Our last Rental Staging Roadshow of 2008 just wrapped in Burbank, CA. We’ve taken the Roadshow to venues large and small, indoor and outdoor, since we launched it with InfoComm last year, but the venue in Burbank was the most unusual, and maybe the most fun. It was held at the IATSE Local union hall, an actual sound stage that was once the sound stage for Billy Graham Productions. Since buying the facility, the IATSE has turned into a vibrant center not just for their union (that represents grips, mainly, that work in the film and TV production community in Hollywood and environs) but for the entire community. The hall is a great venue for staged events, and we had the pleasure of hosting quite a few IATSE members at the
- Roadshow on December 5.
- It was great swapping stories about set work, and exploring the crossover between the Hollywood production community and the corporate staging world.
- We’ll be taking the Roadshow back to that venue next December, but in the meantime were planning the rest of the ‘09 agenda for the Roadshow. We’ll be back in the Orlando, FL area in late winter/early spring, and we hope to get a large contingent of folks from the theme park AV community as well as the corporate staging companies that work the always-busy Florida market.
- And look for an announcement in early ‘09 about a new, fifth stop on the Roadshow tour for Toronto, a vibrant center for AV of all kinds.
- Wherever we take the Roadshow (New York and Chicago, for sure), it’s clear that the corporate staging community needs management and planning advice as much as it needs to stock up on the latest video and audio gear. Most companies in this industry are small companies, typically started by guys whose only MBA is in Management By Anxiety. There is some logic to this, as our customers want dazzling and efficient application of technology, not project management skills. But there comes a time in the evolution of every rental or staging company when they really need to call in management help to grow the company and increase profitability.
- This is where I’d like to particularly thank Tom Stimson, Rental & Staging Systems columnist, InfoComm Board member, and, in fact, one of the sharpest and most experienced people in our industry when it comes to business management.
- Tom has done a superlative job of sharing his unique wisdom with the Roadshow attendees, with his seminars based on insights taken from decades of managing of one of the most prominent and profitable staging companies in our industry. Tom will be back with our ‘09 Roadshows, so if you have not benefited from his intensive sessions on making your staging company more profitable, don’t miss him on the road in ‘09.
