Welcome to your life (Arisia edition)

[drwex]

https://www.facebook.com/arisiainc/posts/10154910402771580

I'm only on one Arisia panel this year, but I'll be turning in timesheets for pre-con work exceeding 750 hours. And that's really only a ballpark. I can't even begin to reconstruct it.

A lot of that went into the Web site (https://www.arisia.org now with SSL everywhere) and I'll have more to say about that after Con. But lately it's been publications, for which I am titular Assistant Division Head and effectively acting Divhead.

I had a very ambitious plan going into this, which largely consisted of "get people to work on these jobs, in part by splitting them up so they're more sane for one person to do." Like a lot of my plans, it didn't exactly work out. On the other hand:
- we had a new person doing Souvenir Book this time and I think she did a brilliant job. She enjoyed it enough that she might do it again.
- we had a new person doing Pocket Program for the first time in modern Arisia history (*)
- we managed to deprecate a bunch of old, clunky, hard-to-navigate static HTML schedule information in favor of a ... well, clunky, hard-to-navigate but at least real-time queryable online schedule tool.
- we got a new Restaurant Guide written, which hopefully will cut down on the complaints about outdated info we got last year. In the age of Yelp and such you'd think the Guide didn't see as much use but apparently people use it at least as a starter.
- we got a new person to do Family Friendly Guide. I suspect she won't be back, but she did a good job this time. (The FFG wasn't the job she came to do - she just threw herself on the live grenade like so many people in this organization do.)

Communications touches a lot of other things at the con. I've been involved in several projects, peripherally, that have made me prouder of this community than I thought I'd be. The response to The Westin renovation showed people will step up when it's needed. The rollout of the Safer Space for Arisians of Color shows we're making progress living up to our diversity ideals. This year we'll also have the first Black-identified fan publication covering the con in our history. Sometimes people are why we get to have nice things.

I have plans for what to do next, and they don't involve doing this job again next year. I need to put in fewer hours and more focus on a couple specific things that Absolutely Need To Get Fixed. I think there are people in my division who can move up and take on this gig, if they're willing. If all goes well I'll be back doing something different for 2020 and, yes, I have plans past that, too. Stay tuned, it's going to be a hell of a fun ride.

(*) Arisia turns 30 next year. Sit a while and feel old with me.

Comments

[corylea]

750 hours! Holy shit!

I haven't been well enough to attend a con in years, but still -- thank you for all the work you've put in.

I remember when I was doing stuff with the computer game The Witcher, somebody said, "You seem to be able to do stuff with Djinni (the Witcher 1 toolkit) that nobody else can do. How long did it take for you to get THAT familiar with the thing?"

I said, "About 2000 hours."

They said, "Two THOUSAND hours? I think I don't want to know anything about the toolkit!"

I said, "Wait, come back! You can learn how to do cool stuff in a lot less time; the basics only take maybe ten hours to learn."

But they didn't want to be able to actually make stuff; they just wanted to be able to amaze the community. They hadn't realized it would take quite so long. :-)

Here's hoping you have better luck finding a successor!

[drwex]

Thanks. Finding a successor is actually Not My Problem. I'm just making recommendations.

[drwex]

Oh, I meant to mention that Arisia has really beefed up its Accessibility in recent years. There are things like a quiet room maintained by us in The Westin, assistance for lines like at Registration, guaranteed accessible seating at all panels and events, and so on.

Obviously you are the judge of your own health and limits but I did want to say Arisia is trying to be more welcoming to those who want to attend but whose bodies/brains aren't necessarily cooperating.

[corylea]

Oh, wow, that's great to know! Thanks so much for telling me that.

I still probably won't make it to the con -- I have trouble even leaving the house, and my energy level is ridiculously low -- but at least I now know that I only have to get somewhat better to be able to attend, as opposed to ALL better.

[reedrover]

Sometimes people are why we get to have nice things.

Yes. I'm so pleased for you and for everyone involved.

[gingicat]

Thank you. I remember how hard it was to be a divhead in the years I worked for Arisia (10, 11, and 12). It amazes me every year to see how much better the background organization is.

[dcltdw]

Can you comment more on the Guidebook app situation? I bet it's probably complicated, but I'm curious if you're at liberty to discuss.

[drwex]

It's not complicated at all - it's merely a matter of money. Guidebook is not cheap, though the people running it are nice and want our business so they give us a better-than-list-price deal by a lot. This year the con budget got hit from three directions all at once.

The majority of Con income is from registrations, but prices are set in advance and cannot be changed within a given year, so our options for raising more money to offset the hit were minimal. As a result, each division was asked to contribute to bringing the budget back in line. Guidebook was the second-biggest line item in my budget that I could sacrifice, so I did. (*)

Historically, our uptake of Guidebook among attendees has been low (18-32% in various years) so while I recognized that this wouldn't be a popular decision it felt like one I could make that would affect fewer attendees than other cutbacks that we might otherwise need to do.

(*) the biggest has to do with how we print the Pocket Program and is a little more complicated to explain but I can if people care.

[dcltdw]

Fascinating. Thank you, sir!

[ckd]

That was my guess, and it's good to see the numbers which make the decision a solid trade-off.

Thank you again for all you do for Arisia.

[drwex]

Thanks. There are lots of people who do a ton more than I.

[drwex]

Separately I think the decision wasn't so much a "solid" one as a "necessary" one. We did think things through and Guidebook didn't get cut until the third round - we can run some deficit on a given Arisia but if we do it carries forward and can affect the next year's con. Sometimes you bite the bullet and try to make things better for the future. We'll know more once this year's con is over and the books are done.

[flexagon]

Wow. You deserve a post-con vacation.

[drwex]

Yeah, ain't that the truth. Sadly, I don't get one. The joys of volunteering.

[totient]

You have done an amazing job, much better than I did when I tried it. I'm impressed.

[drwex]

Thank you. Given your depth and breadth of experience, that means a lot. I appreciate your support and encouragement.

[tpau]

you did a good job. and it was good to work with you this year. here's to more.

[drwex]

Likewise! I have _super_ appreciated having another professional in this space. I have plans and am starting to spin up teams to tackle both things at once. This will be hilarious.

[tpau]

:)

i think i am givign people to tomorrow before i start spinning stuff up. i anticipate meetings.