Quitting sucks, yet I am ready to quit as co-chair of the Los Angeles AAJA convention. However, one of my co-chairs and the chapter co-president both, in all earnestness, asked me to reconsider, so I’m going to lay out why I want to quit, especially since I do not desire to be one of those AAJA members with secret alliances and enemies within the organization. Maybe that’s an Asian thing, maybe that’s a non-profit thing, but it ain’t gonna be me.
First, some background. I was not the first co-chair of this convention. I stepped in when a former board member, Caroline Paras, quit working with the Los Angeles board without any notice. I stepped in when she quit because we needed a convention chair. Then, when it came time to submit a logo to AAJA’s national staff, we searched high and low for a graphics designer who would be willing to shoulder the work. The chapter even offered a $250 stipend for logo ideas. No one bit, so I broke down and did what I didn’t want to do — roped Trinity in to help us out. And he did.