Turning up the heat.
Feb. 20th, 2003 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolphins_logI've heard, from many sources in working environments, of the need for "Boosting Morale". " We have to find a way to boost morale if we're going to increase productivity!" supervisors will say. Well, being in a supervisor position, I've had the opportunity to observe bad morale and good. Sure, the morale of a company can be effected by one associate. More often then not the morale is effected by the attitude and the capabilities of the person on top. When the top dog has a take charge gung ho attitude it trickles down throughout the rest of the company.
The same applies to most other organizations. A convention is a success or a failure often depending on the outlook of the chair [No pressure![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shandower]. A club, like let's say, oh, the Tai Pan Literary and Arts Project, hinges primarily on who's at the top and how they deal with all of the various elements.
Okay, more of a basting ofgenebreshearsrather then a roasting.
We all like to see our name or our work in print. I know my father likes it, though he often doesn't know how to deal with it. He comes back from store signings with more ideas then when he left. I'll admit it, I like seeing my name in there when Gene writes up the annual report. He goes down the list and makes sure to mention as many people as he can.
But who lights up the briquettes for Gene? It's about damn time someone did! So...
I met Gene in 1985. He is as enthusiastic now as he was then. His creative talents have never shown any slacking off. I have always been amazed at how intelligent he seems to be, and how he devotes most of his energy to literary arts. He's fond of saying that it doesn't matter where you sit in his apartment, a dictionary is no more then three steps away. I think even now he's trying to cut that distance down. Okay, he's got a thing for dictionaries. But if you're going to spend much of your creative energy on writing then what better thing to have a fetish for then a book full of word reference?
Gene has always been a creative force for as long as I've known him.miko2 introduced us. Miko, or Mark, was in the process of putting together a fanzine for Elfquest and suckering, I mean pulling in as many of his friends as he could. For most of us, it was our introduction to the art of writing. On the other hand Gene had been writing ever since he could put his old mechanical typewriter on a cardboard box in the middle of his bedroom. Gene tells us that he and his mother had to convince his grade school teachers that he could type by actually giving them a demonstration.
The rest of us couldn't have had better inspiration then to simply see him at work and read what he had produced. His Elfquest fan stories were a lot of fun to read, and to work with. Having people with that kind of talent involved in our shared universe drove a number of us to start writing. While Mark had the Herculean task of pulling Lone Oak all together Gene was one of those people who pushed the rest of us to "make it right". When the Tai Pan Project started Gene was one of the founding members, and kept pushing for the best quality he, and the rest of us, could produce.
When the Tai Pan Project faltered, suddenly without leadership, Gene stepped in and took the reigns himself. Since then, ...what's it been now? 12 years? The Tai Pan Project has continued to publish, inspire and challenge many people. I don't think Gene realizes the talent and good will he provides the rest of us. Which brings the lead in to this post back into play. Yes, it says "Ogre" on his office door, but Ogres can be great people. In good moods and in bad, Gene continues to put on a fun creative atmosphere for the rest of us to shine in. He does it with a lot of effort and energy. I'm surprised at how much energy he has for this type of creative output. [Yes, I'm surprised at the creative output of quite a few of the rest of us, but this is Gene's ro@$ting. ...and he's the one at the top].
He continues to strive for the best, and tries to get the best out of us. Sometimes it's a major struggle for him to balance critique with encouragement, but he pulls it off. Maybe the "ogre" contributes to the rest of us getting the needed thick skin.
So here's to you, Gene. You are a powerful, wonderful influence on the rest of us. This post's for you.
Because sometimes you just need to hear it from other people.
The same applies to most other organizations. A convention is a success or a failure often depending on the outlook of the chair [No pressure
shandower]. A club, like let's say, oh, the Tai Pan Literary and Arts Project, hinges primarily on who's at the top and how they deal with all of the various elements.Okay, more of a basting of
genebreshearsrather then a roasting.We all like to see our name or our work in print. I know my father likes it, though he often doesn't know how to deal with it. He comes back from store signings with more ideas then when he left. I'll admit it, I like seeing my name in there when Gene writes up the annual report. He goes down the list and makes sure to mention as many people as he can.
But who lights up the briquettes for Gene? It's about damn time someone did! So...
I met Gene in 1985. He is as enthusiastic now as he was then. His creative talents have never shown any slacking off. I have always been amazed at how intelligent he seems to be, and how he devotes most of his energy to literary arts. He's fond of saying that it doesn't matter where you sit in his apartment, a dictionary is no more then three steps away. I think even now he's trying to cut that distance down. Okay, he's got a thing for dictionaries. But if you're going to spend much of your creative energy on writing then what better thing to have a fetish for then a book full of word reference?
Gene has always been a creative force for as long as I've known him.
miko2 introduced us. Miko, or Mark, was in the process of putting together a fanzine for Elfquest and suckering, I mean pulling in as many of his friends as he could. For most of us, it was our introduction to the art of writing. On the other hand Gene had been writing ever since he could put his old mechanical typewriter on a cardboard box in the middle of his bedroom. Gene tells us that he and his mother had to convince his grade school teachers that he could type by actually giving them a demonstration. The rest of us couldn't have had better inspiration then to simply see him at work and read what he had produced. His Elfquest fan stories were a lot of fun to read, and to work with. Having people with that kind of talent involved in our shared universe drove a number of us to start writing. While Mark had the Herculean task of pulling Lone Oak all together Gene was one of those people who pushed the rest of us to "make it right". When the Tai Pan Project started Gene was one of the founding members, and kept pushing for the best quality he, and the rest of us, could produce.
When the Tai Pan Project faltered, suddenly without leadership, Gene stepped in and took the reigns himself. Since then, ...what's it been now? 12 years? The Tai Pan Project has continued to publish, inspire and challenge many people. I don't think Gene realizes the talent and good will he provides the rest of us. Which brings the lead in to this post back into play. Yes, it says "Ogre" on his office door, but Ogres can be great people. In good moods and in bad, Gene continues to put on a fun creative atmosphere for the rest of us to shine in. He does it with a lot of effort and energy. I'm surprised at how much energy he has for this type of creative output. [Yes, I'm surprised at the creative output of quite a few of the rest of us, but this is Gene's ro@$ting. ...and he's the one at the top].
He continues to strive for the best, and tries to get the best out of us. Sometimes it's a major struggle for him to balance critique with encouragement, but he pulls it off. Maybe the "ogre" contributes to the rest of us getting the needed thick skin.
So here's to you, Gene. You are a powerful, wonderful influence on the rest of us. This post's for you.
Because sometimes you just need to hear it from other people.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Here, here!
Date: 2003-02-20 11:47 pm (UTC)Mark, for example, picked me up from the bus station more times than I can remember when I was in college and would come to visit y'all. In addition to letting me sleep on his couch for many weekends over a four years, he helped teach me to write, by collaborating on a Tai-Pan story with me. I learned a lot about how to start and finish a story from him.
Keith, was this crazy man in a frizzy wig the first time I met him. Whitney dragged me up to Seattle on a night that y'all had decided to go out to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I knew I was with the right crowd when the didn't think it weird that my makeup kit included whiteface from my mime years. In spite of the hair, Keith was a very reasuring presence for a 19 year-old with no clue what Rocky Horror was or why all these folks were dressing up.
This reminds me that I should say thank you more often to my friends. There is so much that all off you have done for me over the years...
But since this is mostly about Gene, I will close by saying that he has a wonderful ability to project enthusiasm and excitment about projects that he is involved in. He doesn't go it alone, he makes me for one, want to stick around and find out what will happen next.
no subject
I've only been editor of Tai-Pan for eight years... Tai-Pan itself will celebrate it's 15th anniversary in April. And as I said in my essay "Hang together or..." it's actually not the leadership -- it's the followship. ^_^