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Burnout (An Observation)
13 years ago
General
I think I've been around the furry fandom long enough (going on 13 years) to see quite a bit. Some of it is absolutely amazing (in a very VERY good way), and some of it just makes me want to hang my head in embarrassment that I even associate myself with you f***ers. (...sorry, venting here...)
There's one thing that astounds me to no end, though. I think it was best put by Uncle Kage at the Closing Ceremonies of Anthrocon 2011: "We punish those who do good deeds." Now I know that the context in which he said those words is completely different from what I'm working toward, but it's absolutely true when you look at it the right way. Those precious few in the fandom who actually try to do good for the fandom are more often than not taken for granted (at best) or broken by those who don't understand what they have (at worst).
For those of you who have ever been a staff member of a furry convention, you know EXACTLY what I mean. Convention attendees take for granted that what they have is always going to be there, or will be there thanks to you. This is the "best case" scenario...and it RARELY ever is this way. Furry conventions can break even the best of people who contribute their time (and often their own hard-earned money) to make an event a good time for EVERYONE involved. Staff members have a VERY personal interest in the success (or failure) of what they do. And as much as some of us say that they don't care if people don't pat them on the back or say "thank you for what you do", it DOES make a difference.
The negative feelings are only intensified when the only feedback they get is about how crappy the convention was, or how something that was YOUR responsibility as a staff member wasn't done to their satisfaction. Often times, when the thanks and appreciation finally DOES come (if ever), it's a matter of "too little, too late". It's not surprising to me that there are people who fall into that category, and have had their convention experience ruined by a matter of working too hard for not enough "payback" (in recognition).
Why am I addressing this topic? Because I know an artist here on FurAffinity who is basically bowing out of the fandom and selling off EVERYTHING they invested in regarding the fandom. Before getting the "big break" as a fursuit creator, he was known as an artist (some of the first "furry" images I remember when I first joined the fandom were of this guy's). While he was kind of known for that, it wasn't nearly the amount of exposure that he had up until this Monday when he announced that he was shutting down his fursuit workshop. He was good at what he did. VERY good, in fact. Some of the best fursuits in the fandom today are created by this guy. And he's up and leaving. Because too many people wanted more from him than he can give, and CONSTANTLY hounded him when he couldn't respond because he was dealing with real life issues. He just got sick of dealing with it all.
And as sad as I am that he's leaving...I don't blame him one bit.
...
I don't know where I was going with this...I guess I just needed to vent. :-P
There's one thing that astounds me to no end, though. I think it was best put by Uncle Kage at the Closing Ceremonies of Anthrocon 2011: "We punish those who do good deeds." Now I know that the context in which he said those words is completely different from what I'm working toward, but it's absolutely true when you look at it the right way. Those precious few in the fandom who actually try to do good for the fandom are more often than not taken for granted (at best) or broken by those who don't understand what they have (at worst).
For those of you who have ever been a staff member of a furry convention, you know EXACTLY what I mean. Convention attendees take for granted that what they have is always going to be there, or will be there thanks to you. This is the "best case" scenario...and it RARELY ever is this way. Furry conventions can break even the best of people who contribute their time (and often their own hard-earned money) to make an event a good time for EVERYONE involved. Staff members have a VERY personal interest in the success (or failure) of what they do. And as much as some of us say that they don't care if people don't pat them on the back or say "thank you for what you do", it DOES make a difference.
The negative feelings are only intensified when the only feedback they get is about how crappy the convention was, or how something that was YOUR responsibility as a staff member wasn't done to their satisfaction. Often times, when the thanks and appreciation finally DOES come (if ever), it's a matter of "too little, too late". It's not surprising to me that there are people who fall into that category, and have had their convention experience ruined by a matter of working too hard for not enough "payback" (in recognition).
Why am I addressing this topic? Because I know an artist here on FurAffinity who is basically bowing out of the fandom and selling off EVERYTHING they invested in regarding the fandom. Before getting the "big break" as a fursuit creator, he was known as an artist (some of the first "furry" images I remember when I first joined the fandom were of this guy's). While he was kind of known for that, it wasn't nearly the amount of exposure that he had up until this Monday when he announced that he was shutting down his fursuit workshop. He was good at what he did. VERY good, in fact. Some of the best fursuits in the fandom today are created by this guy. And he's up and leaving. Because too many people wanted more from him than he can give, and CONSTANTLY hounded him when he couldn't respond because he was dealing with real life issues. He just got sick of dealing with it all.
And as sad as I am that he's leaving...I don't blame him one bit.
...
I don't know where I was going with this...I guess I just needed to vent. :-P
While I don't know him nearly as well as I think you do, I also worry about him. I get the feeling that what little he's revealed to us is just the tip of the iceberg...the more I think about it, the more concerned I am for him.
...could you please let him know that a fox in Wisconsin is praying for him?