Interrupted

Don't you just hate it when you have the ball rolling and then you suddenly get interrupted (or people get distracted)?

On the Comic Collective

It's an org in its beginning stages. And well, we're learning the hard way how an org actually gets set up or gains accreditation. Amidst all the paperwork and diplomacy required, there's the internal conflict within the group as well.

One of the biggest problems is that the org in itself is something new, having no precedent before it. Lately, it's been acting as a publication, much like a university's school paper or literary publication. But the org isn't just that. In fact, when it started out, there wasn't even a publication (but there were plans for one). The only time we came out with an actual anthology was last year (badly done as it was).

The other focus of the org was in the development of the member's skills, either in writing or in drawing. And finding the time for workshops such as those that fits with most of the member's schedules seems to be get harder and harder by the year.

The third focus of the org, which technically hasn't been implemented yet, is for the place of members who neither have the talent nor the skill in comics creation, but share in the love of the comics. In theory, they will be handling the deliberations of what works gets published in the magazine, as well as provide critic during the workshops and seminars on other people's works. But time constraints, publishing schedules, and member needs seem to be hampering this, at least during this point in time.

Leadership is also a delicate matter. For one thing, since there really is no precedent for the org, finding such a leader is not only difficult (and scarce) but training one is hard as well.

For example, finding a leader for the school paper isn't as difficult, especially in a campus as large as Ateneo. For one thing, there's immediate prestige involved in being an "editor". News and feature writing is something respected. Creating and honing comic skills isn't. I mean I've heard members complain that their parents don't allow them to participate in org activities since it takes up their time for such "frivolous and inconsequential" activities.

Finding a protoge in a school paper is also easy since there's prior training involve. I mean chances are, it's members who were editors during their grade school and high school years that end up aspiring for the editor position in college. As far as I know, there aren't any official (or regular) orgs or clubs in grade school and high school that have the focus of releasing a comic regularly.

I mean a plain editor won't suffice since comics is more than just text. The same goes for recruiting just an artist. And of course, there's some public relations and managerial skills involved (which I think is necessary for leaders of any organization), even if it's just a little. With the Comic Collective publication, the ball just gets dropped. Fortunately, Elbert was up to the challenge. But how many Elbert's are in this world? Or more specifically, how many people share the love of comics and possess all the necessary skills involved, not to mention interested in joining the Comic Collective and enrolling in Ateneo?

Maybe we could make do with Elbert. But he's on borrowed time. One of the big differences between a school organization and professional work is that the latter has a longer time investment. You're not just editor for one or two years (unless you're horrible). It usually lasts for a much longer time. School publications work on the reverse side of things. One year as editor is the usual term (handed often to either juniors or seniors). Hanging on for two years is long. Three is a prodigy. Continuity wise, that's a hurdle any school org has to face.

Another factor in leadership is the particular drive one has. I mean for big changes to happen (or sometimes, just for things to happen), the leaders (and members as well) must have a strong drive for the project that will carry it to the next level. What this next level is usually depends who's in charge. Like a person who's interested in output or getting published might drive at the publication. Another might want to organize the system and structure of the org. One more accustomed to human relations might want to focus more on the relationships members have with each other. Whatever the case, a particular drive will push the org forward and revolutionize a new idea.

Of course budget constraints, lack of accreditation, and dwindling membership hampers this factor. I mean people with strong drives (and leadership skills) are hard to come by. More so with people interested in comics and joining the Comic Collective. Sometimes,the torch gets passed on to less ideal people. At that point, the best one could hope for is that the leader at the very least maintains the org or preserve its current success. And hopefully, when it's time for them to pass on their torches, someone innovative might come along.

These are the ideals vs reality colliding with each other. Almost always, it ends up with a compromise. For example, structural integrity and cohesion of the org might come at the cost of actual output. The heirarchal values of any org in such a case must be prioritized.