The Organizer: Who's That? - by Darkhawk/Iris
Publication: Generation 27 (1998)
Publication: Generation 27 (1998)
Nyaaaahhh. Stretch, stretch, groan, arrhh, mhhh. Come on, you have to write an article now! You can do it. Hep hep.
Ok, I'm on, I'm ready! One always has to prepare a bit before beginning on an article. This time, I've been inspired into writing about organizers, and maybe start a discussion about that. Although, I don't know how many will be interested in it, as there are not that many organizers left anymore.
What's that he said? Sounds like the "Not many swappers left" articles, nooo.. Or "Is Swapping Dead"? Very astute of you to recognize this, infact, it's about roughly the same thing. We don't have many organizers left anymore, compared to the old days, when practically all groups had an organizer or maybe more, if there were different divisions.
What's the fuzz about? Well, it's interesting that nobody has seen it (and written an article about it), but the lone organizer, handling every aspect in a group, is not that common anymore, although new groups often have him. Most big groups arrange things without organizers, meeting on the IRC, talking about things, being democratic, agree on productions, etc. Most people would think that there's no need for a single organizer anymore, a being who decides on productions, represents the group to the public, handles kicking and joining, takes all the unpleasant tasks upon himself, etc. "We can do that very well together", they'd say, and in a way, it would be correct. It would give more work to each member, but it would be democratical to do it like this, and many groups do it.
However, there's a certain amount of professionalism in a good organizer, he can make the group work as an effective whole, he can recognize new talent, see inactive members for what they are, he can see the whole group as a unit, if he's good. So, if a group has a good organizer, he can do the job better than the group can as a unit, surprisingly. Therefore, don't feel useless, if you're "only" an organizer in your group. Although people generally are ignorant of it, it's an important job. Your groupmembers say: You do nothing in the group, it's us who make it known, and people outside the group don't even know you, but see only the productions and creative members of the group.
Sure, it can be a bitter job, but an organizer can be the glue which binds together the group, without him, no group, so a little respect should be there. And this was NOT my own experiences while organizing, but rather how I've seen various groups and people react to organizers. There is a certain lack of respect for the organizer job, even more so than for the swappers, because they atleast do SOMETHING in the eyes of people. Organizers are not needed at all, some think. Come on! Write a reply telling me organizers are not needed! Please! Make it easy for me to write my next article!
Organizers, while having the most power in a group normally, have always tended to be shy creatures. Or rather, they have always stood in the background of the creative people in a group, so there's never been much focus on them, eventhough without them, many groups could not have existed. There's never been an organizer chart, for instance. I remember when we editors raised up in protest, and demanded a chart, but the organizers never did that, they remained in the shadows, running their groups. I'd have liked an organizer chart (then I could be on three charts simultaneously), but the time has passed for that, and besides, it's hard judging the worth of an organizer for people outside the respective group.
What is my point then? Aww, my nose is bleeding, damn! Ehhr, no, my point is, that organizers have managed to lead a shadowexistence, being the force behind most groups, keeping them alive, deciding on releases, force lazy members to work, and so on, while nobody thinks about the organizers. When you read the newsfile in a diskmag, you see many, many things organizers have done (if there is one in the group), like kickings, joinings, planning productions, etc., but you do not think about this as the doing of the organizer, but rather as something the group did. That's fine, but it might explain why nobody has been focusing on the job of an organizer. Now, when we have IRC, democratic groups, organizerfree groups, etc., the organizer is a creature becoming rarer, so atleast we can open our eyes, and see what they have meant to the Scene. I could write ten articles about that, but I won't elaborate, this article was only meant to open your eyes and make you think about this elusive existence:
The organizer, who pulls all the strings, hides in shadows, takes no credit, gets no credit either, and who might be a dying breed too.
What do you think about him? HAVE you thought about him at all?