Part 1 – NEW GEAR! – NOW with more red tape, egos, and internal politics!! woot!

Part 1 (of a three part post)

Since I am a blog newbie, I want to try and keep the pro audio theme central.  I hope to rant and rave about new gear and fun gigs.  I have finally resigned to the fact that pro audio is about 20% skill and gear, and probably 80% about red tape cutting, ego stroking, and wandering through the ever confusing maze of internal politics.  In “greener days,” I would have met the frustration with a nice big helping of sarcasm and condescending comments…and I am sure that would have helped the situation.
Recently I have had a few bad (the bad bad, not the good bad) experiences with this unnecessary sideshow.  Here are a few recollections of the events:

Change in plans
Recently, while working a theater gig doing a musical, I encountered situations I have never been in before.  I have been developing a relationship with the client and have been impressed by how much they have developed over the past couple of years.  We had a pre-production meeting which was productive and went well.  I was approved to secure/rent wireless for the show.  I immediately contacted a production house that I work with often for wireless rental.  I am confident in their gear and enjoy working gigs with them.  I committed to at least a dozen mics (the show really needed about 19-20).  The mics were now unavailable for other clients for rent.
However, the night before load-in, I was informed that a member of the production team had rented another wireless rig for the show.  WOW… that’s a new one…I never had to deal with this predicament.  My mind immediately had the need to create an analogy for this.  Because my name is on the line, I thought of a tight rope performer whose line was replaced with string because it was cheaper.  That sounds a bit extreme…but it was a show stopper for me.  Ten years ago, I would have freaked out and thrown a fit!  Ten or fifteen years wiser now, I asked to speak with the production team and explain the dilemma I was placed in.  Instead of dropping the gig, I was able to continue after we spoke of some contingency plans.
I know the owner of this supposed second rig.  He is a nice guy and friend to the production staff that contacted him without my knowledge.  While being cordial is great; I do not agree with his business and production approach.  We spoke and I explained that I respected his friendship with the production staff who contacted him.  I also committed to trying the wireless rig.  I let him know what “level” of performance would be acceptable.
Long story-short…in the end, I did not use the substitute rig because of what I determined as unacceptable performance.  We had a fairly successful show which followed the slightly revised original plan.  This would have not been the case if I would have walked out or complained instead of entering into dialog with the production staff.

~ by glanzerproaudio on 2008 December 13.