Cracking down

It's no secret or surprise that there is a lot of drama going on at the Connector.
Although it is fair to say that all clubs have their fair share of problems, our jobs at the Connector are a little different than most clubs on campus. Because we are the only group that puts out a tangible product, our stress levels tend to run a little higher than most, and our dedication, I believe, is far stronger than most.

We devote three days a week to our stupid paper- THREE DAYS!!! Our general meetings on Tuesdays are fun because we have lots of excited students and free pizza, Thursdays are not as fun because we have to meet for an editor's meeting, which means we begin to develop a collective panic as we realize what has (or hasn't) come in yet for articles. And Sundays? Oh, the Sundays- we spend each Sunday from 11 am until we are done, which is about 8:30 (on a good night), laying out the paper. It's A TON of work, and the worst part of it is that after we have been fighting with the stupid computers and program for hours, there are still SO many mistakes we find later that week.

There are other problems we have at the Connector, too. The most recent ones have been involving staff members, and more specifically, editors.

Now, I wouldn't be a decent editor if I went and put every one's business on the Internet, but I did want this blog to be honest. I want to be able to share with the world (or at least myself, in a visual way), the ridiculous amount of ridiculous crap I have to put up with on a ridiculously scary daily basis.

My biggest issue right now with my editors is this: they all are constantly saying that they want to quit. I have had to deal with this since last semester; editors getting so fed up with feeling overworked and under appreciated (the story of my LIFE), so they think the logical thing to do is just leave.

This semester, I'm really, REALLY over it.

In the past, personal problems with the E-I-C (me!) have been a big issue. I have tried to be friendly with all my fellow staff both editors and contributors alike, and so far, I don't seem to have any drama with anybody. My managing editor is pretty much the male version of me except way cooler, and I think the two of us do an outstanding job making everyone feel comfortable at the Connector. I have even taken a cue from my boss at my job and started having "One-on-One" meetings with each editor. These meetings are simply just to check in on each editor and make sure they aren't having any major issues. I want the theme to this year to be "A PERSON FIRST, A STUDENT SECOND, A CONNECTOR MEMBER THIRD" (something I certainly don't follow myself). I want them to know that if they are feeling like the workload is just too much that they can (and need to!) speak up about it.

Even despite these meetings, though, I still have editors threatening to quit. Left and right, it's always "I'm over this" or "I've had enough" or "I will leave...seriously I will". I'm SO over it!!!! It's infuriating because a) it's SUCH a childish thing to do (in my eyes anyway). You take a leadership role like this one, and you stick with it. You don't just quit when it gets hard- you work through it and ask for help. and b) it's just reallllly annoying-especially when these threats are discovered through such modern devices like texts, Twitter, ect.

I have an editor's meeting tonight and I seriously feel like telling my staff that if they are thinking about quitting, I want them to do it NOW. Or else I don't want to see, read or hear about it for the rest of the semester.

I've got to start cracking down and being a more authoritative figure rather than a friend. =(