State Of The OAOAST Address.

[Zack Malibu 0]

OK folks, as promised, here's the "company meeting" more or less. I may or may not come off as ranting here, because there was no set format for this, but with what's gone on with the latest Syndicated show, I felt the need to write this up ASAP.

 

Reliability and communication are the two things this company prides itself on, and makes it different from our peers such as the SWF. We're very communication heavy in that we look to our other writers for assistance, for the structure of a storyline, and for helping our workloads when things in real life get hectic. Adam made mention that people say an e-fed should not affect your real life (and it shouldn't), but not to the extent where things are ruined, people's efforts are rendered null and void, and things don't get written/come off as they were intended.

 

Now this isn't going to become a finger pointing session to stir up anymore of that godforsaken OMG OAOAST DRAWMUH~!, but let's call a spade a spade. Hoff was probably the last person in that match that I'd have asked for assistance with. I have no personal beef with Hoff, but OAOAST-wise, he comes and goes, and is pretty unreliable. CC, Tony, Adam, Eskimo, and NYU could have easily (I'd think) handled writing duties. If a workload seems too heavy, don't wait for the last second to ask for help. Plan accordingly so that situations like this don't happen.

 

Things like that could prove to deter people from signing up with us, right when it seemed we were on a roll with the acquisitions in the past six months of Bruce Blank, Rando, and Longdogger Pete, amongst our other writers. This leads into my next point in that we should be working towards the goal of not only producing damn good e-shows, but getting more people interested to add to the family. While many of these secondary characters of ours have taken with the reading public, it's a)not much fun for writers when they have to build the script of a show around many of their characters, and b)an incredible task to handle. Putting them on HI-YAH trips or injuring them can only work for so long unless you find a niche that works for you, or you drop the characters (and I'm as guilty of this as anyone).

 

Another thing is regarding the shows themselves. The point has been made that some weeks we have stacked shows, and other weeks we have minimum input/promo heavy shows. I know that back in the day we did it sort of "SWF Style" in that I'd request a match or two be written for the show, so that we had at least one "marquee" type of match to put on. I'm more than willing to go back to that format to make sure people are getting things in for their characters, and the shows are more consistent.

 

Lateness of shows has been a problem in the past as well, and again, this is where a backup plan should be put in order. PK does well with our HeldDOWN~! shows, but in the case of power outages, freak acts of nature, or the man having a life outside of TSM, we should have a "backup producer" to make sure the show gets up on time. The same with PPV's. More often than not, it's also the fault of posters, whether it be time difference, slip of the mind, or what have you. I think that from now on, invoking a Saturday deadline for PPV matches rather than a "day of" one could help us stop our PPV's from being up late, and for whomever is posting that month to have all Sunday to get the show ready for posting. Likewise with HD~!, I won't say a Wednesday deadline, but let's say if your stuff isn't in by 6-7pm EST (figuring an average time of 9pm for posting) then sorry, but you've gotta wait a week. Not to penalize anyone, as I realize things happen, but so that the show can go up, and people don't have to go back the next day to reread segments.

 

Another segueway takes us to feedback of shows, which we are ALL guilty of at one point or another. I feel that this issue can be resolved if the previously mentioned issues are, as missing segments/late shows usually lead to a delay in reading/not reading the whole show, which prevents feedback from our readers. It's a chain reaction type of situation, and if we can rectify one portion of it, we should easily be able to rectify the next.

 

In the cases of Hoff, or Adam...if you feel like real life is moving too fast/you don't have time for us, it's much easier to just tell us than to let the whole fed suffer with a late show or prompt dropping of a storyline. Again, at a time where we've just gotten some new faces who are doing well for themselves, and we're looking to add more, we should all be on the same page. If you feel you can't contribute as much, say so. If you feel you can't contribute at all, say so. More openness leads to less drama. There's been more useless arguing coming out of people keeping their mouths shut around here than there ever has when someone was open and honest. We're all big boys and girls, so don't be afraid to speak up.

 

We've been at this for FOUR YEARS now. Four years I've seen come and go like nothing. We've had our highs, we've had our lows. We've had stacked rosters, and HeldDOWN's with four segments. We've got new blood that's working well with the old blood. We've got storylines that are hooking people when they read us. We need to channel the positivity into growing, and cut out the negativity like a weed before it grows any more. As much as I like everyone (well OK, 95% of everyone) who has involved themselves with us at one point or another, if you can't put forth a reliable effort, then maybe our time shouldn't be wasted. I'm not saying that in an asshole sense and don't want it to be taken as so...I'm simply looking out for the company and everyone's best interest...leaving a trail of broken promises and segments to be edited in later is bad for business.

 

So have at it. I expect (hope) everyone will take note of this, and we can take action as to how to get everything in gear. Things won't and don't fix themselves.

[KingPK 0]

Lateness of shows has been a problem in the past as well, and again, this is where a backup plan should be put in order. PK does well with our HeldDOWN~! shows, but in the case of power outages, freak acts of nature, or the man having a life outside of TSM, we should have a "backup producer" to make sure the show gets up on time. The same with PPV's.

 

Obviously you don't know me too well (or the city I live in, for that matter. Everything's closed down by 8PM)

 

Likewise with HD~!, I won't say a Wednesday deadline, but let's say if your stuff isn't in by 6-7pm EST (figuring an average time of 9pm for posting) then sorry, but you've gotta wait a week. Not to penalize anyone, as I realize things happen, but so that the show can go up, and people don't have to go back the next day to reread segments.

 

I actually was thinking about suggesting this myself. People are basically good about getting stuff in but, since we're being honest here, I get a little annoyed having to edit in stuff the next day since I doubt it rarely gets read and it hurts feedback. I'm a little more lenient, so I suggest a deadline of 8PM since I usually start putting things together about 9-9:30PM (as you notice, the show is always up by midnight EST, or close enough anyway, but I'd like to always have it up an hour earlier at the latest).

 

I think there's a simple solution to the lateness thing: don't procrastinate. I know this is about #82 on everyone's list of priorities (as well it should), but still, you shouldn't wait until Thursday afternoon/evening to start your stuff. I mean, most of us could probably knock out a promo in 20 minutes or so, so I would think you can find some time during the week to get it done. It's tougher for bigger matches, but I usually just do it in small chunks; write a little on Monday night, a little Tuesday and bang the rest out on Wednesday night/Thursday evening. It's a lot easier to do than to rush through the whole thing on Thursday (though that may just be me).

 

To me, the lateness problem seems to be THE biggest problem around here (though I agree with Zack in that if you've got too much on your plate, ask for help or take a break and come back when you've got more time; just don't leave others flapping in the wind).

[Mystery Eskimo 0]

I'm going on a break for a while - not that it'll be much different from the past few months where I've contributed nothing anyway!

I've really had very little interest in wrestling in any form lately, hopefully a while away from it all will recharge my batteries. Good luck to everyone in the mean time.

[Tony149 0]

Zack may have hit on something. Maybe 2 marquee match-ups with 4 squashes and scattered promos? Writing a squash should be easier than a competitive match, and with the talent here I'm sure we could make it work.

 

Eski, I've changed plans (yet again!) to give Black T a better sendoff. Think of it as a Black T retirement tour.

[King Cucaracha 0]

I don't think having a 'fixed' plan of so many big matches and so many squashes really works, because it limits the freedom a bit. The fact that one week I can write a serious Cage Match (albeit sucky) and the next week do something stupid with the 24/7 Division is liberating and the thing that seperates us from the SWF. A little more organisation would be nice, but I don't think it should be a case of we 'must' have a certain amount of a certain thing each week.

 

As far as lateness, I'm as guilty as anyone in recent months. Hell, more than anyone. Time difference is an issue if we're adding deadlines, but something to give me a kick up the arse and stop me from coming on Friday morning to edit my stuff in each week is welcomed.

[Bruce Blank 0]

You put your finger on it - the fact that it's less set and organized and more free flow is what really seperates this from the SWF, organization definitly yes

 

One idea is to have whomever opens the thread edit together a card with whatever people book here? So that we can always see at a glance what's on the card and what's not - it can be hard to figure out at times. That way we'd know if there are a couple of matches that'd anchor the show or not and if not maybe it'll inspire us to put one together.

 

Just an idea to make it more organized.

 

As for deadlines, yeah time differences seem to be a pain in the ass - personally I've got very little issue with figuring it out from US Eastern to where I live - if the deadline is the same each week we can even make out a chart that says what the deadline is for those in the US or Australia or whever OAOAST'ers are from. I'd be happy to slap something together that says:

 

"Deadline is X PM EST" and then have the various time zones in question listed below - just copy and paste it from booking thread to booking thread. Problem solved and we are more assured of getting a show at a certain time.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

Sounds Fair. I took a break as I had alot of RL stuff going on, but PRL kept my character active. Should be coming back soon and with enough time to really put forth a good effort.

 

I do think the card idea works well, even if its *PK Segment*

 

Anyways, hello to the new guys, and howdy to my old friends. I can't wait to get back into this in a few weeks.

[Adam 0]

Okay, I realise I haven't shown my face around here for a while, and that was a bad plan. I also realise that I fucked over a few people with my lack of action a couple of weeks ago. I thought this would be the best place to right a few wrongs.

 

Firstly, I'd like to apologise to the following people: NYU, Tony, KC, Alf, PFL, PK, and PRL. I'd like to apologise to you for ruining Syndicated, and basically ignoring it and hoping it would go away. Life got all too hectic for me, which, while it is a familiar story around here, its one that I thought I could always combat, and I'd never fall prey to the dreaded no-show. Unfortunately, we're all human, and we all fuck up. I just happened to do so in a larger fashion than most fuckups around here.

 

I'm dissapointed with myself, and I'm dissapointed that it went down that way, so I'm sorry.

 

Secondly, individually I'd like to apologise to both NYU and Tony, who helped me with this angle, and were the main brains behind it. NYU, I fucked you over a lot more than most, because this angle was another aspect of your AS angle. Alf also deserves an apology for that. To Tony, you and I have become friends over the last few months and have worked together for a while, so I'd like to apologise to you also. Both of you are friends, and I hope it stays that way, despite my lack of communication to you both.

 

To KC, I apologise for dampening what should have been a coming out party for one of your characters. I know you'll recover, and I know you'll maintain all your characters in incredible fashion, but I still feel an apology is needed.

 

To PK and PRL, I once again apologise for ruining your Syndicated matches.

 

In summation, a massive apology for all who were looking forward to the angle and the show. I've realised in the last couple of weeks that even when you think you've got time for everything, 24 hours in a day sometimes just isn't enough to devote your attention to everything you enjoy, and everything you need to do.

 

To Zack, I agree with your points above. I screwed up in not planning for the worst, and in just kinda waiting for Hoff to magically show up and help me out. I don't know what's up with the big man's life right now, but I hope we hear from him more regularly than once every couple months.

 

I really don't know where this leaves me now. I want to stick around, but I don't know how to go about that, or how to go about repairing whatever bridges I've burned in the last couple of weeks. I'm sorry, and I hope that I once again can write the kinds of segments that you would all enjoy reading.