As one currently in charge of a form of "Public Relations," I can completely relate to this post. For some god-awful reason some Geeks just can't handle customer service.
I almost think its required to be part of any kind of staff. That is just me, though.
Although, when I joined NebKon, my work history was all of Construction and working at a factory. Hardly a good strong work history, which usually doesn't matter in the first few years of a convention.
As the convention gets bigger though, so do the issues.
"Tiffany Grant just SHOWS UP to cons and expects special treatment at those she is not invited as a guest to. I have had personal chats with her and she is also not the nicest of people."
First and foremost, comparing Tiffany Grant and Vic in the same sentence is like comparing an orange to the goddamn moon. I sat here for 10 minutes re-reading that sentence to make sure I saw it right.
Second, I'm not sure what you did, but I can almost guarantee with 100% accuracy that you did something to really, really tick her off. If she acted like this to you, this tells me that you're not telling the whole story, and you did something to Tiffany to make her mad. Which, I regret to inform you, that while Tiffany is practically a damn saint (She is, considering I've had the pleasure of interacting with her at 7 years of the con I help run), you make her mad or do something to wrong her on a serious level, she's going to be short with you.
Third, I'm going to guess if you claim you 'did nothing' to deserve the treatment that you got, that you are over exaggerating the behavior you perceived in Tiffany. I repeat: TIFFANY GRANT IS A SAINT. The women is one of if not THE nicest person I've had the pleasure of interacting with. She can also be honest to a fault, so maybe that's your problem.
TL;DR stop blaming Tiffany's perceived attitude towards you and check yourself. If you haven't realized yet, you're acting like a massive jerk.
Oh and 6) Plan your sleep schedule ahead of the con. This may sound silly, but know when to go to bed and stay on that. Putting it off will do nothing but wreak your mind. Quite frankly, you need that thing in your head to operate day of. As staff, bare min sleep you should get is 6 hours. That's to keep you OPERATIONAL. Get 8 - 10 hours and the Gods will smile upon you.
I actually fielded a question like this from our attendees (NebrasKon) after this year's con. The first thing I have told them, and I mean the VERY FIRST THING, is this: Make sure its something you really, really, REALLY want to do. If you're not sure or wishy washy about it, it's going to hurt you. Attending a Con is fun, staffing a con gives you an entirely different feeling of "tired" that no human has ever felt.
You have to make sure you are ready mentally and physically. The real deal with cons at its core is personal prep for staffing these events. This includes 1) Buying Vitamins (Double the dosage during those three days, your body is going to need it) and take them daily. This gives your body a core energy boost as well as a total awareness boost. You will need this not just for the 3 day event, but the planning before hand. It puts you at your best every day of the week.
2) Make sure you can focus. I'm ADHD, and this is one of those things that brings me in to focus (the con, anyway). If you can't focus on the con at all, its time to reconsider things.
3) If you have depression or a serious social anxiety disorder, please think about medication! Just because you're able to attend meetings with your friends and go to these cons as an attendee doesn't mean you'll be able to deal with the con day of. Staffing the con will cause a special kind of stress. If you have Depression or SA, you already know without stress that it can be trouble. Make sure you're prepared! As someone who has BOTH of these disorders, I can not stress this enough.
4) This is pretty hard to ask of any one person who staffs or even leads a committee/internal group within the con, but PACE YOURSELF. If you feel inundated with prep or during the con, it may be a good idea to think of people to help you out. Staff is hard to come by, but its not THAT hard. Volunteers even less so.
5) Make sure you can interact with others on a basic level. These are folks that for the most part you can identify with. If you can't, you may need to retool where your position is within the con. Nothing major. :P
I'd add more if I could remember more. But I consider this the bare basics that one should think about before staffing a con, let alone starting one. :)
