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World Science Festival

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World Science Festival Reviews

2.1

19% would recommend to a friend

(19 total reviews)
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Tracy Day

Not enough data to show CEO approval

22% positive business outlook

World Science Festival has an employee rating of 2.1 out of 5 stars, based on 19 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The World Science Festival employee rating is 46% below average for employers within the Arts, entertainment and recreation industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

19 reviews
2.0
3 Feb 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

While my experience was unfavorable there are definite reasons why one would be attracted to working here. If you like science, are driven to obtain experience with live events and overall want to get a glimpse into production you'd think this should be where you plant yourself. I say 'think.' Don't do it. Read below.

Cons

I was hired on a contract basis as many of the staff is here. I received no benefits and was given an end date that fluctuated but this was a mutual understanding and I was fine with this. What I wasn't prepared for was the complete and utter disrespect for individuality or any point-of-view other than the two figures at the top of food chain. If they didn't agree with you, which in my case was more often than not, they would yell, embarrass and basically make you doubt any talent or intelligence you thought you possessed. I've never witnessed anything like it before. Thankfully for both parties my term expired but there are many staff members still there that are dismayed, disheartened and disrespected. There are some positive reviews for the company on this site that I've read. But I would sincerely doubt their credibility. It is a widely know fact that management asked other management to write favorable reviews in order to balance out the negative ones. This is not right and I hope they discontinue this action. People looking for a job need to know the truth about a company. And now you have mine.

1.0
29 Aug 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good initial idea - science for the general public. Seem to hire great people, and then crap all over them and they leave. But initially hire well. And the audience at large loves the organization - huge following - sad that they dont know the truth - dont need too. They just make it seem like all is well and reality is behind the curtain its toxic, disgustingly unprofessional, and an embarrassment of an organization. Everything else is horrible and wrong.

Cons

The founders had a great idea - and that is where the positive ends. They are two of the worst human beings I have encountered in my professional career. Egotistical, vain, often outright mean, ungrateful, and unqualified for 90% of running a non-profit. The energy in the office is toxic - they run the organization like a for-profit and have the audacity to treat the employees, partners, and vendors as absolute trash. There is no forum for recourse as the Board is all personal friends, continuing to exhibit ill placed nepotism. Someone should get to Alan Alda's people to truly explain the organization and have him focus his energy elsewhere. There is no basic understanding of communication, marketing, what a website is and does, how to best use or basically use email communication, ticket models for earned income is completely ignored, and fundraising. Funds that have been raised are used without regard to restricted gifts and the entire WSF staff was used to build the flop that is the World Science University. Hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted on making something to be "mine" purely done as an ego project - rather than actually creating something that wouldn't cost a fortune and would work with an established organization or company. Its asinine! The turn over is astounding, and people leave that organization in a state of shock. Yes you can have a bad work environment - but this place is unique in its disfunction, vile leaders, and outright stupidity. For having a scientist running the organization there is a major lack of understanding in how time actually works. Things don't magically happen, and vendors don't care who you are to work overtime or cancel jobs for you. The part that encapsulates it perfectly is the name - World Science Festival. The pure hubris to name yourself this, and not be involved with the world at large, to not be reaching out to Science Festivals across the country is just perfectly stupid. Organizations in other states - never heard of WSF, in the UK, never heard of WSF, in Asia - nope, never heard of it. And just pushing programs in Amsterdam doesnt make up for the ridiculous idea to name the organization the World Science Festival.

1.0
29 Oct 2015

Very Toxic, Ego-centric, Horrible

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The CEO/Chairman are horrible people and really don't know how to run an organization without driving talent out or having everyone feel miserable. It's a great mission in theory, but in practice it's extremely disorganized and everyone is unhappy.

Cons

Don't be fooled by the positive reviews--they were written by the top people to balance out the bad reviews.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 19 Reviews

Glassdoor has 29 World Science Festival reviews submitted anonymously by World Science Festival employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if World Science Festival is right for you.