To the casual observer, the men, women and others who make up the Pollstar.com workforce must all come across as severely anal retentive in regards to tour info, examining each and every data bit as they bring together the dates, cities and venues that make up the routings for The Juliana Theory and Joanna Connor. Of course, a little obsessive behavior is encouraged if not required to work here, but tour dates aren’t our only love. Many of us have other interests and hobbies that we pursue with equal vigor in our off hours.

For example, you know those new U2 dates we posted earlier this week? That listing was posted by Pollstar.com Employee #412, who, in her spare time is a volunteer law-enforcement officer helping our local sheriff serve eviction notices. Surprised? Most people are.

But everyone needs a diversion. Especially when you spend almost every single hour of the workweek dealing with the movers and shakers of the concert industry. After 6.5 days per week nailing down dates for bands like Bowling For Soup and artists like Matt Wertz and Anne McCue, you need an outside interest. Something to help release the steam and recharge the batteries.

In fact, almost all of our employees have some kind of hobby or other sideline to fill their off-duty hours. For instance, Employee #981 volunteers at the local library where she helps out by yelling at people to be quiet, while Employee #510 loves using her free time to work on her collection of sharp metal objects. Then there’s Employee #771, who works weekends for the county informing traffic victims’ next-of-kin. Of course, he loves his job here at Pollstar.com, and says that his weekend gig is just something to “fall back on.” But sometimes we wonder.

Yes, all of us have at least one extracurricular activity, something to help take the edge off after processing a week’s worth of schedules for Graham Colton Band, Emerson Drive and Citizen Cope. Observing the local dentist as he conducts a root canal, helping road crews scrape up flattened puppies and kittens, assisting proctologists with their scopes and gloves – these are just some of our employees’ after hour pursuits, little release valves that help them relax before they dive into another week of dates, cities and venues. Sure, maybe they are just a little too obsessed with tour dates, but we’re just happy we could give them a job, a paycheck, and a reason for playing this big wacky game we call life. Besides, where else could they work?

After all, it’s not like everyone can go into politics.