Positive Attitude and Behavior at Conferences

[Jonathan Whitehead]

MODS: PLEASE STICKY IF YOU COULD.

Chasers and conference attendees

After going to all the conferences last year and encountering some egos among fellow chasers, I would like to remind those of you going to some of the upcoming conferences and workshops to have a positive attitude and be kind to strangers. I mention this because Im looking at possibly going full bore into storm chasing in 2007 and have a myriad of questions that I would like to ask other chasers, i.e. where you got your equipment and how did you install it, etc....
So if small 5'9" college student comes up to you and introduces himself, please be warm and kind and take just brief amount of time to answer some questions I might have. I always like meeting other chasers.
I plan on going to both the National Severe Weather Workshop in Midwest City this weekend and the TESSA Conference next weekend. Now if you plan on going to any of these conferences and would like to meet me there and talk chasing and equipment, please respond and I will get in touch with you.

 

[Mickey Ptak]

I think you will run into this no matter where you go IMO. However I personally have a very hard time differentiating ego attitudes vs. shy personalities. I am relatively shy in person when it comes to someone I do not know, and it has been mentioned to me that by doing so I come of as a stuck-up jerk. I am never stuck-up and most the time I am not a jerk, but I guess that is the way others perceive it.

I do understand your point of view though. I have been in the same boat and there is absolutely no doubt that I will be it again at some point in my life be it dealing with weather people or others outside of weather. All I can say if someone is really being an asshole just because they think they are better than me I generally look them straight in the eyes and say a few nice things to kill them with kindness even though I feel like knocking them on their ass. It works like a charm every time and it makes me feel much better also. Lol

Your going to meet those kind of people in the weather / chasing field but just blow it off. In the end none of it will matter 100 years from now anyway. :wink:

Mick

 

[David Drummond]

Keep in mind in the field, if someone isn't really chatty with you it's nothing personal. Speaking for myself, I don't care for a lot of chat when I am shooting video or activily engaged in chasing a storm, because it breaks my concentration on what I am doing and makes for a lot of audio that has to be edited out etc.

Also, I like to be VERY mobile, ready to go at a moments notice. Getting to chatty on the side of the road kinda slows that down, with all the parting words needed to make an unrude departure.

Not to be rude, but honestly, after I just drove over 500 miles to see that storm, I am really wanting to see that storm and not chat a lot.

Now, that said, conventions, conferences, dinner at the end of the day, etc etc etc, it's a whole other thing, and I am always willing to help when I can.

I guess what I am saying is, if you run into someone on the side of the road that appears as though they are being rude, they are probably just concentrating on the task at hand. Save the chat for the pre-storm chaser convergences, the dinners after the chase, and the down times. :wink:

 

[Tony Laubach]

Keep in mind in the field, if someone isn't really chatty with you it's nothing personal. Speaking for myself, I don't care for a lot of chat when I am shooting video or activily engaged in chasing a storm, because it breaks my concentration on what I am doing and makes for a lot of audio that has to be edited out etc.

Also, I like to be VERY mobile, ready to go at a moments notice. Getting to chatty on the side of the road kinda slows that down, with all the parting words needed to make an unrude departure.

Not to be rude, but honestly, after I just drove over 500 miles to see that storm, I am really wanting to see that storm and not chat a lot.

Now, that said, conventions, conferences, dinner at the end of the day, etc etc etc, it's a whole other thing, and I am always willing to help when I can.

I guess what I am saying is, if you run into someone on the side of the road that appears as though they are being rude, they are probably just concentrating on the task at hand. Save the chat for the pre-storm chaser convergences, the dinners after the chase, and the down times. :wink:

Well said! I think I sent a PM to someone in the passed week regarding this issue. I have been on both sides of this (being rude and been rude to). But yeah, word-for-word on this... it's SOO not personal! :lol:

 

[Jeff Snyder]

I think you will run into this no matter where you go IMO. However I personally have a very hard time differentiating ego attitudes vs. shy personalities. I am relatively shy in person when it comes to someone I do not know, and it has been mentioned to me that by doing so I come of as a stuck-up jerk. I am never stuck-up and most the time I am not a jerk, but I guess that is the way others perceive it.

I'll echo those comments. It is tough to discern an egotistical attitude vs. a shy attitude. I too am rather shy, so I tend not to initiate conversations. This is nothing personal, and I'd most certainly talk if I was more certain that folks would want to talk. When in doubt, I tend to stay quiet, which I know some folks take as being cocky or jerk-ish. I also think many others are in this situation, so I'd caution against jumping to conclusions because someone wasn't especially talkative.

 

[Patrick Kerrin]

MODS: PLEASE STICKY IF YOU COULD.

Chasers and conference attendees

After going to all the conferences last year and encountering some egos among fellow chasers, I would like to remind those of you going to some of the upcoming conferences and workshops to have a positive attitude and be kind to strangers.

Speaking as someone who "approached" the chase community over the 1986 through 1992 period (i.e. I that is when introduced myself to many of the chasers I now know and did so both through in-person introductions and even a few snail mails!) I picked up that it was part of the chaser tradition to WELCOME new people who show they are sincere, polite, courteous and have done some initial homework.

I believe that this is STILL the tradidion, and so it should be! Yes there are a wide range of personality types from larger-than-life to very quiet among veteran chasers, but I think that the key is all in the approach - especially as the numbers increased over the last decade (though I'm sure a few older chasers have burned out as "mentors" simply due to the sheer numbers now involved).

Again, do your initial homework and be sincere, polite, courteous and you'll find most chasers friendly and helpful.

 

[Shane Adams]

I never assume anyone wants to meet me. If I'm approached in a social chaser situation (party, chaser convergence etc.), I'll always be friendly and chatty (too chatty). If it's a chase situation, I probably won't even notice you. I'm in a zone out there and all I really see is the storm.

 

[Susan Strom]

During a chase, there is so much to focus on between the shoot, nailing a forecast, making the proper exposures, personal safety, tracking one's location, planning where one will be in 500 miles...all those things. Assisting someone in the learning process is more difficult during those times, I'd probably suggest a new person get on a tour the first time and learn by observation.

On forums, at conventions & social situations, helping someone learn can be fun. I don't mind answering questions. I have to remember '95/'96 too, when I was learning, and also want to brag on this guy a bit, Michael Bath of the Australian Severe Wx team, for being kind and courteous back then to a newbie via email. It was awhile ago, but I hadn't forgotten.

Bath's awesome lightning.
http://www.lightningphotography.com/