[Red XIII]

Ok Because we know it happens every year... Please post your complaints here. When you post a complaint about an operative/problem Please make sure to include:

Their Call Sign/name (or the best description you have of them)
When it happened
What happened
If anything was done about it then

I personally didn't hear anything bad about IRT operatives, but there's always a first for everything.

Thank you all!
Red XIII
~ IRT Dispatch 2009 - 2011
~ IRT Floor Operative 2007 - 2009

[OtakuAngelD]

I don't have a call name or anything, but the time was during Saturday afternoon at the Hyatt. Basically, the complaint is one I've mentioned elsewhere. There was an IRT opperative telling people not to walk in the street up to the hotel. I agree with this, it is a safety issue. However, there were a large group of con goers sitting on the sidewalk, making it impossible to do so without walking over top/tripping over/pushing aside/kicking those sitting on the sidewalk. The IRT member did nothing to make those people impeeding the movement of traffic move. They didn't even tell them to stand up. They just told those of us walking not to walk in the streets and to stay on the sidewalk (when it was impossible to do at that point due to the aformentioned sidewalk sitters.)

Other than that, I think IRT did an excellent job and kudos for doing such a thankless job.

This post has been edited by OtakuAngelD: 24 May 2011 - 01:06 PM

[celticwiccan]

OtakuAngelD, on 24 May 2011 - 01:05 PM, said:

I don't have a call name or anything, but the time was during Saturday afternoon at the Hyatt. Basically, the complaint is one I've mentioned elsewhere. There was an IRT opperative telling people not to walk in the street up to the hotel. I agree with this, it is a safety issue. However, there were a large group of con goers sitting on the sidewalk, making it impossible to do so without walking over top/tripping over/pushing aside/kicking those sitting on the sidewalk. The IRT member did nothing to make those people impeeding the movement of traffic move. They didn't even tell them to stand up. They just told those of us walking not to walk in the streets and to stay on the sidewalk (when it was impossible to do at that point due to the aformentioned sidewalk sitters.)

Other than that, I think IRT did an excellent job and kudos for doing such a thankless job.

I agree with this complaint. It was really the only issue I noticed.

[Kokoro]

Thirding the silly sidewalk issue. IRT kept yelling very loudly for everyone to get on the sidewalk, and so many people were just laughing because there WAS no sidewalk to get on. It was completely taken up by large crowds sitting/standing on it. If you want us on the sidewalk, ask the people "loitering" there to move. Or don't line people up there.

[kitsune red]

I had to go back and forth between the Convention Center and the Hyatt for my work shifts. Several times I would find people(attendees) sitting against a door blocking access. Because I use a walker I need to use the handicapped access plates. I am able to man handle the doors myself, however I worry about an attendee being able to access the doors with this situation. At no time did I see any IRT personnel watching for this or petrolling to report the matter.

[Dark Spellmaster]

Maybe a way to fix the sidewalk issue is to basically have it off limits to people standing and have a repremand for standing there longer then at most 3 to 5 minutes. Unless you are completly lost there is no reason to be standing there save picture taking. Maybe have a set of poles with lines that say pedestrians only and loiters will be fined, or something? Could this help?

[tfcreate]

kitsune red, on 26 May 2011 - 04:16 PM, said:

I had to go back and forth between the Convention Center and the Hyatt for my work shifts. Several times I would find people(attendees) sitting against a door blocking access. Because I use a walker I need to use the handicapped access plates. I am able to man handle the doors myself, however I worry about an attendee being able to access the doors with this situation. At no time did I see any IRT personnel watching for this or petrolling to report the matter.

There seems to be an overall "hanging out by (*insert major passage way here*)" mentality throughout the con. Part of the reason is they have a great incentive to hang out there. A place to sit.... benches. See if they can remove or relocate those benches so at least many will have no reason to hang out there.

Would the Hayatt allow picnic tables in some of the unused areas, away from the doors and other places that everyone needs to get to, like the green space just north or the hotel?
Another is to just give the loiterers something else to do. It's moronic, but are people dumb enough to pay money to go to a con just to hang out when they can do the same thing at home for free.

This post has been edited by tfcreate: 26 May 2011 - 06:47 PM

[PanzerKunst99]

My single biggest gripe regarding IRT is the attitude some members dish out to the congoers. I did post about this in the general gripes thread, but I think it deserves reiteration. This ACEN was my tenth, and it seems to me that IRT's overall attitude has steadily gone downhill with each year. The general tactic seems to be "just scream at people and it shall be done". I don't know about most of you guys, but when someone comes at me guns blazing and starts yelling at me right off the bat, it tends to automatically put me on the defense, and I'm more likely to be snarky than to resolve the issue peacefully. Case in point: Saturday afternoon, just outside the Hyatt's ballroom, my friends and I decided to take a few pictures of our costumes against an empty wall. We weren't aware that the warmup for the Flow concert was happening (there weren't any signs or any indication that we should not be there, as two other IRT staffers let us just walk right past them), and that IRT consequently wanted that area free of traffic. An IRT member approached us (sorry-didn't get a call sign) and asked "Excuse me, do you have any idea what's going on here?" Well, obviously not since we were there. He did allow us to take a few quick photos once we explained, but I did not at all appreciate the initial sarcasm. A better way to state it would have been "Excuse me, but we're trying to clear this area, so could you please go somewhere else?" PLEASE is the key word here. I get that you guys are running on pure caffeine and next to no sleep, but this is not the fault of the congoers. I wouldn't want to be responsible for corralling 20,000 people, for sure, but all I'm asking is that you take it down a notch and don't come down on us with the iron fist right off the bat.

[minecraftsmurf]

2011 IRT complaints! >

This year, we made sure to remember the names of the IRT members that we encountered who were to say in a nice way show no signs of professionalism or any general qualifying characteristics once so ever for their volunteer jobs. :@

We don’t mean to offend anyone it’s just that we feel it is important to share this information and this seems like the proper place to do it!! Please don’t hate us!!! T.T
#1 troublesome IRT member this year: “IZY” (medium height large frame guy with glasses). This guy did a fantastic job of getting under I think everyones skin by agitating people and abusing what little power he head. > Every time we saw this guy, he had a poor attitude, he obviously did not like doing what he was doing. Always yelling and grumbling about something so insignificant it was a joke!! O.O Not to mention that every IRT member that was with him looked like they were unhappy around him! At least they still had the common decency to say place and thank you when they asked us to do things.

#2 troublesome IRT member this year: “Thanatos“(tall medium framed guy with glasses, and I think he had a hat on too). This guy seemed like he believed he was above everything (snobby, there was another IRT member with glasses and a bearded on like this too but we couldn’t catch his name cuz he would not respond to us when we asked him questions). T.T But “Thanatos” was obviously in a rush to get somewhere (that I hope was very important) that he clearly knocked our friend little sister Sarah (petite 5’4” 15 year old) completely off her feet (she even hurt her wrist). He looked obviously felt it but acted like nothing happened, glanced at us and kept rushing through the crowd. He could have at least had enough courtesy to yell out sorry or something. o.O

Those were the only two that we had real issues with. The rest of the troublesome IRT members were just annoying. As the above statements suggested they would stand in the middle of the street making cars drive around them yelling at people to walk on the sidewalks that were obviously full and had no room for us to merge onto them! O.O

Also, what happened to the politeness that IRT had in the past years? This year it seemed like they had a lot more people who hated what they were doing. I know they don’t get paid, but they must be getting something out of it for them to do it when they obviously hate it. This year there was way less IRT members that would calmly talk to people and say thank you, and please! >

I remember two years ago seeing two IRT member standing out in the rain at night controlling the line for anime hell (I wish I remembered their names! One was a tall skinny framed guy with an IRT hat that had his name on it, and the other was a shorter girl with a medium figure and I think shorts when it was cold out. She also seemed like she was in charge) ^.^ these two were obviously unhappy that it was raining but they were nice. ^.^ They would joke about the rain and say please, and thank you. They would even explain to us why it was that anime hell was delayed!

^.^ Thank you for hearing me out.

[MsLovelyCookie]

My IRT review:

Artist Alley/Dealer's Hall: I noticed when I went to the Artist Alley/Dealer's Hall entrance that 2 out if the 3 days, I went to look around and buy, the IRTs were checking for badges or asking people to have them out and ready like this one female was on Sunday afternoon.

Soap Bubble: Once my group made it to the back of the line I went up to 1 of the 2 IRTs, along with a few others joining the line, and asked him how did he wanted us to line up. He said in a zigzag and everyone listen, when the line started moving they ask for a single line. At one point another IRT joined giving out people high fives to those who are waiting. Once on the side walk there was on IRT yelling to stay in a single line and keep the sidewalk clear for walkers. I notice that the IRTs where keeping track of the line this year. For example, the IRT outside counted the amount of 15 people going in, by the door one was checking badges and counting people going in, as other people going out, and stopping once the stop watch hit the last number to tell another IRT keeping track. On our way out for a break a female IRT reminded us we can't go back in and go back to the end of the line if we want to come back in.

2nd time going in the line was shorter this time with another person joining us, still asking to be in a single line clear the side walk. While waiting I notice 1 IRT asking a person nicely whether the stuff animal was a bag on her back and if she can get someone to pick it up. Once inside I noticed that there was 5 IRT standing by the doors and preventing people from cutting the line making them go back out.

These are the things I have notice during Acen this year and my last 2 complaints are the smokers and the drinkers. I know that in Chicago and at O'hare Airport that smokers are to be 15 feet clear of the door way, there was a group smoking by the entrance and exit of the Soap Bubble and they are the same hooka smokers like last time. How come they were not moved further way and is there a law about smoking near door way in Rosemont? As for the drinkers, I know that you can't stop people from drinking but keep an eye out for their behavior would calm me down. Let's see how you guys do next year.

This post has been edited by MsLovelyCookie: 30 May 2011 - 01:24 PM

[Kokoro]

PanzerKunst99, on 27 May 2011 - 11:40 PM, said:

My single biggest gripe regarding IRT is the attitude some members dish out to the congoers. I did post about this in the general gripes thread, but I think it deserves reiteration.

I too was extremely put off by poor attitudes on the part of IRT. They didn't care, had no desire to help people, wouldn't listen, snapped at people... Frankly I don't want to hear excuses. "Well, it's a hard job... Well, they're tired..." "Well, this got miscommunicated because of _____." I know how incredibly stressful event planning is. I know some con-goers are idiots who shouldn't be out in public. I KNOW that IRT's job is very difficult. But you have to put a smile on your face and remain polite. No matter what the other person dishes out, you've gotta suck it up and be the bigger person. That's, like, the number one rule for any job dealing with customer service/interaction. The bad attitudes and massive disorganization was just not excusable.

[Smokey]

MsLovelyCookie, on 30 May 2011 - 01:21 PM, said:

I know that in Chicago and at O'hare Airport that smokers are to be 15 feet clear of the door way, there was a group smoking by the entrance and exit of the Soap Bubble and they are the same hooka smokers like last time. How come they were not moved further way and is there a law about smoking near door way in Rosemont?

That's a real grey area there. Yes, Illinois law mandates fifteen feet from a building entrance. However, despite our best efforts at changing their minds, Hyatt chooses to ignore that law. Also, even though it's a hotel, it's still private property. This prevents the Rosemont PD from actively enforcing that law unless Hyatt specifically requests it. I would recommend addressing you concerns directly to Hyatt themselves at http://www.hyatt.com...recent-stay.jsp
Remember, when you write, it's the Hyatt Regency O'Hare, not the Hyatt Rosemont.

[Irish]

Hi guys!

Alrighty, lets see if I can do a little bit of damage control here.

That really loud obnoxious guy that was yelling at people to stay on the sidewalks? That's me. Almost every year I have to hop on here and clear up a few things - usually I try and get on here a bit sooner than this, so, apologies for the lateness.

There is a very annoying (from our [edit: my] perspective) tendency that con-goers seem to forget when they're actually at the con... and that is, we are there to serve the needs of the convention. Realistically, the rest of IRT are either busy with more important and immediate issues (missing children, medical emergencies, actual law breaking being afoot, the actual management of security, etc.) or simply doing what it is that they're supposed to be doing. Please keep in mind that IRT stands for "Incident Response Team". We are there to respond to incidents on behalf of the convention and to do our best to ensure that they do not happen while blending into the general scenery of ACen. Any authority we have, we are awarded by, ultimately, you - the con goer. The people that simply mull around on the sidewalk are breaking no laws, which means that I can really only ask them to move so many times before it would be seen as/become harassment. If they are blocking the flow of traffic entirely or are cutting off the sidewalk then they are posing as a fire hazard and I will inform them that they have to move. Until that time however, all I am empowered to do is request that people use the sidewalk - the reason being, if things get congested enough for enough con goers (and they vocalize a complaint that the sidewalks are blocked) then it is the de facto will of the con to have the sidewalks be cleared and I can see to it that things are changed. Until that point though, I will only walk up and harass people for standing on the sidewalk so much because... well, thats just kind of silly.

Please also bear in mind that I'm there doing that - in the same general spot - for 6-8 hours. Per day. I am also one of the only IRT workers that perpetually keeps an eye on an area of the convention where cars are coming in and out of all day, and where some of the highest concentration of attendees occurs. I am also one person. Despite my own awareness about what a monstrous hazard outside the Hyatt can be, IRT is a voulenteer driven resource, and the numbers just arent always there.

Now, I have a question for the attendees that hopefully doesnt need answering. If, for general safety standards, there is an IRT person perpetually informing the world (in as nice a way as I can while being loud enough to be heard) that attendees are being requested to use the side walks, wouldn't the obvious choice be to ask the people blocking the path to move instead of trying to go around them (which means everybody behind you is going to do the exact same thing because its easier to go with the flow when youre not really paying attention to your surroundings) - an action that places you in the street, the very place that the people there to help secure your safety are requesting that you dont go in?

We can't see everything, we can't be everywhere. We constantly try and do the best I can so that the ACen attendees can have a fun time without having to worry about anything too major. But please folks, use your heads. Yes, I may have been going on and on like a broken record, which is about as fun as watching paint dry on a wall mind you, but I also tried to be as understanding as possible when keeping everyone on the sidewalk was simply not an option.

IRT/Tunnel Rats
"Irish"
'07, '08, '09, '10
"Swagger"
'11