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hazelchazThis is part of an occasional series of posts on the art and craft of fannish volunteer-run conventions. These are my opinions and my experiences. As always, YMMV.
If you volunteer to do something -- anything, this isn't specific to conventions -- you can't do it for the thanks you get.
There's never enough gratitude in the world to balance out the effort you're going to put forth. If you're in it because you'll be thanked for it, you're setting yourself up to be disappointed.
Being thanked is nice, absolutely. But figure out your other reason(s).
It might be because it feels nice to help people. Or you enjoy hanging out with the other people doing the thing. It's got to get done, and you can do it, so you step forward. Maybe you're getting points towards graduation or parole. You might like being part of something larger than yourself. Or you get to prove you can do the thing better than before. Maybe you're doing it so that someone else close to you can enjoy the thing.
You've got to find your own reasons for volunteering.
If you volunteer to do something -- anything, this isn't specific to conventions -- you can't do it for the thanks you get.
There's never enough gratitude in the world to balance out the effort you're going to put forth. If you're in it because you'll be thanked for it, you're setting yourself up to be disappointed.
Being thanked is nice, absolutely. But figure out your other reason(s).
It might be because it feels nice to help people. Or you enjoy hanging out with the other people doing the thing. It's got to get done, and you can do it, so you step forward. Maybe you're getting points towards graduation or parole. You might like being part of something larger than yourself. Or you get to prove you can do the thing better than before. Maybe you're doing it so that someone else close to you can enjoy the thing.
You've got to find your own reasons for volunteering.
