[TheRabbi]

XenoBlade, on May 17 2010, 06:32 PM, said:

I know this isn't the thread for it, but I might be interested in trying to staff for I.R.T. next year. (Or thinking about it at least) I have many many years of dealing with customers and having a level head dealing with usual customer outbursts. So I'm thinking if I should try to do I.R.T. next year.

We'd love to have you. According to our DH, the application should be up and advertised on the forums in about three months, so keep an eye out.

[XenoBlade]

TheRabbi, on May 17 2010, 06:33 PM, said:

We'd love to have you. According to our DH, the application should be up and advertised on the forums in about three months, so keep an eye out.

Ok, I will. I have one question though. I live in St. Louis, and I heard that there are constant meetings for staff. Will this be a problem if I live kinda far away? (Although I am planning to move to the chicagoland area sometime soon, but it's no where near looking certain now.)

[YKawashima]

I gofered this year like I have for a few years now. And this year I was sent to help out IRT with the SoapBubble line. While I knew that IRT had a hard job it is another thing to do the job. I worked for just about seven hours and probably got to sit/crouch for about twenty minutes of that. While 95% of the people were nice and listened to directions, there was the five percent that did not and then got offended by the fact that they were called out for their own mistake. I got yelled at by most of the people trying to bring backpacks into the dance and more "Why the hell didn't anyone tell me bags weren't allowed three hours ago?!" than was needed. (Especially since as far as I remember that had been the rule in previous years and I had the programming book to prove it). And of those that were nice, there was a truck load of garbage on the ground, someone even came up to me and thrust their garbage at me. I directed them to the nearest trash can(which was not all that far away. O.o). I got trampled and pushed around and I'll let you know I'm no small child in any sense. So it is rather easy to get annoyed by people. Though the hugs that I was getting from some people made it easier to deal with.

Now I know that it may seem like I was ranting and complaining but I'm just saying my experience. It is easy to say that IRT has a hard job and that you 'understand' but it is different when you work for them. I only had seven hours working for them and I was starting to wonder if this was a convention for people without common sense (sorry it was how I felt, cause no matter how many good people you get, when you deal with an overwhelming amount of people without common sense you start to wonder). So my vote goes that they are probably frustrated. I won't deny that there are some that are probably just jerks but the rest are working to help the con. ....Plus some people are just kinda scary XD. There was one IRT guy I was talking to while working and he was kinda scary lookin' (like he could predict if, when, and what rule I would break...) though he was pretty nice.

Maybe try it for a year. Perspective and all that wonderful satchel of cliches.

((but yes on my part even more respect and props for IRT and if I'm in country for ACEN next year I'm going to try to apply for IRT))

[manga1]

Not to hyjack the thread but, rabbi are you that one guy that was watching the viewing rooms at 3 in the morning on friday overnight, with the three jewish friends and one of which I talked to about holywood and judiism as well as the one guy that was talking about doing logic programing on machines down by the room where they were showing queens blade?

curious about it.

signed manga1

[XenoBlade]

YKawashima, on May 17 2010, 09:24 PM, said:

I gofered this year like I have for a few years now. And this year I was sent to help out IRT with the SoapBubble line. While I knew that IRT had a hard job it is another thing to do the job. I worked for just about seven hours and probably got to sit/crouch for about twenty minutes of that. While 95% of the people were nice and listened to directions, there was the five percent that did not and then got offended by the fact that they were called out for their own mistake. I got yelled at by most of the people trying to bring backpacks into the dance and more "Why the hell didn't anyone tell me bags weren't allowed three hours ago?!" than was needed. (Especially since as far as I remember that had been the rule in previous years and I had the programming book to prove it). And of those that were nice, there was a truck load of garbage on the ground, someone even came up to me and thrust their garbage at me. I directed them to the nearest trash can(which was not all that far away. O.o). I got trampled and pushed around and I'll let you know I'm no small child in any sense. So it is rather easy to get annoyed by people. Though the hugs that I was getting from some people made it easier to deal with.

Now I know that it may seem like I was ranting and complaining but I'm just saying my experience. It is easy to say that IRT has a hard job and that you 'understand' but it is different when you work for them. I only had seven hours working for them and I was starting to wonder if this was a convention for people without common sense (sorry it was how I felt, cause no matter how many good people you get, when you deal with an overwhelming amount of people without common sense you start to wonder). So my vote goes that they are probably frustrated. I won't deny that there are some that are probably just jerks but the rest are working to help the con. ....Plus some people are just kinda scary XD. There was one IRT guy I was talking to while working and he was kinda scary lookin' (like he could predict if, when, and what rule I would break...) though he was pretty nice.

Maybe try it for a year. Perspective and all that wonderful satchel of cliches.

((but yes on my part even more respect and props for IRT and if I'm in country for ACEN next year I'm going to try to apply for IRT))

When you deal with people for many years, you come to learn people lack common sense sadly. I think the hardest part of working with people is trying not to facepalm yourself when they do something that is very senseless.

[Neko_master_Luna]

You know, I have always thought against volunteering for Acen because of missing programs, but after seeing one of the Japanese guest harassed with no IRT in sight, I might consider changing my mind, even if it's only for so many hours a day. I mean I have been going since that last year at the Sheridan by the track. I think I know the con pretty well & it seems as if the help is really needed.

[Nyappy]

Neko_master_Luna, on May 18 2010, 10:41 AM, said:

You know, I have always thought against volunteering for Acen because of missing programs, but after seeing one of the Japanese guest harassed with no IRT in sight, I might consider changing my mind, even if it's only for so many hours a day. I mean I have been going since that last year at the Sheridan by the track. I think I know the con pretty well & it seems as if the help is really needed.

Any idea which guest it was?

[TheRabbi]

manga1, on May 17 2010, 10:08 PM, said:

Not to hyjack the thread but, rabbi are you that one guy that was watching the viewing rooms at 3 in the morning on friday overnight, with the three jewish friends and one of which I talked to about holywood and judiism as well as the one guy that was talking about doing logic programing on machines down by the room where they were showing queens blade?

curious about it.

signed manga1

Nope.

My job makes it so that I am actually not so visible to the congoers, which is one of the downsides of it. But now that I have dispatch staff that can take over a lot of that for me, I do get to go out and see the fans, which is the most fulfilling part of the job for me.

[Neko_master_Luna]

Shinichi Watanabe

[Neko_master_Luna]

Sorry for the double post, but I was able to get him off safely, despite my lack of Japanese speaking ability & you know he is a smoker. I am sure he just stepped out for a smoke & probably needed it after that. I just had to deal with the guy yelling at me afterwards. I would have notified IRT, but they stumbled off at the next stop & we were too crowded for me to get the jerk's badge & name. I just hope he went to sleep it off in his room.

[TheRabbi]

Nabeshin has been notorious among IRT Escorts for slipping his escort detail and going off and doing things (like grabbing a smoke, or wandering the halls talking with congoers). He also likes to head out from the Green Room (where the guests chill when not at panels and such) without telling anyone or taking his detail with him.

I don't know about this specific incident, but it's not surprising to me to hear about this.

[Nyappy]

Neko_master_Luna, on May 18 2010, 11:38 AM, said:

Sorry for the double post, but I was able to get him off safely, despite my lack of Japanese speaking ability & you know he is a smoker. I am sure he just stepped out for a smoke & probably needed it after that. I just had to deal with the guy yelling at me afterwards. I would have notified IRT, but they stumbled off at the next stop & we were too crowded for me to get the jerk's badge & name. I just hope he went to sleep it off in his room.

Thank you so very much for this. As Rabbi covered already, he likes to slip away from his IRT detail and his guest relations liaison on a frequent basis, and it wasn't uncommon for us to not be able to find him for an hour or two, and any little thing like this is greatly appreciated.

[Neko_master_Luna]

I understand him & can hardly blame him, I'm just glad I was able to help & that he was ok. I just wish I could have done more with the con attendee being drunk & rather disorderly. I can understand drinking too, but he was barely able to stand & when your in that condition, you shouldn't leave your room. He was so rude & threatening, I was worried about other people coming across him. I would have fallowed them to see what room they went to so that they could get a warning or some thing, but I was afraid to fallow the whole group my self.

This post has been edited by Neko_master_Luna: 18 May 2010 - 10:57 AM

[Nyappy]

Neko_master_Luna, on May 18 2010, 11:56 AM, said:

I understand him & can hardly blame him, I'm just glad I was able to help & that he was ok. I just wish I could have done more with the con attendee being drunk & rather disorderly. I can understand drinking too, but he was barely able to stand & when your in that condition, you shouldn't leave your room. He was so rude & threatening, I was worried about other people coming across him. I would have fallowed them to see what room they went to so that they could get a warning or some thing, but I was afraid to fallow the whole group my self.

Anytime something like this happens, you should find someone from IRT as soon as possible, even if it's just giving a general description of the guy and a direction that he went in. I was surprised at the large number of publicly drunk people I encountered just on the elevators alone this year, and I'm disappointed to hear that one of our guests had a run in with one.

[Neko_master_Luna]

I figured you guys would never find them in time. That was my fault for just assuming. Since no one got hurt, it's all good. If it had gotten worse I would have used the IRT hotline. I had it on my phone. Honestly there were worse things that happened, like some one peeing over their balcony & my friend who had never stayed in the Hyatt before decided to get pictures of the view from in side & some jerk spit down on to her hand.

[davebb]

You can always gofer if you don't want to be a fulltime staff. It would be a way to sorta work from the inside and put in a few hours and get a taste, that's if you are not ready to put your full time into working the convention.
-Dave / Medic 6 (EMRT)

Neko_master_Luna, on May 18 2010, 10:41 AM, said:

You know, I have always thought against volunteering for Acen because of missing programs, but after seeing one of the Japanese guest harassed with no IRT in sight, I might consider changing my mind, even if it's only for so many hours a day. I mean I have been going since that last year at the Sheridan by the track. I think I know the con pretty well & it seems as if the help is really needed.

[Cricket]

honestly our shift times have been the same a few years now, mid-shift is great if you just want to hit the dealers hall and the dance, Mornings are awesome if you want panels, and signings and stuff, nights are good if you are a night owl and just want to help the con run.

[rant]

All that aside, i can honestly tell you, it is really easy to get frustrated and by proxy end up being rude while working IRT. just as there is a small percentage of "power tripping IRT" there is the same percentage of "Unruly con-goers" and it can be very frustrating knowing for instance that things like the Soap Bubble can and WILL be shut down by the rosemont fire marshal if rules and regulations aren't followed to his liking.

So you have situations in which you go out there to the lines after getting told by the hotel, or rosemont, or your shift commander that things need to be done THIS way in order for this event to happen. Now trying to express this in a way to people that doesn't know, or care but only question why you are asking them to move around or make space but believe that they are perfectly fine where they are with what they are doing can cause a communication break down and frustration levels to rise on it's own.

Now add in the fact a small percentage of these con-goers you are trying to ensure have a good time with acen, the rave and everything else, look at you and tell you to "@#$% off" when you ask them to leave space on the sidewalk because a mother is trying to get by with a stroller and two kids and it's easy to boil over. it doesn't make it right, and not everyone can sympathize with it, but it happens and it goes to show there is always a reason for why things go south. (The above has happened to me personally.)

Then again just reading that situation can come off as jaded and a simple "Well that happened ONCE that's not an excuse" it isn't an excuse, we as IRT are not perfect, we do not get paid, we do not get any special treatment with the con, we are not a professional security company, we try our best to make sure those staffed on IRT can handle the HUGE responsibility of making sure this convention runs even with our low numbers. (FYI for every 1 irt member, there is 100+ con goers, these numbers drastically change if you consider the individual shift numbers (almost 500+ to 1 in some cases!) ) and if 10% of my staffers turn out to be jerks, there are still 90% of amazing people that sadly do not get the recognition they deserve or for that matter even get noticed for the amazing job they do for being on their feet 10-12 hours for 3 days straight.

[/rant]

I've said this before and i'll gladly say it again, change doesn't happen overnight and without help, if you really want IRT to be better then we need your help, either with volunteering to be on staff, or these forums for feedback i know i do read these posts and i take things to heart because i was in your position once and i decided the best way i could help would be to staff.

Jason "Cricket" Williams
Mid-Shift Commander
IRT 4-yr Vet

[Shay]

TheRabbi, on May 18 2010, 12:46 PM, said:

Nabeshin has been notorious among IRT Escorts for slipping his escort detail and going off and doing things (like grabbing a smoke, or wandering the halls talking with congoers). He also likes to head out from the Green Room (where the guests chill when not at panels and such) without telling anyone or taking his detail with him.

I don't know about this specific incident, but it's not surprising to me to hear about this.

*facepalm*

Nabeshin....

I spent an hour last year running around the hotel last year on a wild Nabeshin chase, trying to find out where he had wandered off to. I swear that Nabeshin knows the hotel and back hallways better than almost any staff member.

[Nyappy]

Shay, on May 18 2010, 08:40 PM, said:

*facepalm*

Nabeshin....

I spent an hour last year running around the hotel last year on a wild Nabeshin chase, trying to find out where he had wandered off to. I swear that Nabeshin knows the hotel and back hallways better than almost any staff member.

XD I would not be surprised at this point.

[Lupus]

Nabeshin is more elusive than Waldo, Carmen Sandiego and Jimmy Hoffa combined...

But seriously though, If there's ever another situation like that, if you call us immediately, we've got ops pretty much around every corner, there's a good chance we'll find the troublemaker

[Nikku]

Honestly, i feel for the IRT. I used to work security at a night club. Out of 20 guys it only takes 1 having a bad attitude or feeling like the "POWwah" makes them cops. Which in turns makes the people angry at the none Dickie Security which can make a perfectly nice guy snap because of the pressure. In 2 years i've had no issues. At worst i was told by an IRT guy not to point my prop gun at the hotel window because my roomie couldn't believe that's where it was (odd, i know) The only "bad" part would be that he scared the blue jesus out of me when he spoke up from behind and simply told me "don't do that, If the cop's see you they'll harrass you over it"