This year I was the main coordinator for Senior Assassin, a game involving seniors getting “targets” they shoot with a water gun. It was a lot of work, but pretty rewarding. Here are 10 interesting things I’ve learned from the experience:

1.     When you acquire power, you acquire “friends”.

I’m not popular. At all. I’m actually pretty sure I have more toes than friends. But after people found out I was running assassin, they were disconcertingly nice to me.

2.      If you (politely) shove a flyer at someone, they will take it.

When advertising, holding out a piece of paper to people actually does work. Especially if you make eye contact.

3.     People want everything done immediately.

Yet they won’t do the little you ask of them until the last possible second. So set your deadlines sooner than they actually are.

4.     Pluralizing personal pronouns makes people listen.

If someone thinks there’s more than one person saying something they’re less likely to argue with it. For instance: “Sorry, but I’m sticking with the rules I set,” vs. “Sorry, but we’re sticking with the rules we set.”

5.     You can log into one email on two computers at the same time.

Who’d have thunk?

6.     Teachers get really nervous when “school” and “shoot” are in the same sentence.

You may not realize the extent of their aversion, but it’s something akin to saying “bomb” in an airport.

7.     You don’t know everybody.

I couldn’t believe how many players I didn’t know or how many seniors had never heard of their assigned target. Branch out, people!

8.     No matter what you do, people will complain about it.

When dealing with numerous people, you’ll always upset somebody. Pleasing everybody is impossible; pleasing even the majority is admirable.

9.     Don’t undervalue your time.

I put a lot more time into this than I paid myself. If I ever manage a project like this again, I’ll know to charge more than $7 and a bucket of KitKats.

10. Always say thank you.

There were many people who criticized the way I ran the game, which at times was rather frustrating.

But the appreciation from the people who saw how much work I put into it made it worthwhile. When you see someone is putting a lot of effort into something, acknowledging it and showing your gratitude goes a long way into making their day.