects Team Lead
 
 



**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with 
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.      
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4&?NCID=aolfod00030000000002)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mordred.punk.net/pipermail/deptheads/attachments/20080531/1a520920/attachment.htm