8-26-03
It's heeeee-re! Yippee!!!!
Today was the first official day of festival activity: Program Book
Distribution and Official Film Selection and Order Form Filling-Out Day
for all us festival goers. It's a day filled with anticipation,
excitement and joy coupled with anxiety, frustration and stress. Highs,
lows and lots of crossed fingers.
I arrived at the box office all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed just after
9am. I had my program book voucher all ready and was prepared to stand
in line to get my hands on the precious publication, then spend hours
poring over the synopses to make my screening choices.
But first, I had to get past the volunteers.
Why, in the name of all that is good and holy and cinematic, would they
choose to put newbies on the frontlines on what is one of the most
important days of the entire festival? 'Cause see, the volunteers are
supposed to be helpful. Knowledgable. They're supposed to know things.
They're supposed to have the answers or, at the very least, know where
to go to find the answers if need be. These things help make the entire
process run more smoothly for all involved. It makes people happy, puts
them at ease. But the volunteers I encountered this morning knew very
little about what was going on.
There was a line-up at the box office when I arrived. Since there
wasn't any signage to indicate where I was to go, I consulted a
bespectacled and somewhat sluggish volunteer I'll call Percy. I asked
Percy if this line before me was the voucher-redemption line. He said
no, that the line I wanted was outside, and pointed me towards a set of
revolving doors. So, I went through the revolving doors, arrived
outside and found... nothing. Nobody. No line. No signs. Nothing.
I went back inside, found Percy and said, "Are you sure the line for
vouchers is outside? Because I went outside and there's nothing there."
"Oh," said Percy in a tone that implied I somehow got his instructions
wrong. "You have to go outside, turn right, walk to the corner, turn
right again and go down the stairs. That's where the line is." Perhaps
he might have drawn me that little map the first time I asked.
I followed his new instructions and, sure enough, found the line. I
waited about 10 minutes before making it to the front of the line where
there were several large tables set up and a handful of volunteers
dutifully redeeming vouchers for program books. I handed over my ducat,
and the perky gal behind the table handed me a book and my order-form
envelope.
"Oh, I need another envelope," I informed her (since each pass or
coupon book requires a separate form and envelope, and I had one of
each to redeem).
"There's two forms inside the envelope!" she happily replied, anxious
to send me on my way.
"I know, but I actually need two ENVELOPES," I repeated.
"Is it for someone else?" she asked.
"No, it's for me. I have a pass and a coupon book, so I need two
envelopes."
Puzzled, she thought about it for a beat. "Okay, can you hang on, I
just have to check to see what I'm supposed to do," she said.
Huh? Check to see what you're supposed to do?? You're supposed to hand
me another envelope! How can a festival volunteer not be familiar with
one of the fest's cardinal—and most strictly enforced—rules about
submitting orders??? It's printed in BOLD TEXT right on the front of
every single envelope and order form!
Anyway, she turned to another guy at the table and said, "This girl
wants two envelopes because she has a pass and a coupon book. What
should I do?"
Clearly, this fellow knew his stuff because he turned to her and said
in a well-DUH tone, "You give her two envelopes."
I was a smidge disappointed that there was no complimentary tote bag
laden with coupons and goodies this year. Used to be, you'd get your
book and Universal Pictures (or some other studio) would provide a
nifty tote bag containing coupons and offers from various festival
sponsors, along with other free crap that, in past years, has included
things like mouse pads, promotional CDs and Post-It notes.
But not this year. No free stuff, no bag, no savvy volunteers.
What I did get was a delightful selection of hundreds of films that I
spent much of the day (some seven hours or so!) whittling down to my
list of 34. I've carefully filled out my order forms, checked and
rechecked them to make sure I didn't inadvertently do something crazy
like accidentally request a ticket for The Brown Bunny, and
tucked them into their envelopes for delivery first thing tomorrow
morning.
— Vickie
