What my experience was like volunteering at Salt Lake Comic Con. Part 2

April 2014

Not a week had passed from Aprils FanX. My feet were still sore, I hadn't acclimated back to normal life and regular responsibilities. I still had not yet come down from the high of doing so much for my community. For getting out of my shell and socializing and serving in a place where there were more than one hundred thousand people, when I received a friend request from a very high up, staff member. The one in charge of the celebrities. I was flattered, that someone of her caliber and status had noticed my efforts enough to friend me on facebook. So you know, facebook is the primary method for volunteers to communicate. So a friend request from a higher up like that was significant.

A few weeks after Aprils FanX, the volunteer director contacted me and a few others via facebook chat. He asked us to start brainstorming people that would be good managers. I was honored he had chosen me as a manager and was excited to serve in the same position I had earned at the fanx convention for the one in September. I suggested a list of people that I had served with in the vendor hall. and he clarified, that he was looking for upper, upper management, so to narrow it down. He slowly started to add people to the conversation that were being recruited to upper management positions. I recall Stewie was one that I had suggested that made the cut and he was pushing very hard for comic-con Jesus to be let in and the volunteer director wasn't so inclined. Neither was I really, He had been a bit cocky and overbearing. Which you wouldn't expect from a guy with long hair and beard. So when it came time to nominate whether to let him in or not, he needed three recommendations, he had two and I reluctantly nominated him because Stewie was so adamant and I trust Stewie, he is a really hard worker and a humble and great guy.

The first managers meeting was shortly thereafter at the Salt Lake Comic Con headquarters. I was really excited and looking forward to see the place where all the magic happens. When the day of the meeting came I had grandiose expectations of a large and beautiful facility. Instead it was humbling and interesting to learn that it is just a small shared building, rented in an industrial business area right near the intersection of I-80 and I-15. Not grandiose and not glamorous. It is only about fifteen hundred square feet of office space and about that equivalent in warehouse space. Humble, to say the least. The founder shares an office with two other people, and the co-founder is the only one who has his own office and its the smallest one. The marketing team of about six people all share another office. They work on laptops on top of tables spread out around the perimeter of the room. The rest of the staff either share an office or work out in the open.

Meeting at SLCC HQ had its perks.

The volunteer management meetings were always after hours, so no staff were ever present. We met in the meeting room which is only about five hundred square feet of space. At the first meeting, a basic plan was laid out as to how the volunteer director foresaw things running. He was still very youthful in his management approach, which came across as unprofessional, frequently complaining about staff members and his opinions of them.

The areas were assigned to us where we would be managing. I was quite shocked that I wouldn't be managing the lines for autograph row again. As that was the area I had inherited at FanX and had excelled at, the one I was sure I had earned. After the meeting I approached him and presented my concern to which he simply responded by kicking me out of the building. Bewildered, I obliged but went home and wrote up a rebuttal, sure I could convince him why I was the right manager for that area. He held his ground though. I later learned that he was trying to keep me away from certain staff members, I had apparently shone too brightly at the previous event and he wanted to keep me swept under the proverbial rug, as it were. Perhaps he felt threatened I don't know. I, however, was not after his, or any other position and would have been quite content serving in the capacity that I had at FanX, managing line control. I understand it's not a very popular way to serve. Maybe I'm sadistic, but I really enjoy line control.

There were several opportunities to volunteer at various SLCC sponsored events throughout the summer. Here are some pictures of me dressed as George the Reaper at the cosplay games:

Captain Jack Sparrow and I, in my Reaper costume.

Never once were we allowed to converse with staff, everything had to come through the volunteer director. So our perspectives were skewed by what he wanted us to hear and know. No one ever questioned his authority or why. We were all just simply glad to be there. And it just so happened that several managers were replaced along the way. So we learned to keep quiet about issues that would question why he was doing things a certain way. It was through dealing with this style of management that I privately coined a nickname for him, the Nicktator. Never out loud of course or I would have been replaced.

The meetings were time consuming. We met almost every Thursday between FanX and Septembers Comic Con and every Saturday starting three months before the event. That as well as the work of writing up our sections of the manual and communicating and planning out the plethora of details took a lot of our time. The gal that was assigned to manage autograph row, line control really had no idea where to start. So I wrote a document for her, detailing everything I had learned. I was not threatened by her, as she was really sweet and I was still sure, at the time, that the volunteer director would bring me in to do what I had done before and done so well, that is, to help do line control with the larger lines. Besides there were two of us in the vendor hall, one could have easily managed the volunteers in that area. There were many details that were presented, addressed and responsibilities delegated. The work was time consuming but I was sure it would be worth while as the previous convention had been so much fun. We were all really looking forward to the convention.

It was decided that there would be orientation and training meetings held all along the Wasatch front, spread over the span of about three months, mostly on Saturdays. Needless to say, my usual summer family camping trips and activities had to be curbed this year, as these meetings were every week and orientation and training's were deemed "mandatory" for upper management. There were two exceptions where I requested time off to take my family on two family vacations. The volunteer director approved my time off request, saying that I had earned them. Keep in mind that this is all still volunteer work. In fact all costs associated were still incurred at each managers personal expense. Supplies, fuel, travel, also I had purchased an additional perk for the volunteers that would serve under me. A star trek, iron on patch. I really tried to encourage the other managers to do something similar, emphasizing that my attrition rate at the previous convention had been much less than anywhere else, I felt this was because I had notified all of my volunteers ahead of time about this extra perk they would be receiving only from me.

Any time you spend this much time and dedication working along side people in a mutual capacity, you bond. The bond that this little group had was something to be proud of. We had truly become not just friends but like a family. This extends not only to the upper management but to many of the volunteers as well. Because there were so many meetings I was able to really bond with and make friends with many of the volunteers on a personal level.

Most of the team with me wearing my Reaper costume after one of the Saturday meetings held at Ebay.

The orientation meetings consisted of a power-point presentation the volunteer director had prepared that revolved mostly around himself. I recall him touting his psychology degree on many occasions. The other Managers and I were only briefly introduced in one of the meetings. The focus was never off of the director for longer than five minutes.

There were several late nights spent assigning volunteers to the many different positions available. This was done at SLCC HQ. Every volunteer had a picture taken of them at the orientation meeting they attended, the volunteer director stored these photo's on his computer and would project the images on the wall. It would then be discussed which area to assign them. The assignments were based from several different factors.Where they wanted to serve, where they had served at a previous event, what their strengths or weaknesses were, based on of their interview and finally, many were placed simply by their looks. Often, when a the image of good looking girl came up there were several of the male managers who would argue over getting them assigned to their own department. This behavior was not just allowed but seemed to be promoted. Another time volunteers would be assigned based on their looks was when they were less attractive. It had become a joke that the volunteer director would shout out, "Security", and that is where that volunteer would be placed and we would immediately move on.

The kick off event was at Salt Lake Community College. I was the first to arrive, I met with the theater manager who was to let us in and show us around. He directed me where we could park and which entrance we would be using, then he showed me around and let me know what I needed to relay to the rest of the team, as he was needed elsewhere. I contacted many of the team as they were arriving and brought them all up to speed. By now volunteers had started to arrive, so I put some of them to work directing the other volunteers to the correct location. Meanwhile the management team was mostly backstage bull-shitting. A few of them preparing the UTA passes. None of them offered to help, so I went back out to keep things running smoothly until the trickle of volunteers entering had slowed. Once I had signs up to direct the remaining stragglers where to go, I entered the hall to try and find a seat. I had saved the first few rows for the management and staff. I really didn't know how many seats to save as the volunteer director never let us know how many SLCC staff even existed. Let alone how many were coming to this kick off event. So I was a little surprised to see that all the rows I had saved were filled with staff. Leaving standing room only for the volunteer managers along the side, next to the wall. So I took a place among the managers against the wall. The volunteer director talked a bit before having the staff each introduce themselves. After which, we managers were invited up and were allowed to briefly introduce ourselves as well.

The management team backstage before the kick off event.

The volunteer director addressing the group.

The Volunteer Managers on stage.

At the kick off meetings conclusion, the SLCC co-founder, asked that all of the volunteers assemble for a group photo that was to be taken outside.

This was taken just before the group shot.

The week of the event had finally arrived. I was very excited to get started. So I took an additional vacation day off from work on Wednesday to help the vendors set-up in the vendor hall. This was curbed by an apparent issue at the pre registration locations. It was deemed mandatory that all upper managers would all need to help out at those locations that day, instead of coming in to the salt palace to help staff set-up in their respective areas. I was assigned to go to the location nearest to my home with another local manager at Thanksgiving point. When I arrived there that day, The pre-reg manager to this location not only had things running smoothly but he had things completely under control, there was no line to speak of. I called the volunteer director and explained the situation to him, asking him to verify that we needed to stay at the pre-registration location instead of coming in to help set-up at the salt palace. He then informed me the alleged "true" reason he wanted us to stay there. That he wanted to keep the other manager I was there with, from going in because "she will just get in the way of the staff in charge of setting things up for the her area." Which to me was an absurd claim. I didn't confront or question him but couldn't help but feel as though we were all being kept from helping out in our assigned areas. I asked if I could come in, to work in my assigned area. He reluctantly agreed and asked if I would stop by the Jordan Commons location to pick up some VIP wristbands as the salt palace pre registration had completely run out. I agreed and when I stopped by to pick up the wrist bands, I asked the manager at that location if they had been busy. To which he responded that he wasn't doing anything but sitting there. This confirmed my suspicion that for some reason, we were intentionally being kept from the salt palace and helping set up. I made my way to the salt palace, paid for parking, then brought the wristbands straight to the preregistration area. Where Jessie was ecstatically grateful, as she had guests impatiently waiting in line for them.

I then finally walked into the vendor hall. At last! I was finally there, ready to get to work. I made my way to the Media One booth where they were assigning booths to vendors. I reported to the gal in charge there, who had requested that I help her that day. The first issue that I was able to attend to was helping to resolve an issue with the "I dream of Jeanie" booth. The very flamboyant and obviously gay vendor had a major issue with being placed so far away from where Barbara Eden would be signing autographs. (Whom he runs the booth for.) I started by following them around until I was brought up to speed on the issue then asked the Media One manager if I could intervene, I felt confident I could resolve his issue as I was very aware of the vendor floor layout. She agreed and ran off to put out other fires and left me to resolve this one. I started by listening to his concerns. Then repeated those concerns back to him so he knew I was listening. I related to him by showing sincere concern with his perceived problem. I then walked him over to where his booth was to be located and explained to him visually exactly how the layout was, that he actually was the closest possible booth to Barbara Eden. Not only in direct line of sight but that there was nothing between his booth and her autograph table. That the large space between them was to be designated for overflow lines. Which due to the location, was likely to never be impeded by anything or anyone. I let him vent again, then went with him to help gather some boxes from his car and to let what I had explained, sink in. I never left him because that would have given the impression that I didn't care or had given up. After we collected the things from his car. he had softened up quite a bit and actually asked me out to dinner. I didn't say no, I didn't want to come across as closed, but instead replied that I was sure my wife would have issues with that. I helped him set those few things at his booth, then followed up with him again about his booth placement. He said he would be fine with its placement so long as he could put a sign up near her table. I told him I would check into that and get back to him. Then left him to set up his booth. He went from being hulk-like angry, to a calm sweetheart who asked me out to dinner. So it probably didn't hurt that he was attracted to me. But hey, whatever it takes, right? I knew it would be okay to put his sign where he wanted it but wanted the answer to seem like it took some effort on my part. I came back a little while later and confirmed to him that his sign placement would be just fine. I then went back to check and see what else I could help with, only to be intercepted by the volunteer director, who wanted me to babysit some merchandise boxes and keep them from being stolen. It was originally only supposed to be for a few minutes but I ended up being there for the remainder of that day. So that is how I spent my extra vacation day, babysitting boxes instead of meeting and helping the vendors as I had hoped to do that day. I was finally given permission to stop babysitting the boxes later that night. He gave me an apology for leaving me there for so long, but I couldn't shake the feeling that he was doing to me, what he had done to the other managers that day.

I met my hotel roommate at the previous convention, I thought he looked an awful lot like Jeff Bridges. He is a sharp school teacher getting ready to retire. We quickly made friends and even ended up sharing the cost of a room at the previous convention. We again decided to share the cost of a room. Why Salt lake Comic Con doesn't pay for the rooms of its managers is beyond me. The managers donate countless hours of work leading up to the convention. The least they could do is pay for the rooms, which, at their cost, comes to about half of the cost, if we were to book it ourselves. I mean, if you are going to require 12-16 hours per day from your volunteer managers, not counting all of the work leading up to the event, the least they could do is cover that measly cost. It is the largest cost incurred by the volunteer managers and a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of the entire convention.

I found out early Thursday morning that the manager of preregistration at thanksgiving point, had been involved in an accident while he was riding his motorcycle home. A car pulled out in front of him causing him to crash. He was scheduled to work the entire week and showed up on a cane the next day to the convention anyway. Crazy dedicated, I love that guy!

The day started out with breakfast at Dee's, a tradition that my friend and I had started. And as with the previous convention, I ran into an artist who runs a booth selling his art at the con. I first met the artist at the end of a long day at the first FanX, the restaurant at the hotel was getting ready to close and I just needed food. The waitress sat me in the booth next to him and we were both eating alone at separate booths. Being the fairly social person I am, I asked him if he wouldn't mind that I joined him He agreed, and we had a pleasant conversation over dinner. He showed me some of his art. I ended up purchasing some of his work as it is really cool.

After a good breakfast with my friends. I headed over to the convention hall excited to face the day, helping and getting to know vendors. My co-manager in the vendor hall, was recruited to run photo ops, as the manager who was scheduled to run that area had to back out, leaving me to manage the vendor hall alone. I had the captains split up by area and we were ready to go. Then about two hours into the con. The volunteer director approached me and said I would be inheriting the merchandise redemption booth which was not even set up yet and would need to run it with my volunteers. I didn't have many. I was only scheduled sixteen for the duration of the entire convention. So I told him I would need additional volunteers he said that he would see what he could do but that I would have to make due with what I had as everyone else was already spread thin. I brought up that this would cause me to have to almost abandon the vendor hall. He understood, and was ready to face those consequences. So I asked if I could put a volunteer I trusted that I had worked with at the previous convention in charge of the merchandise redemption booth itself so that I could manage the lines and stay fluid to go where I was needed. He said that would be fine. So I gathered my few volunteers via text, as I was the only one given a radio in the entirety of the vendor hall. I explained to them the task ahead of us and the enormity of it all. As every VIP and gold attendee would need to get their shirt through us as well as redeeming comic books, posters and other merchandise. I showed the volunteers the boxes and the area where we were to set up and run the booth from. The exact same boxes that I had babysat the previous day. I explained to the new merch. booth manager all that needed to happen and how, put him in charge and then we got to work, we started working right on top of the boxes, using them as tables.  We ordered some tables from GES but had to get started immediately as the line to redeem pre-purchased merchandise was already growing at a rapid pace. I had the merch booth manager, manage the booth while I managed the lines. Using the tactics that I had learned from running lines at FanX, I set up the lines to accommodate the large lines that were anticipated. Only this time I was going to separate VIP from Regular attendees. That way the lines wouldn't run next to one another, as last time, it had caused grief to many regular attendees who watched all the VIP's fly by as they stood still. This way I could truly treat the VIP's as such. The Gold/regular line stretched three quarters of the way down the entire salt palace show floor. While the VIP line went in the opposite direction through the kid-con area. After we got things flowing I went and found the merch booth manager a Captains shirt because of his promotion managing the merchandise redemption booth. As he needed to look the part of the position he was running.

Several times I had to correct the volunteers and have them focus more tablets on the VIP line as they were worried about the longer regular line and had decreased the VIP line to using only one tablet to dedicate all the others to the regular line. I had to reiterate that the VIP's paid extra for this treatment and their line would be whittled down first, then the regular line could take more of our focus. Besides, the kid con staff manager, had given me permission to run the line through kid con, only if the line didn't impede with anything going on there. So I had to keep that line shorter.

I made it a point to go up and down both lines and find those who were in the wrong line or were frustrated at the length of the line and I would communicate with them directly, to make sure that everyone was happy. Simple and open communication calmed nearly everyone that I dealt with but there were a few who were simply irate and nothing I said was going to calm them down. I would pull those few out of line, walk them around the back to the side of the booth and essentially let them cut the line. This on every occasion made the customers happier. Even though I had many tools at my disposal to keep customers happy, I never once had to use them, Tools like a free poster, shirt, comic book or if they were really upset, a free photo op, I never had to use them. Simply letting people cut the line made them happy and calmed down 100% of the unhappy attendees that I dealt with.

Here are a small sample of pictures I got with some of the attendees that day:

This guy has some of the coolest costumes. He is also the At-At.

I asked this guy why he was dressed as a Russian superman. He explained that there was a little known comic book that tells a story of what would have happened if Superman fell to Russia instead of America.

The fairly odd parents.

Who else but Maleficent and Perry the platypus.

Awesome work in progress.

Early in the second day, (Friday) the volunteer director called me into the office. When I got there I had already been growing tired of being pushed around and straight away, before he could even say anything, I told him he could fire me. After which he back pedaled and said he was simply giving me a slap on the wrists for giving the merch booth manager a Captains shirt. The excuse he gave me was that now some other Captain might not get two shirts, should they requested one. (As extras had been ordered.) At this point I was getting quite fed up with the Nicktator. The merch booth manager was doing a Captains duties, managing the entire merchandise redemption booth. We had plenty of extra shirts and he himself told me that it would be okay to make him the manager over that area. So I walked out and continued back to work.

Later that day I heard it announced that one of the senior managers had been fired with no explanation as to why. I later found her in the green room and asked her what had happened. Apparently there were some volunteers who didn't like the way she was running things and they complained and got her fired. The SLCC Co-founder had felt bad for her and brought her on as his assistant for the day.

Most of what was accomplished Friday was the same as Thursday, only not as busy. Here are a few of the pictures from that day:

The view of the merchandise redemption booth from the green room facing west.

The view of the Vendor hall facing south.

Buddy Christ!

So at one point I'm standing there, minding my own business when a golf cart comes zooming by, carrying Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luther from Smallville). And in the two seconds it took for me to recognize him, he says, "Hey! Nice hair!" Referring to my bald head. By the time I realized what had happened the moment had passed. These are just some of the fun moments I had while volunteering at comic con.

At the end of Friday all of the upper managers were called together and informed that we would be needed to help run the red carpet event. The red carpet event is essentially a party that many of the celebrities attend. It is a big draw for the club going attendees as well. We managers had been asking if we would be able to get in for free to this event for several weeks and the answer had been no. However now, we were going to be required to work the event. Excited to help, I excused myself to shower, change and pound an energy drink. I then showed up, ready to work. When I got there, the staff member who friend-ed me on facebook after the previous convention, put me in charge of VIP admittance to the celebrity area. She was very kind and showed a special interest in me, she had recognized me from managing the Patrick Stewart line. It felt nice to feel appreciated. At one point in the evening she asked if I would be willing to come help her run some of the bigger lines the next day, Stan Lee and Simon Helberg. I was ecstatic to help. If the volunteer director wouldn't use me for what I had shown I could do, at leastshe would. Throughout the night she gave me several drink vouchers and allowed me to help out in whatever capacity was needed. And after things had settled down she let me go enjoy the rest of the party in the VIP area. I was able to hang out with several of my fellow volunteer friends as well as with some of the celebrities.

Saturday morning, I checked in with the merch. booth manager and the other Captains in my area to make sure everything was under control. By the third day, they knew what they were doing and needed little from me. So I told them I would be over helping run lines in the autograph area doing line control for a few hours but to call me if there were any issues. Then off I went to help with the Stan Lee and Simon Helberg lines. I talked with the manager that had inherited this area, if it were okay with her that I help out with these lines for a bit. She had seen first hand how I had managed lines at the previous event and she was delighted that I was there to help. Finally, I was going to contact the volunteer director next to make sure he was okay with me helping there as well but things got busy setting the lines up and before I could contact him he showed up and caused a scene that I was there. He acted very offended and even put-out, that I hadn't asked him first before "running off" to help the SLCC staff without his permission. I assured him my area was under control and that I was in contact with them and that things were still running smoothly. That I was just sitting around being bored at this point anyway, as most of the attendees had already redeemed their merchandise. This is where it became clear that he didn't want me in that area, that the reason he didn't let me manage that area from the beginning was because I had shone too brightly at the previous event. That apparently, no one is supposed to outshine him. The dictator came out in full force, causing a scene, yelling and tried to force me away but I held my ground, arguing that the staff member in charge of that area had requested my help, that I wasn't doing anything in the other area anyway and I was one of the most capable volunteers for that job. He finally gave up and stormed away. That is when his assistant calmly and professionally tried to follow up and argue the point for him. I really admire his assistant for his professionalism. He has a good head on his shoulders, and as his assistant, he was very aware of the volunteer director and his insecurities. Despite seeing how he was in the wrong he did as he should have done in that situation and backed up his boss. Doing so in the most professional manner.

I stayed and finished the job that the SLCC staff had asked me to do. I got the lines set-up and running smoothly and even had a contingency plan in place before heading back to my area. I got to see Stan Lee and ran into one of my favorite mission companions who is now a SLPD Officer, who happened to be there to keep a police presence at the Simon Helberg booth. We were able to catch up a bit before I had to get back to my area.

I asked the SLCC staff member over that area if she would have a talk with the volunteer director and try to help me smooth things over with him. She later had us meet while I was outside preparing for the Studio C cast's arrival and escort to their booth to sign autographs. It was obvious he didn't want to be there and begrudgingly admitted to having talked with the SLCC staff member about it. She is so professional, happy and genuine. I wish I had had the opportunity to work for her for this convention, things would have been much, much more fun for me.

There was a problem in preparation and setting up for the Studio C autograph hour. Their booth was right smack in the middle of the Vendor hall floor, right in the middle of the main walkway. The Captain I had in charge of the vendor hall held off the crowd as long as she could before the crowd needed to be corralled. The crowd was there to get Studio C autographs and she kept shooing them away until it was time, as the crowd was blocking the main walkway. She had also single handedly watched the entire vendor floor all three days while the rest of us were busy running the merchandise redemption booth. Since the crowd was getting out of hand, I took over, got their attention and informed them that we were going to form a line three people wide right down the middle of the vendor hall walkway. Starting here, and as soon as I said "here", there was a mad rush to get into that line. Sardines have more space than we did. I had radioed way ahead of time that I was going to need as many volunteers as we could spare for this autograph signing. There was a large group of volunteers that showed up initially and another that showed up during the signing. I put them all to work managing this line. I used volunteers with arms outstretched as stanchions until the line got formed up. In addition, at every cross section the walkways needed to remain open and flowing, so that the fire marshal wouldn't shut the entire salt palace down. I was able to get the line formed and the walkways moving in no time. Once I had things settled, I went out to meet the Studio C cast, I had arranged a place for them to park and the plan was to walk them in through the crowd to their booth. I had mapped out a route that would have minimal obstructions from the crowd and keep them mostly hidden in plain sight. I escorted them to their booth and they promptly began signing autographs. I had to cap the end of the line due to time restraints as per their managers request and find them a place to rest before their panel started. This was only difficult because they didn't have green room access. I searched almost the entire salt palace before finding a place for them backstage from where their panel was scheduled to be. The only problem was in getting them back stage from their booth was that I would have to parade them all through the lobby, right past the large and growing line for their own panel.

While I was searching for a place for Studio C to take a break, I talked to the fire marshal on my way to explore a possible locations for them. I asked him if everything looked okay, to verify that we wouldn't be shut down. He assured me that everything looked great. A few minutes later I heard it announced on the radio that the Salt palace had been shut down. I found the volunteer director in the Green room and asked him why we were shut down as I had just talked with the fire marshal and he assured me that all was well. He said that we were simply at capacity. A Utah convention record!

Once the Studio C cast had finished signing autographs it came time to escort them to their resting location. I began leading them through the crowded vendor hall floor and out into the lobby where their fans were all lined up for the panel. I had hoped to sneak them past without being noticed as we were single file through the crowd. We almost made it to the door before the crowd erupted into cheers of excitement. I managed to get them all safely through the foyer and into the back area where we did a head count then made our way backstage and there, they would be able to rest until their panel started.

Here are some fun pictures from Saturday:

This is by far my favorite picture from this event. I happened to be walking by with my friend and asked him if he would take a photo with me and this group, He asked which group? I said, these assholes right here!

Just Ruger!

At the BBQ after party several months later. I was asked to bring my grill, tables and other such items. TJ and several other volunteers helped me set up and grill burgers and hot dogs. The SLCC Founder showed up in the Comic Con car. It was a fun afternoon. After cleaning up as we were all about to leave, The volunteer director asked me if I wanted to be involved again. I told him no. That it was too much work and that I had missed my family all summer and needed to spend time with them. Which was partially true, the part I left out was that he was too difficult to work with, that he had taken all of the fun out of it.

 And that is where I had planned on leaving it.