[Riker]

Disclaimer: This post is my own personal opinion, not the official position of the IRT or Registration departments.

Regarding the ongoing discussion of letting people out of line to go pee or not letting people back in afterwards: I just spent today up at Six Flags Great America. They have a really simple policy: No line jumping, whatsoever, for any reason. No holding places in lines. If you get out of line, you go back to the end of the line. Period. And guess what else? I didn't see anybody complaining about this policy at all, even to their friends.

I'm former IRT (and hopefully future IRT, I would love to come back), and in my opinion, I see absolutely no problem with this policy. It is not unreasonable to expect people to have the presence of mind to take care of bodily functions such as eating and peeing before they get into a line that they know may last 30-60 minutes, or before they go into an event which they plan to attend for two or three hours. I do realize that with the Soap Bubble, being a rave, hydration is important, and I do understand that emergencies of a bodily variety may arise, and (if the reports on this thread are true -- I haven't heard anything official) I support Rosa's efforts to change the way we handle those events. I also understand that the Soap Bubble is not the only place that this issue arises, but since this thread is regarding IRT and the original issue was with the soap bubble line, that's what I'm talking about here and now.

A lot of people seem to take issue with the line of "the congoer was acting foolishly." I don't recall the post but somebody said it was unfair and offensive to say that. Honestly, though this opinion may offend someone, I have no problem stating that I believe that it is neither unfair nor untrue to claim that someone who can't follow the rules and who can't see past their own nose as to why these rules might exist is being foolish.

Note that I am not saying that it is foolish to need to pee. I am saying that it is foolish to demand that an exception be made to the rules for you. Note, also, that I am not saying that everyone who was in that situation was being foolish. Nor am I saying "oh man, all the congoers suck," because that's not true. As an IRT vet I can say that it is a few bad apples that make everyone else's time worse. For example, if people didn't try to sneak in to the Soap Bubble every year, we wouldn't have to have these rules. But until ALL the congoers are as wise and and honest as MOST of the congoers, those idiots are going to require us to create rules that are a pain for the rest of you. That's unfortunate, but it's a fact of life and it occurs everywhere else in the world too.

[Edited 6/4/08 to clarify that this is my opinion, and added language in blue for even more clarification.]

FlyingElf, on May 28 2008, 03:02 PM, said:

okay, thanks for the quick replies. So this isn't something IRT normally does? Check random parties to assure everyone is of age? But yeah I really cut down on even letting minors into the room this year as its something I didn't even wanna deal with, but I was only checking IDs of those who wanted to drink. Next year may just check IDs at the door and be done with it, because I see your point and I agree with it.

FlyingElf, the Standard Operating Procedures for IRT have this to say about room parties. Whether or not they are supposed to enter your room depends largely on probable cause, or whether we have a reason to believe that there is underage drinking going on in the room. If we have no reason to suspect that there is underage drinking going on, we are supposed to verify that you are checking identification at the door AND that you have a way of marking underage vs. of-age attendees in the room. If you are not doing so, you may be searched by Hotel Security or by Rosemont Public Safety, which is not our call and which we cannot prevent. On the other hand, if we DO have a reason to suspect that underage drinking is going on, IRT has the right to enter the hotel room because it counts as an "open room" of the hotel by hotel policy. (By admitting members of the general public to your room, as opposed to only the people on the account, the room becomes an open room of the hotel, just like a meeting room. This is how the hotel gives the convention the right to enter the room, which is how we get that right. I'm not an expert in hotel policy, I'm simply repeating what is in the manual, so if you have questions about this, please PM me and I'll look into it further.) If IRT does enter a room, they are supposed to politely ask the people who are suspected of being underage for ID.

So in your situation it sounds like, basically, that the issues were that a) IRT may not have had probable cause to enter the room, B) IRT was not polite while doing so, and c) IRT was demanding ID from everyone instead of just the people suspected of underage drinking.

There is not much that I, personally, can do to rectify this situation, because I am no longer IRT. However, I do keep in touch with the people who are working on the training curriculum for next year. I'll see if I can make sure that they cover this topic more thoroughly.

[Smeet]

Riker, on Jun 3 2008, 02:30 AM, said:

Regarding the ongoing discussion of letting people out of line to go pee or not letting people back in afterwards: I just spent today up at Six Flags Great America. They have a really simple policy: No line jumping, whatsoever, for any reason. No holding places in lines. If you get out of line, you go back to the end of the line. Period. And guess what else? I didn't see anybody complaining about this policy at all, even to their friends.

As former IRT (and hopefully future IRT, I would love to come back), I see absolutely no problem with this policy. It is not unreasonable to expect people to have the presence of mind to take care of bodily functions such as eating and peeing before they get into a line that they know may last 30-60 minutes, or before they go into an event which they plan to attend for two or three hours. I do realize that with the Soap Bubble, being a rave, hydration is important, and I do understand that emergencies of a bodily variety may arise, and I support Rosa's efforts to change the way we handle those events.

But, did any lines at Six Flags last 6+ hours? No pee-breaks for a 30-60 minute line I can understand, but for 6-9+ hour registration lines (which, unless I'm mistaken, are what most people are wanting a pee-policy implemented for), a no-pee-break policy is a little... unreasonable.

I suppose I may have misunderstood the point you were trying to make; in which case, I apologize.

[jsieczkar]

Smeet, on Jun 3 2008, 10:40 AM, said:

But, did any lines at Six Flags last 6+ hours? No pee-breaks for a 30-60 minute line I can understand, but for 6-9+ hour registration lines (which, unless I'm mistaken, are what most people are wanting a pee-policy implemented for), a no-pee-break policy is a little... unreasonable.

I suppose I may have misunderstood the point you were trying to make; in which case, I apologize.

I was in line at Ceder Point for 4 1/2 hrs, and if you left there was no getting back in.

[FlyingElf]

Riker, on Jun 3 2008, 03:30 AM, said:

FlyingElf, the Standard Operating Procedures for IRT have this to say about room parties. Whether or not they are supposed to enter your room depends largely on probable cause, or whether we have a reason to believe that there is underage drinking going on in the room. If we have no reason to suspect that there is underage drinking going on, we are supposed to verify that you are checking identification at the door AND that you have a way of marking underage vs. of-age attendees in the room. If you are not doing so, you may be searched by Hotel Security or by Rosemont Public Safety, which is not our call and which we cannot prevent. On the other hand, if we DO have a reason to suspect that underage drinking is going on, IRT has the right to enter the hotel room because it counts as an "open room" of the hotel by hotel policy. (By admitting members of the general public to your room, as opposed to only the people on the account, the room becomes an open room of the hotel, just like a meeting room. This is how the hotel gives the convention the right to enter the room, which is how we get that right. I'm not an expert in hotel policy, I'm simply repeating what is in the manual, so if you have questions about this, please PM me and I'll look into it further.) If IRT does enter a room, they are supposed to politely ask the people who are suspected of being underage for ID.

So in your situation it sounds like, basically, that the issues were that a) IRT may not have had probable cause to enter the room, IRT was not polite while doing so, and c) IRT was demanding ID from everyone instead of just the people suspected of underage drinking.

There is not much that I, personally, can do to rectify this situation, because I am no longer IRT. However, I do keep in touch with the people who are working on the training curriculum for next year. I'll see if I can make sure that they cover this topic more thoroughly.

That was exactly the reply I was looking for. Thank you very much.

[Dogao]

Riker, on Jun 3 2008, 02:30 AM, said:

Regarding the ongoing discussion of letting people out of line to go pee or not letting people back in afterwards: I just spent today up at Six Flags Great America. They have a really simple policy: No line jumping, whatsoever, for any reason. No holding places in lines. If you get out of line, you go back to the end of the line. Period. And guess what else? I didn't see anybody complaining about this policy at all, even to their friends.

As former IRT (and hopefully future IRT, I would love to come back), I see absolutely no problem with this policy. It is not unreasonable to expect people to have the presence of mind to take care of bodily functions such as eating and peeing before they get into a line that they know may last 30-60 minutes, or before they go into an event which they plan to attend for two or three hours. I do realize that with the Soap Bubble, being a rave, hydration is important, and I do understand that emergencies of a bodily variety may arise, and I support Rosa's efforts to change the way we handle those events.

I am saying that it is foolish to demand that an exception be made to the rules for you. Note, also, that I am not saying that everyone who was in that situation was being foolish.

I wish you'd stop speaking for the policy-setting staff members when you are not one. You're just making things more difficult for the people who actually matter.

You're seriously going to come onto this forum and compare a 45-minute-wait for Iron Wolf to nine hours of registration hell? And then actually use this absurd conclusion to criticize your fellow congoer?

Really? Really?

I am going to explain this as simply as I can: Human beings have biological needs, which must be accommodated at various times. If you are planning an event for the public, you must make plans to accommodate these needs. Period. End of story. You cannot build a restaurant without a bathroom simply because YOU FEEL LIKE people should have gone before they left the house.

A healthy human being at sufficient hydration level should be peeing every three hours, MINIMUM. A healthy human being engaging in strenuous physical activity needs much more water. Assuming the Soap Bubble is taken care of (which I do, because it's people with greater presence of mind than yourself), can you GUARANTEE TO ME that no line at ACEN will last more than three hours?

If not, we need a bathroom policy. It's as simple as that. And considering we've just had our SECOND consecutive year of record-setting lines, it would just be stupid to assume the lines will be under control.

You are advocating policy in direct conflict with a human being's basic medical needs. Why is this difficult for you to understand?

[Dogao]

You know what? I rescind my reply. This is the board for IRT Incidents And Policy. If you have some great big insight on the line policy, take it somewhere else, because for awhile THIS board was actually getting things done. Line arguments are irrelevant anyway because the higher-ups are actually dealing with the problem.

So let's get this back on-topic. I think this board has more than enough staff that actually work for IRT.

[Bloo09]

Smeet, on Jun 3 2008, 09:40 AM, said:

But, did any lines at Six Flags last 6+ hours? No pee-breaks for a 30-60 minute line I can understand, but for 6-9+ hour registration lines (which, unless I'm mistaken, are what most people are wanting a pee-policy implemented for), a no-pee-break policy is a little... unreasonable.

I suppose I may have misunderstood the point you were trying to make; in which case, I apologize.

Riker's post has nothing to do with the registration line policy for washroom breaks. It is his personal opinion.

As for registration we ARE going to have bathroom passes. It is unreasonable to expect someone to hold their business for so long and uncomfortable. We cannot speak for other departments though. Please see Changes made to registration
Also lines should not be as long for 09 due to us doubling our booths and no DDOS attack You can see it all in the forum topic I linked.

(Sorry this is in the IRT spot but since registration was brought up it did belong. Feel free to move ((not delete)) these posts to registration if you would like)

[Riker]

Dogao, on Jun 3 2008, 02:23 PM, said:

I wish you'd stop speaking for the policy-setting staff members when you are not one. You're just making things more difficult for the people who actually matter.

You're seriously going to come onto this forum and compare a 45-minute-wait for Iron Wolf to nine hours of registration hell?

Nope, I'm going to come onto this forum and give my own personal opinion about rules and whether or not they should be followed. I didn't say a thing about Registration. In fact I'm pretty sure this thread was about the Soap Bubble line. So technically, you're the one who brought up registration. But really, I should thank you, Dogao. Until your post I never realized that because I'm junior staff, my opinion doesn't matter and I should get off the forums. Clearly, these boards are only for "policy-setting" staff members and congoers. Whatever was I thinking?!

I've edited my original post to make it more clear that it's my own personal opinion, not the official position of any department, and out of deference to Bloo I've clarified what is and is not "official" from what I've heard.

[davebb]

Since the thread has lost its format between replies to replies, I'm going to repost what Wedge's format is for comment's concerns.


Post your IRT questions here. Please be able to include all important information including but not limited to:

Who was the IRT operative's name, radio call sign, or detailed description¿ (Please don't say they were wearing a black vest. Everyone name was on their badges and their radio call sign was in orange print on their vest)

What is your specific concern or comment¿

Where exactly did this event occur¿ (Main lobby between the elevators instead of lobby)

When did this event occur¿ (Please give date and time)

How would you like to see this matter resolved¿ OR How would you have handled it differently¿

We will be working hard to improve IRT and the services we render for next year but to do this we need detailed and specific information.


Let's get the thread back on track. If there are other general complaints lets either start a new thread or put them in a thread thats already on that topic. Registration has their own forum, IRT has their forum, programming has theirs. Though as this thread is intended for IRT situations and encounters, lets try to keep it down to the comment/concern + reply on clarifications, and not let the thread get out of control. Thank you Bloo for pointing out the Reg issue thread. Riker thank you for the opinion (and i did PM you about one of the issues you brought up). Let's get back on track.

[Smalls]

Who Erm, not sure. I was off getting food.
What Thank you, thank you, thank you for pulling my big sister out of that reg line, taking her back to IRT HQ and giving her a soda! You were most effective in keeping her from passing out. I truly appreciate your hard work and dedication to your job.
Where That reg line in the concenter.
When Friday evening, around 7:30, I think.

[Lady Luna]

Vandi422, on May 28 2008, 07:37 AM, said:

She was found and her mother was very happy.

Deputy Dog

That's wonderful .
Thanks for replying

[Edrik]

Edited because I didn't keep up with the thread well-enough to see the issue I was addressing was handled. Nothing to see here. Carry on.

[Vandi422]

Edrik, on Jun 5 2008, 09:48 PM, said:

Edited because I didn't keep up with the thread well-enough to see the issue I was addressing was handled. Nothing to see here. Carry on.

Ninja,

In my line of work, details, details and just the facts. We will let it go this time

Deputy Dog is watching

[Light]

rondo, on May 15 2007, 10:54 PM, said:

Who: From what I can tell, the entire IRT staff is a safe callout.

What: A general lack of knowledge of what was going on. For the Friday morning registration, I can't count all of the different explanations of line forming and what was for what. The Friday morning registration mass was poorly handled and was not taken care of until Saturday it seems (the queueing lines in the main lobby for reg and pre-reg should have already been setup the night before). I hate trying to help other congoers with questions when I can't provide them an accurate answer...and neither could the IRT member. Most info came from others in lines..which in a couple cases, they were misinformed as well.

Where & When: Everywhere, though one particularly was Friday morning registration.

How to fix it: Well, I believe communications between the rest of the con and the IRT needs to be better. The IRT needs to know just about everything that is going on with the con, as well as being kept updated promptly on changes. If anything, if the IRT doesn't know the answer to many of the questions, instead of trying to answer them or giving the "I'm not sure" answer, have IRT members direct those type of inquiries to convention information booths in the con without as much as a second thought.

Good job on doing your best handling the insanity.

I agree greatly. I've never been to a convention before, and well, you know that ACen is huge XDD;; The first day I went was Saturday morning, and I asked a few worker IRT people, like where stuff was, and where to go, and all they told me was to stand against the wall becausethe dealer room wasn't open yet and I was like @____@;; But where are the sessions? And he told me to be quiet, and not to make a fuss, and to just stand against the wall and wait like everybody else. I asked a few more people later on and nobody told me anything, so I went basically all day Saturday thinking there was just one building, the vendor one, and I missed all teh sessions TT_________TT Hopefully next year will be better...

[vinny]

Who: IRT in front of the Masq
What: Communication was horrible - my group got ticket for the Masq from the info booth thing in the dealer's room and they said that the red sticker meant we would be in the first group seated. IRT knew nothing about this seating by groups thing. when we arrived we asked an IRT guy what we need to do. he didn't know about the seating thing and he was very helpful, he got on the radio - after complaining about chatter on the radio - and eventually got the problem resolved.
Where: in front of Masq
When: about 5ish on Saturday, i believe, (whatever night the masq was on)
How: I think the IRT handled the situation very well, but communication needs to be better

[annette]

My suggestions - I posted this under a registration topic but i think its relevant here also:

"Every year, I hear horror stories from staff about the number of volunteers who simply ditched -- from IRT, from Reg, from Staff Services, the list just goes on. There has to be a way to stop this. The best idea I can come up with is to reduce the number of hours expected per volunteer, but as a tradeoff require volunteers to check in with a supervisor when they go on or off duty. Then if they don't clock in their required hours? Send them a bill for the badge, and (if comped) their room. (I suppose they would have to sign some sort of contract to this effect, in order to make it legally binding)."


WOW people actually DID that!?!? Geez, if it's really that easy, Acen's gona have a bunch of people that figure they'll become a staff member, make sure they get a free room and badge, then ditch to go enjoy the con - all for free!! On top of that - some of the irt are really obnoxious, mocking certain con goers, then when con goers retort back with an insult thinking it's all in good fun - the irt take their badge away!!!?!? Best way to describe it is abusing power, and it must stop.

1. I agree with the whole credit card deal, get two credit card authorizations as well as a drivers license number from each staff member. In fact, acen staff recruiters could take each staff member's driver's license (or something of equal value) as collateral until the last day of acen, thus their promise to work acen until the last day would be fulfilled, and their drivers license would be returned.

2. Furthermore, I would say irts and staff should be required to go to a sort of workshop (paid for from their own pocket) - to get some sort of certificate that says they are "ACEN IRT CERTIFIED" or something of that sort - once you get certified you are allowed to work every acen from then on, however the certification can be revoked any time for bad behavior. Then they would need to pay to retake the class or something. After a certain amount of revokes, they are forever banned from being irt again. It seems that a lot of the problems at acen stem from disorganization and lack of understanding among staff members. Making sure the staff is well informed would take care of that problem. We as con goers have a right to know and be educated of any problems going on at acen - it is acen's responsibility to ensure their staff can communicate them fairly and efficiently to us.

3. I would even go so far as to assign some sort of discouragement of irt instilling bad customer service and unfairness. For example, if there's 50 or more complaints about a certain irt member, they should be "fired" from irt (or if my "acen irt certified" certification was in place - revoke their acen irt certification - keep on file that this person has abused their privileges of being a valuable irt), and ultimately be forced to pay for their own room and board. They obviously aren't doing their job by making the con enjoyable for the congoers (the same congoers who ironically pay for their being there) and if Im paying for their being there, they sure as hell better treat me with respect or they're gona lose their jobs.

4. When I heard my friend was standing in line at acen for 8 hours just trying to get a badge, I was amazed. A friend of mine said, "We're at a con full of techy geeks and computer nerds - SOMEONE should be able to figure out the problem!!" I would offer some sort of service to acen goers, who upon earning a background in IT or computer science or anything that can be of help for future problems like this (and can prove it with a copy of their diploma and id ahead of time) - offer to put them on an "On Call list" for a discounted badge or something. Then sent out a mass text message to each person on this list asking them to meet somewhere to help fix the problem. Sure not 100% of the people will show up - but Im sure most would.

[annette]

1. Ok about bathrooms - nursing student here so sorry for the rant but....here goes:

If you hold your pee for too long you can get a UTI/urinary tract infection. Over the counter, you can get pain relief, but the only way to get antibiotics is getting a prescription first - meaning you'll need to see a doctor first.

SOooo we're looking at money spent for pain relief + doctor visit + antibiotics themselves = easily over 100 dollars. Refusing someone the use of the bathroom and thus making them more susceptible to getting a UTI. So who should be forced to pay for this??

2. I think there should be a point system done among irt - like a new irt begins at 0. There should be an acen number to call or something and each time they are praised by a con goerthey get a +1, each time they are called and complained about they get a -1. After a certain amount of pluses, they should be awarded stars. Like +10 = 1 start IRT member, +20 = 2 stars or something. After a certain amount of negatives, irt should no longer be irt. Just my two cents.

[Tevva]

Just so attendees know it isn't up to IRT if there are bathroom passes/breaks, its posted elsewhere but they do not make the call. And posting again reg is going to have passes for 09 .

Annette I like your idea about the number thing, they need a way to see who is a new member and who is a vet and I know there are other suggestions like having green ribbon for new member and other color for vets since the ribbon system is already being used to show who is a supervisor.

This is Bloo09 too lazy to switch accounts again.

[annette]

Tevva, on Jul 6 2008, 01:26 PM, said:

Just so attendees know it isn't up to IRT if there are bathroom passes/breaks, its posted elsewhere but they do not make the call. And posting again reg is going to have passes for 09 .

Annette I like your idea about the number thing, they need a way to see who is a new member and who is a vet and I know there are other suggestions like having green ribbon for new member and other color for vets since the ribbon system is already being used to show who is a supervisor.

This is Bloo09 too lazy to switch accounts again.

Oh good Im glad my advice is valued

In the program booklet there should be a page with like a "contact an EMRT if you have one of the following problems....(then list potential problems)", "contact an IRT member if you have one of the following problems...(again list potential problems)", etc etc - then provide locatioins where each can be found. I would even recommend having colored vests - black for IRT, neon yellow for EMRT (they should be spotted first as a medical problems and personal safety should always be number one), etc.

I would NOT do ribbons - nobody sees them, and theyre easily duplicated and/or can be switched among the staff. I would say get photo ids or something - maybe not for new IRTS or EMRTs as they could be "in training", but if they'd been there for a few years then give them one to continue to use each year or something. I guess the problem is money.

[okaonos]

Concern/Suggestion...

Sometimes during situations, major and minor, IRT's are nowhere to be found and things can be made worse. Is there anyway something can be set up so IRT can be contacted instantly by con-goers? Perhaps a hotline or similar system.

[davincitat]

find ANY staffer. We have radios, we have cell phones, call the front desk...They have a radio. I have posted this for you in another thread. There are only about 75 IRT on the floor at one time we may not be that close to a "situation" to get there in 30 seconds. but we do take calls seriously. and will respond.

[Azena]

I failed to see the date on the post I was replying to, so I removed this now... ._. Sorry all!

This post has been edited by Azena: 18 May 2010 - 03:34 PM

[Lina]

Azena, on May 18 2010, 04:24 PM, said:

Hello there, this is Setasha from IRT.

I just wanted to address the part I bolded above. For the Anime Hell line, if it was near the entrance, that was myself and Rain. As we were about 20-25 feet apart, I would just like to mention I could not hear what she was saying, so I cannot say anything about that. However, yes I was shouting the following "Please get into a single file line" and "Please do not sit or stand on the white tape inside the room" and "Please have your badges ready."

We were doing this so that everything would move smoother and we could get you in as quickly as possible. From what I recall, we only had one actual IRT member counting and badge checking entries (Paper (her orange callsign tape said Heather)) so we were trying to make it easier for her to check them.

If I possibly offended you by yelling the above at all or if you took it the wrong way, I do apologize and I will take that comment and learn from it for next year. The only reason I was 'yelling' in the first place was so that more people could hear me and possibly listen. I do believe I had numerous people glance at me and say "Thank you for saying please" or something along that line.

That was from 2008. ._____.

[Azena]

Lina, on May 18 2010, 04:30 PM, said:

That was from 2008. ._____.

._. Oops! I am terribly sorry then. XD I failed to see the date or the post. I will delete that right now. Thanks for pointing that out... XD