My Experience at SPJA - Coordinator SPJA Employee Review

- Growth opportunities are vast if you take initiative. Great place to gain experience whether in a corporate setting or exposure to other departments. - Flexible working arrangements. Supervisors oftentimes will accommodate if provided adequate advance notice. - Collaborative environment allowing you to work with teams outside of your normal day-to-day. - Great benefits include medical subsidy, fully covered dental and vision, life insurance, 401k matching, reimbursement for professional development, etc. - You don’t need to be an anime fan to work here. - Company has a strong management team with remarkable expertise and extensive experience.

- Preconceived idea that it is all “fun” because of the affiliation to the Anime Expo event, especially for anime fans looking to get their foot in the door. - Event Management is a demanding industry and has a lot of moving parts. It is not for everyone, which explains the general high turnover within the industry; SPJA is no different. Frankly put, there is a lot of work behind the scenes to put on a successful mega-event and not everyone is cut out for the job.

Great to see your hard work come to life in person!

Where do I even begin? In my experience, this company suffers from unprofessional management, a toxic work environment, and a culture that often feels more performative than genuine. The list of issues could honestly go on. The most disappointing part is that working here completely tarnished my love for AX as a whole. I have no interest in supporting this company again. Employees felt underpaid, while leadership seemed far removed from the day-to-day struggles of the people actually keeping things running. The turnover rate should speak for itself. If you're not willing to properly train and support employees, don't set unrealistic expectations for them. There was also a surprising amount of workplace drama, and it often felt like certain people survived by getting close to upper management rather than by doing good work. If you're someone who's positive, outspoken, or genuinely wants to improve things, don't expect that to be appreciated. In my experience, those qualities were often taken for granted or turned against people. I was genuinely excited to work here, and while there were a handful of amazing coworkers, too many others seemed more interested in pleasing management than being authentic. For a workplace that constantly promotes being "fun" and "collaborative," it rarely felt that way. What saddens me most is how much effort I put into supporting this company and even encouraging talented people to join, only to feel completely undervalued in return. Hard work and potential often went unnoticed, and it sometimes felt like management looked for reasons to blame employees instead of supporting them. I wouldn't recommend working here. From the outside, it looks like a great place to work, but my experience on the inside was completely different. I unfortunately don’t have any hopes of this company changing in the future.