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What to expect when working in Abu Dhabi and Dubai

UAE FAQs

So you’re thinking of working in the UAE but don’t know whether it’s right for you? It can be hard to get a clear picture of what it’s really like before you go. This is partly because there are laws against criticising the government and people don’t want to say anything that could possibly be interpreted as negative. You might also find conflicting advice as laws can change very quickly and there are some confusing grey areas. Most sources in English about life in the UAE are written by well-off, ex-pat women and travel bloggers, and your experience as an event professional will have little in common with them (sorry!). Plus going for a few months, as is common in live events, is different from being a long-term resident.

If you’re unsure about a topic or what it’s really like to spend time there as someone who belongs to a certain group, it can be hard to find public information about it. The best thing to do is to talk privately with someone who’s been there to really understand what it’s like. In addition, here are a few things you’ll want to be aware of before accepting work in the UAE. There’s a lot to take in in this post, but you get used to it all pretty quickly. Most of these things won’t affect you very often if at all, but prior warning takes a lot of the frustration out of culture shock! The following is not legal advice or condoning or condemning anything, and please double check any information before you go as it may be out of date by then.

Um… Where is it?

The way people talk about Dubai and Abu Dhabi, you could be forgiven for thinking they’re countries. However, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the country, which is made up of seven emirates, similar to states in the USA. Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the two main cities, each in an emirate of the same name. Abu Dhabi is the country’s capital, and Dubai is the biggest city with the most events. The UAE is on the Arabian Peninsula, but it is not in Saudi Arabia, which is a very different country! Each emirate can set some of its own laws in addition to national ones, so make sure you’re aware of these if you’re traveling between them.

Is everything illegal?

You might have reservations about working in the Middle East. The UAE is different from the West, but it is also unlike its neighbours in many ways. Dubai is sometimes known as the Las Vegas of the Middle East because of its relatively (emphasis on relatively!) relaxed attitude compared to the other countries in the region, and how open it is to tourism. A lot of everyday life is pretty similar to the West, but it is important to remember that the UAE is not a democracy. What the rulers say goes and laws can change very quickly on their decree. Their judicial system is very strict. Being foreign and ignorant of the law is no defence, and your embassy will be unlikely to get you out of prison if you find yourself in trouble. Here are just some things that can result in fines, deportation, or arrest:

It looks like a long list, but if you’re there to work for a short time you’re unlikely to fall foul of these. What you hold in your heart is nobody else’s business if you don’t want it to be. Try to talk like you’re on a corporate job or in The Good Place. You can still drink if you’re 21 or over (except in the dry emirate Sharjah, but you’re unlikely to go there), just make sure it’s in private or a licensed premises and keep your composure on the way back to your accommodation. If you don’t want to abide by the country’s laws you are free not to go there. Disagreeing with them is not an excuse to break the law.

Nah, tourists do that stuff all the time

Some people who don’t respect these laws visit, and you might hear that it’s all very relaxed and you can pretty much do whatever you want. Of course, you can have a great time, but you can do that while staying on the right side of the law. Just because people have done illegal things without being arrested doesn’t mean it’s ok, that it isn’t disrespectful or that you’ll get away with it too. Besides, you are there to work. You should have higher standards of behaviour than someone who’s there to party. Getting arrested or deported will also cause a big headache for your employer and is not a clever career move.

Modest clothing?

One of the main areas I was concerned about before I went to Dubai for the first time was what is appropriate to wear. I asked my boss and he said “Well, now it’s December it’s getting a bit chilly in the evenings, you might want a sweater…” That wasn’t really what I meant! The idea is “modest” clothing: you shouldn’t wear anything low cut or translucent and should cover your shoulders and back. Your underwear should never be visible. On-site it’s usually fine to wear cargo shorts, but when out in public in places like malls it’s best to cover your knees. If you’re on a tourist beach (some beaches are more conservative, for locals) it’s fine to wear swimwear, but cover up before going into a bar or restaurant. If you visit a mosque, dress conservatively and cover your hair if you’re a woman. Some mosques will provide you with an abaya to wear. If you don’t want to wear one, don’t visit a mosque. Tattoos and piercings are relatively common in live event crews, but you might be asked to cover them for more formal events, like in any country.

From a practical point of view, pack light, breathable fabrics. Indoors is almost always well air-conditioned but outside can be really hot! Don’t rely on finding the right clothes when you get there. Malls mainly have the same brands as in the UK and USA, and they stock the same items just with higher price tags, even if they are totally inappropriate for the climate. Try finding a sunhat in a Dubai mall in December: you can spend hours sifting through thick wool coats and scarves, with fake fireplaces and snow everywhere while it’s 30C (86F) outside. You’ll have more luck with non-Western brands like Splash and Lulu but it still isn’t guaranteed you’ll find what you need, so bring essentials with you.

What are the people like?

Only about 15% of the population are native Emiratis. They are mostly very wealthy and you only tend to encounter them as end clients or guests of honour at your event. The rest of the population is made up of people from all over the world and it makes for a very interesting and cosmopolitan society. It is a great opportunity to learn about other people’s cultures (and their food!) but it also means you should make the effort to respect their ways of life and beliefs.

Some people get the impression that the UAE doesn’t have any culture because it doesn’t have lots of old buildings and famous books. However, this is quite a blinkered view of what culture is (as explained in this article https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/the-majlis-emirati-culture-exists-just-look-closer-1.4506). Emiratis were nomadic Bedouins until very recently so didn’t build settlements or have many material possessions, and their culture was passed down through oral poetry and story-telling. The state was only founded in 1971, and cities only grew from small pearling villages with the discovery of oil in the 60s, so most architecture is very modern. That doesn’t mean there’s no cultural heritage, you just need to look a bit harder for it. Al Fahidi historical neighbourhood in Dubai has been preserved as it would have looked in the mid-1800s and is a good introduction to Emirati culture and heritage. This article (https://www.ourglobetrotters.com/dubai-uae-culture-tradition/) outlines more about Emirati culture and where to find it.

Do I need to learn Arabic?

All signage is bilingual and staff will be able to help you in English. If you do want to learn Arabic, translating signs is good practice.

No. Arabic is the official language, but English is the most widely spoken. All signs are in both Arabic and English. You don’t need to know a word of Arabic to work there but it is polite to at least learn to say thank you, which is “shukraan”. You can say “shukraan habibi” (shu-KRAN ha-BEE-bee) to a man or “shukraan habibti” to a woman if you are on good terms with them. It translates as “thank you darling” but it is friendly rather than patronising or creepy.

If you’re the type of person who likes to be able to say a few words in the languages of people you interact with, you have your work cut out for you in the UAE. The main language barrier you’ll encounter as an events professional is communicating with stagehands, who are Indian and Pakistani men. Some stagehands don’t speak English at all. There will usually be a couple of guys on the crew who can act as translators, but a lot of your communication will be by mime and some misinterpretation is inevitable. If you want to learn every Indian and Pakistani language and guess who speaks which one, go for it!

What’s the workplace like?

Working in the UAE can feel quite slow compared to Western countries, but once you do a gig in up to 50C (122F) heat you’ll realise why you need to pace yourself. And why you should wear gloves! Those flight cases get HOT! You should also bring appropriate PPE, and use it. The UAE is not the wild west of events like you might have heard from people who were there in “the good old days”, twenty years ago. You’re expected to be professional and safe.

There are usually a lot of stagehands, known as ‘labour’. Some are so good they could do your job, some are just there to push boxes. The main frustration is the aforementioned language barrier. If you carry boxes they might grab them out of your hands. It happens to men as well as women: it isn’t so much sexism as they see it as an insult to their abilities if you do their job for them.

Your fellow techs will be from all over the world, but mostly British in my experience. The workplace reflects the wider society in that physical contact isn’t the norm. Don’t hug people you don’t know really well. If anyone gets touchy-feely stay well away from them and flag it with your boss if you’re concerned. You probably won’t want to hug anyone anyway, because you’ll all be really sweaty. Because it’s really hot.

You need to make sure you don’t make noise outside during prayer times. Playing music or even sending pink noise to speakers where it can be heard by the public is not allowed. Muslims pray five times a day, no matter where they are or what they’re doing. Soundchecking during prayers is like rolling your rig into a church during Sunday service or a library and blasting some tunes out. It is disrespectful and won’t be tolerated. People who work in events know this happens, so you just need to give the artist a heads up if prayers will interrupt soundcheck, preferably with a ten and five-minute reminder. Prayer times are linked to sunrise and sunset so change slightly depending on the date and place. You can download phone apps that give you notifications for each one (search for “Muslim prayer app”). Just remember to set them to silent or you’ll have a little Muezzin calling you to prayer from your pocket, and waking you up before dawn.

At least we don’t have to protect the gear from rain in the desert!

Yes, you do! First of all, most gigs are in the coastal cities, which aren’t in the desert. They’re actually quite green. Second, it doesn’t rain very often, but when it does it means business! It can go from blue skies to torrential storms in a matter of minutes, sometimes with no warning. If you’re doing an outdoor gig you definitely need to protect your gear. Even if it doesn’t rain, you need to prevent dust and sand from getting into the equipment. I did a gig out in the desert once and there was so much sand that brushing my desk down every ten minutes felt like an archaeological dig.

The streets are paved with gold!

While some buildings are literally covered in gold, unfortunately, the live scene is not as drowning in money as it once was. However, they still have the money to host your event, so don’t let any employer plead poverty with you. Unless you’re moving for a permanent position, it’s standard to be paid your home country’s day rate plus be provided with travel and accommodation. Due to the seasonal and often unpredictable nature of the events sector, companies need to fly people in from abroad all the time, and paying for accommodation is just a cost of doing business in the UAE. Anyone acting like they’re doing you a favour or trying to knock the price of accommodation off your rate is being disingenuous. Besides, you already have somewhere to live! If they want you to work for them they need to offer you a better deal than you already have at home. If they put you up somewhere nice, do show them some appreciation because that is a bonus. Residents of the UAE don’t pay income tax but you will still be liable to pay it in your home country if you are only there temporarily.

Can I set up as a freelancer there?

No. There is no freelancer visa, you must be sponsored by a company to work there (unless you’re from another Gulf country, but if you are, what are you doing reading this?). Your visa requirements will depend on your home country and the nature of your trip so do discuss it with your employer before accepting your offer.

What is the cost of living like?

There’s no denying that the UAE is expensive, especially if you drink alcohol. A pint of beer costs around £9/€10/$12 (all prices in this post are rough estimates at the time of writing)! That being said, prices can vary wildly depending on where and how you shop. What’s the difference between an ex-pat and an immigrant? Money! If you want to live the jetskiing, cocktails, and brunch lifestyle you’ll struggle to make a profit from your time in the UAE. If you want more value from your budget, ask your fellow migrant workers where they go and what’s good. A latte in Starbucks might cost as much as £5/€5.50/$7, but a cup of chai from the seller one street away could cost 20p/22c/27c. Buying brand names from back home can also be an expensive habit if they’re imported for the ex-pat market. Apps the Entertainer and Zomato Gold offer good discounts and deals at all sorts of establishments (for example buy one get one free on food and drink) for an initial fee, and you can save more than the cost quite easily. Ask your local friends for a referral code that will benefit you both!

What is the food like?

Camel milk products are popular in the UAE. You can buy camel milk soap, camel milk ice-cream, camel milk chocolate or treat yourself to a camelicious camelccino.

 

Delicious! Traditional Emirati cuisine is very rich, with a lot of spiced stew-like dishes, fish and dates. Unfortunately, there aren’t many Emirati restaurants, so you might not get to try it. There are, however, restaurants serving food from all over the world. Most Western chains are commonly found in the UAE as well as great Indian, Filipino and Lebanese places. Junk food is everywhere and it is very easy to eat incredibly unhealthily if you aren’t careful. Non-halal meat is not banned, but it is sold in a special separate section of grocery stores. Places that cater to wide audiences, like hotel breakfast buffets, only serve halal food. Sausages and bacon are usually made from chicken or lamb instead of pork.

Some more old-fashioned restaurants have a “family room” where any group that is not made up solely of men are seated. If you are going anywhere other than a fast food place, wait to be seated. If you’re a woman planning to join your male colleagues at an old-fashioned restaurant, make sure they let the staff know that they will have a woman in their group before being seated. You might feel weird not being allowed to sit in the main room, but it isn’t a very common custom these days. On the other hand, women get to choose between the normal and women-only carriages on the metro so you can feel special and have space while the guys are crammed into the normal ones.

Should I tip?

Tipping is a choice in the UAE, and is common but not expected. 10% is normal in restaurants, 15% is plenty. Make it clear that you are tipping, though. If you just leave without waiting for your change they might get accused of stealing. You usually tell taxi drivers to keep the change if paying in cash but you don’t need to add more on top.

Phone and internet

There are three telecom companies in the UAE, and they are the only entities licensed to provide video calls, available as expensive plans. Services like Skype, Facetime and WhatsApp video chat are banned. Rules have been relaxed due to covid so Zoom and Microsoft Teams are allowed while the pandemic keeps people working remotely https://gulfbusiness.com/will-access-to-zoom-other-voip-services-continue-in-the-uae-tra-responds/.

The internet is heavily censored in the UAE. Sites related to things like pornography, gambling and criticism of the government are not allowed. VPNs are therefore extensively blocked to prevent people from accessing this content and VoIP services, but they are only illegal if you use them to break the law (https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/vpn-etisalat/). If you simply want to protect your personal information while on your hotel’s WiFi, for example, that is permitted. If you want to do this, download a VPN before you enter the country. Make sure you find one that has good reviews for the UAE, because some that are great in North America, for example, don’t have servers close enough to the Middle East to remain fast and effective. The previous link has a few suggestions for the ones that work best.

Getting out and about

There is much more to the UAE than sand and shopping malls. You could have the Mangroves National Park to yourself and feel like you’re in the middle of the wilderness, until you kayak around a corner and see the Abu Dhabi skyline on the horizon.

It can be very difficult to get to places on foot in the UAE. It’s so hot you would be risking your health to do much walking outside for most of the year, and as such, there has been little investment in sidewalks. Luckily public transport is very reasonably priced and clean. The metro in Dubai services the most popular spots and the buses are air-conditioned and safe. Google maps can struggle with directions at times so it can help to refer to the city’s transit website instead. Taxis are plentiful and of good value so you might prefer to use them instead of public transport. On the whole, drivers in the UAE are quite aggressive and commonly use their phones while behind the wheel. As a rule of thumb, if you are happy to drive through central London at rush hour, you should be able to deal with UAE roads.

Laundry day

If you aren’t lucky enough to have a washing machine in your accommodation, you’ll have to send it to a laundrette. Labour is cheap in the UAE and there are a lot of immigrants trying to make a living, so it’s kind of a thing that if you can afford to pay someone to do a task, you should. As such, there is only one self-service laundrette in the whole of Dubai, but there are lots of serviced places. Again, prices range from cheap to so expensive you’d be better off buying an entirely new wardrobe. There are some app-based services that can pick your laundry up from your hotel and deliver it back, which can be very useful if you don’t have the time to get away from your gig. Most places charge per item rather than per load, so be prepared for the delightful experience of a strange man emptying your dirty laundry out onto a counter and publicly counting up your underwear and socks.

What is that arrow on my hotel room ceiling?

It’s a qibla! They point towards Mecca so Muslims know which way to face while praying.

There’s a hose by the toilet…

Yup. That is a bidet shower/shattaf/bum gun. They’re the preferred device for personal hygiene throughout the Middle East and Southeast Asia. You can just continue to use toilet paper, but if you’re curious to give them a go you should read a guide first, like this one https://www.bidet.org/pages/how-to-use-a-hand-held-bidet. You might get converted! Facilities are often designed to be washed down with the shattaf, sluicing water into a central drain, so if you find yours dripping wet don’t panic. Just don’t put your bag down on the floor…

Do I need to worry about creepy crawlies?

Not really. The cities are quite sanitized and you only really see birds and some benign insects. Some vipers, scorpions, and redback spiders are found there, but only out in the countryside and very rarely. If you are squeamish, just don’t Google camel spiders and maybe get someone else to do the digging if you need to bury cables in the desert.

What can I do with my time off?

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi is one of the most popular places to visit in the UAE. It is particularly atmospheric at sunset.

What time off?! Your employer needs to pay for accommodation etc. for every day you’re there so they’re going to get their money’s worth out of you! If you are lucky enough to have a day or two off, there are plenty of things to do that don’t involve the usual shopping in a mall or tanning on the beach. Search online and ask your local colleagues for recommendations and hidden gems, because there are lots.

For starters in Dubai, you can visit the gold souk (not as ancient as you might imagine, but still an experience), take an abra across the creek, or go to the coffee museum and the Al Fahidi neighbourhood. In Abu Dhabi, you can visit the Sheikh Zayed Mosque (I recommend the free guided tours), ride an electric scooter along the corniche promenade at sunset, and my favourite, kayak through the mangroves. Both cities have museums and galleries, and a host of live entertainment.

The UAE is a great country for the adventurous, with skydiving, ziplining, bungee jumping and sandboarding. If you’re a fan of wildlife like me, you might be disappointed to find out that desert safaris don’t feature any animals. It’s actually driving around sand dunes in a 4×4 but apparently, it’s great fun! There are, however, plenty of wildlife parks and sanctuaries, and you can visit the Falcon Hospital in Abu Dhabi to learn about these amazing birds and the integral part they play in Bedouin culture.

Tour operators offer packages of a day in the desert, camel ride, and evening being entertained in a Bedouin camp if you want the full tourist experience. If you want the full ex-pat experience, save up to go for brunch with your friends (look them up, it isn’t just that avocado is expensive), but only if you don’t have work the next day. If you can, get out of the cities and explore the stunning landscapes the country offers. It will surprise you how beautiful, lush and varied an apparent desert can be.

So there you have it! I know it’s a very long list, but believe me, you do get used to it. It definitely isn’t for everyone, but if it appeals to you it’s a great market to be involved in. The UAE loves to put on a show, so you can be part of some of the biggest spectacles in the world while making new friends, enjoying the winter sunshine, and experiencing other cultures. Some of the most rewarding jobs I’ve ever done have been in the UAE and I was given opportunities to grow in ways I never had at home. Despite only working there a few weeks at a time, the friendships I have formed there are some of my strongest and are what keep me going back time and again.

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Latino-América: Las ventajas de una educación tecnológica en tiempos de Pandemia

 

Este año 2020 trajo con si una ola de cambios en nuestra manera de desarrollar la vida, en todos sus aspectos. Económicos, sociales, de salud etc. Nos hizo tomarnos de manera literal la frase ¨si no te adaptas te extingues¨ incluyendo también la manera en la que llevamos la educación.

En nuestro gremio del espectáculo nos pavoneamos siempre de ir par a par con la tecnología, sin embargo, las circunstancias pusieron en evidencias muchas deficiencias en este sistema. Es increíble pensar como nuestra principal forma de transmitir el conocimiento sigue siendo exactamente igual que como lo era para nuestros padres o incluso para nuestros abuelos, lo que resulta contradictorio. Y bueno no es que este del todo mal, pero la frase ¨cuando algo funciona ¿porque cambiarlo? ¨ no debería ser una ley de vida.

Los cambios son algo positivo y aunque estos hayan venido a nosotros de una manera tan abrupta tomémonos el tiempo de analizar sus beneficios.

El conocimiento llega a todas partes

Vivir en latino-américa y tener dificultades para adquirir ciertos conocimientos es una realidad con la que muchos debemos lidiar cada día, pero es gracias a la educación virtual que varios hemos podido tener acceso a conocimientos y experiencias de profesionales en ciertas áreas que pensábamos nunca íbamos a poder desarrollar. nuevas tecnologías, teorías y distintos conocimientos que antes teníamos que esperar meses, años o tal vez nunca llegaban a nosotros. Ahora los podemos encontrar a tan solo un ¨click¨ de distancia y muchas veces hasta de manera gratuita, gracias a distintos patrocinios y formatos de distribución. Rompiendo así toda clase de fronteras geográficas o de lenguaje.

Las grandes compañías expanden su mercado a uno mundial, el virtual

Como lo habíamos mencionado otro de los campos que fueron afectados de gran manera en este año fue el económico.

Las empresas vieron reflejadas estas perdidas cuando ciertos equipos y servicios ya no fueron tan necesarios, en cambio notaron como otros pasaron a ser realmente prioritarios. Entonces, Había que cambiar la estrategia.

y si, también podemos incluir a las grandes compañías en los aspectos educativos, ya que ellos nos proporcionan gran parte de nuestra materia prima de trabajo, el equipo con el que lo desarrollamos.

Pero estas empresas ya tenían establecidos los formatos de capacitación y enseñanza. En lo que a sus productos se refiere, Los cuales evidentemente se tuvieron que modificar. Ya tenían a su personal adecuado a una cierta manera de trabajo y atención, presentaban los nuevos productos en conferencias o exposiciones y daban asistencias presenciales en ciertas instalaciones o algunas veces virtuales respondiendo a dudas especificas … pero, Y entonces, ¿Qué pasaba si no existía una tienda que distribuía esa marca en tu país? O si la gira de capacitación no llegaba hasta tu ciudad. Tantos factores que muchas veces limitaban nuestra capacidad de resolver dudas, adquirir equipo o capacitarnos adecuadamente.

Las empresas dando solución a sus problemas inmediatos como lo fueron las capacitaciones presenciales que fueron canceladas, dieron pie a una globalización incluyendo a mucho mas publico y abriendo su mercado.

Ahora mediante distintas plataformas de distribución o redes sociales se podía llegar a muchas mas personas en un mismo tiempo y con un coste mucho mas económico.

Así, entre mas personas conozcan y sepan manejar sus equipos mas los compraran.

Las prestigiosas escuelas y universidades abren sus puertas a todo el mundo ¡los webinars y cursos no paran!

Los primeros meses de confinamiento fueron sin duda los mas duros, puesto que el ritmo de vida que nuestro gremio del espectáculo esta acostumbrado a llevar es bastante agitado, y en la gran mayoría de sus facetas se vio pausado.

Pero no valía la pena detenerse y agobiarnos por algo que estaba fuera de nuestras manos, así que, era momento de seguirnos preparando, estudiar. Y las escuelas lo sabían.

Si bien es cierto que la educación en línea no es algo nuevo, pero tenemos que admitir que tuvo su ¨boom¨ en esta temporada, las plataformas de videoconferencias como zoom o google meet pasaron a ser el ¨top¨ en las descargas. Las transmisiones en vivo de Facebook, Instagram y los canales educativos en YouTube de las herramientas mas utilizadas.

Procrastinar ya no es una opción, pues podemos encontrar cursos del tema con los especialistas y de las instituciones que queramos, estos ya se han adaptado. Cada día hay mas opciones incluso gratuitas.

Es tiempo de emprender, ¡comparte tu conocimiento!

Lo hemos venido discutiendo adaptarse no ha sido fácil, las oportunidades de trabajo se vieron realmente reducidas, y si bien era tentativo seguirnos capacitando, no lo era rentable. llegaba el momento de emprender, y ¿porque no? en el área de la educación

Si bien lo dicen el que enseña aprende dos veces, siempre hay alguien a quien podamos compartirle nuestro conocimiento y así hacer crecer la red de nuestro gremio y volverlo aun mas profesional.

La mayor ventaja de emprender en estos tiempos en lo que es cursos, capacitaciones, en general educación es la facilidad de poder llegar a muchas personas de muchas partes del mundo con variadas herramientas, poder utilizar videoconferencias, videos, transmisiones en vivo etc… el poder mantener la seguridad desde casa y la mejor parte es saber que compartirnos un poco de nosotros con los demás.

La educación fue, es y será siempre el pilar de nuestro avance como sociedad, no hablo netamente de una educación en academia. Hablo de la importancia de formarnos y saber desarrollar de manera profesional todo lo hacemos. Es importante siempre renovar, así como nos mantenemos actualizados en nuestras profesiones, así debemos hacerlo con la educación misma. Aceptar los cambios, y adoptar con gusto una nueva realidad educativa.

Maria Fernanda Medina, de Tegucigalpa Honduras. Estudie una Lic. En
Tecnología Acústica y Sonido Digital en la Universidad Galileo de la Ciudad de
Guatemala he ejercido mayormente en el área de audio en vivo. De manera
independiente, Y con empresas de alquiler de Audio. Desarrollándome en el
área de Backline, Stagemanager y Producción. Tanto en conciertos
internacionales como festivales nacionales . actualmente, mi pasión por el
audio y el compromiso social que siento con mi país me han encaminado en la
divulgación y educación. Faceta que exploro y disfruto cada dia mas

Latin America: The Advantages of a Technological Education in Pandemic times

The year 2020 brought with it a wave of changes in the way we develop and learn. Life in all its aspects economic, social, health, etc. made us take the phrase “if you don’t adapt, you’re extinct” literally; including the way we conduct education.

In our show guild,  deficiencies were revealed and it is incredible to think how our main way of transmitting knowledge remains exactly as it was for our parents or even our grandparents, which is contradictory. It’s not all bad, but brings to mind the phrase “when something works” why change it? Change is a positive thing, and even if it comes to us abruptly, we should take the time to analyze the benefits of change.

Knowledge comes everywhere

Living in Latin America and having difficulty acquiring a certain knowledge is a reality with which many of us must forego every day, but it is thanks to virtual education that several of us have been able to access knowledge and experiences of professionals in certain areas that we thought we would never be able to develop. New technologies, theories, and different knowledge that before we had to wait months, years, or sometimes it never reached us. Now we can find them just a click away and oftentimes even for free, thanks to different sponsorships and distribution formats. This is how I use all kinds of geographical or language boundaries.

Large companies expand their market to a global one, the virtual one

As we mentioned several fields were greatly affected this past year and economics one.

Companies saw losses reflected when certain equipment and services no longer as necessary, instead, they noticed how others became real priorities. Then the strategy had to be changed, and if we can also include large companies in the educational aspects since they provide us with much of our raw material work, the team with which we develop it.

These companies had training and teaching formats in place, and showcased their new products at conferences or exhibitions and provided in-person training, and were able to answer specific questions … But, what if there wasn’t a store that distributed that brand in your country? Or if the training tour didn’t make it to your city. So many factors often limited our ability to resolve doubts, acquire equipment, or train properly.

Companies during COVID had to cancel their in-person training and demos and gave rise to globalization, becoming much more public and opening up their market.

Now through different distribution platforms or social networks, you could reach many more people at the same time and at a much cheaper cost. Thus, the more people know, and know how to manage their equipment, the more they will buy them.

Prestigious schools and universities opened their doors to everyone

The first few months of confinement were undoubtedly the hardest, since the pace of life that our show guild was used to was quite hectic, and in the vast majority of its facets were paused.

But it wasn’t worth stopping and burdening ourselves with something that was out of our control, so, it was time to keep preparing us, studying. And schools knew it.

While it’s true that online education isn’t new, we have to admit that it had its “boom” this season, video conferencing platforms like zoom or google meet became the “top” in downloads. Live streams from Facebook, Instagram, and educational channels on YouTube from the most used tools.

Procrastinating was no longer an option because we could find courses on the subject with the specialists and the institutions that we wanted, these have already been adapted. Every day there are more options and many are amazingly free.

It’s time to undertake, share your knowledge!

We’ve been discussing adapting, it hasn’t been easy, job opportunities were reduced or did not exist, and while it was tentative to continue training, it wasn’t profitable. In the area of education, while they say “the one who teaches learns twice”. There is always someone with whom we can share our knowledge and grow the network.

The greatest advantage of undertaking courses, training, and general education is the ease of reaching many people from many parts of the world with various tools, like being able to use video conferences, videos, live broadcasts, etc… being able to keep secure from home and the best part is knowing that we share a little of ourselves with others.

Education was, is, and will always be the pillar of our advancement as a society, I am not talking about an academy education. I am referring to the importance of training and knowing how to develop everything professionally. It is important to always renew, just as we keep up to date in our professions, so we must do so with education itself. Accept the changes, and gladly adopt a new educational reality.

Maria Fernanda Medina is from Tegucigalpa Honduras. She has a BA in Acoustic Technology and Digital Sound at the Galileo University in Guatemala City. Mainly working in the ​​live audio field as a freelancer, and with audio rental companies. Maria also handles Backline, Stage manager, and Production for both international concerts and national festivals. Currently, her
passion is for audio and social commitment.

 

Online Events and Training

Find All Upcoming SoundGirls Events Here

 

HEALTHY TOURING AND THE BACK LOUNGE LAUNCH RESILIENCE WORKSHOP SERIES FOR TOURING PROFESSIONALS 

Health and wellbeing Tour Manager and The Back Lounge Founder Suzi Green has commissioned a series of resilience workshops for the live music industry as the touring sector begins its transition back into the demands of event production. 

Mix Sound For Film & TV

September 25 and October 1, 2021, Hybrid Event In-Person and Online

September 25 in-person event at Sony Studios

October 1 Online-

Allen & Heath Launches Mini Masterclass Series

Wednesdays, 9:00 a.m. PST

Make sure to check out the free ‘Mini Masterclass’ sessions offered by Allen & Heath.  Two tracks are currently running. Feel free to pick and choose any or all of the sessions that grab your interest. Installation Inspiration features veteran engineer and design consultant Samantha Potter. Monitor Mix Mastery is presented by the go-to monitor engineer and production manager Mike Bangs. See you in class! https://americanmusicandsound.com/allen-heath-mini-masterclasses

Insights in Sound

Fridays

Join host Daniel Liston Keller for a series of in-depth and irreverent conversations with people behind the scenes, behind the technology, and behind the music. From musicians and producers to touring pros, sound designers, inventors, and more. Previous episodes, including Pablo Wheeler, Jeri Palumbo, Harmoni Kelley, and Michael Beinhorn here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLELP8j3P2xz8tzRSqycOMtxrUWMvNzvvA

Nobody Likes Networking

For anyone who is looking for new work during these challenging times, Mike Dias — the Executive Director of IEMITO, the In-Ear Monitor Trade Organization — has a new monthly column in Pro Sound News focusing on networking skills. Now more than ever we need to be able to lean on second and third-tier relationships for opportunities. And if that sentence makes you uncomfortable — you’re not alone. No one likes making small talk and asking for favors. No one is a natural born networker. But it is a skill that anyone can learn. If you want more concrete steps than what’s available in the Pro Sound News article, Mike has published many of his past networking talks and notes from his upcoming book at his Nobody Likes Networking site for free.

DiGiCo

Exclusive online DiGiCo Workshops: YOU choose the subject! We are running several online Clinic Workshops where you get to decide what we talk about! Each session is a private one-on-one workshop with a member of the DiGiCo team. So, book now and tell us what you want to know!

Book here: http://bit.ly/digicoclinics

Mixing Music Live

Concert Sound Engineer and SoundGirls Co-Founder Michelle Sabolchick-Pettinato shares her knowledge and experience from 30 years in the industry. Offering two online courses: Mixing Music Live and intro to live sound and mixing and LISTEN! a guide to EQ and Critical Listening. A discount is available to members of SoundGirls. Both courses include great info and lessons via her blog and newsletter. https://www.mixingmusiclive.com

HARMAN Live Workshop Series

HARMAN is thrilled to invite leading Front of House Engineers, Lighting Designers, Technicians and other knowledge experts in the industry to share workshops of their secret methods, tips and tricks.

https://pro.harman.com/lp/learning-sessions

SSL Live Sound Training Program

For the ultimate immersive learning experience, SSL offers its Live Certified training — a six-hour intensive online video course led by Live Product Specialist and live sound veteran Fernando Guzeman. Currently, SSL is offering certified training courses in both English and Spanish during June.

https://www.solidstatelogic.com/ssllivetraining

The Production Academy

Hosts weekly webinars The Pandemic Sessions.

https://www.theproductionacademy.com/pandemic-sessions

Post-New York Alliance – Post Break

You can watch past episodes here A weekly series produced by the PNYA Education Committee explores post-production in New York State. Each week, a different topic will be discussed with a variety of professionals. https://www.postnewyork.org/blogpost/1859636/Post-Break

Color of Music Collective

Hosts free virtual panels on a weekly basis that amplify People of Color and LGBTQ voices in the music industry. You can sign up for their newsletter to see when the next panel is.: https://www.colorofmusiccollective.com

Omni Sound Project

Dedicated to being the most accessible point of entry to the music and audio industries. We strive to provide affordable opportunities for learning to under-represented communities as well as spotlight the talents of female and non-gender-conforming audio professionals. All genders are invited to attend our online educational events. Find all events and to register at https://www.omnisoundproject.com/

Part of the Main

Has launched a series of affordable theatre training workshops from QLab and Lighting Programming into Theatre Marketing and PR. They are offering 20 funded bursary spaces to Black artists. Learn more bit.ly/partofthegrid

Intro to SoundGrid Studio: Online Webinars

Join us for personal small-group webinars about the new Waves SoundGrid Studio for real-time audio processing in the studio. Get a personal overview of how SoundGrid Studio can benefit you for:

These are limited-availability sessions with Waves Studio Specialist Ryan Monette, who will provide answers to any questions you might have.

https://www.waves.com/events/soundgrid-studio-online-2020?utm_source

Andrew Scheps Talks To Awesome People

There are a lot of awesome people in the world, and they all have amazing stories to tell. Getting them to tell their stories on camera is not only fun and educational for all of us, but it helps document some of the absolutely incredible things that have happened in the brief history of recorded music. Join Andrew and his guests for a deep dive into what makes them, and the people around them, tick..

Every Monday 2:30 PM EST, 6:30 PM GMT.

https://www.puremix.net/live/andrew-talks-to-awesome-people.html

I’m with The Crew

A very personal look at human nature and the adaptability required to get through this unprecedented time. Shining a light on the importance of understanding and managing the holistic-self in order to find the strength to take action.

Hosted by Misty Roberts & Jim Digby, Produced by Shelby Carol Cude, guided by mental health professionals Taryn Longo and Dave Sherman with weekly special guests, this live-webinar provides an opportunity to gain greater insight and control over how we respond to these times and manifest the resilience to survive and start again when that time comes.

The webinar takes place at 11:00 a.m. PDT every Friday.

https://showmakersymposium.com/im-with-the-crew

Robert Scovill – The Lab

An online, interactive session focused on pro audio called “The Lab”. This 90-minute session is a completely open forum with much of the topic matter being driven by attendees. Robert has a complete console, recorders and small networked PA system set up in an attempt to address and investigate most challenges. Admittedly the focus is geared more toward console, processing and mixing out of practicality as much as anything. Attendees are encouraged to share their screen and their challenges regardless of console type.

First three Mondays of every month. 1:30 p.m.

It is first come first served with a room limit of 300.

Sign up at https://www.robertscovill.com/ under News and Events.

Pooch & Rabold on YouTube

Pooch and Rabold have over 50 years of experience between them as Front of House live sound engineers.   They work for artists like Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber, Kenny Chesney, Iron Maiden, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Linkin Park, Motley Crue, Guns N Roses, Widespread Panic, and many others.  They have traveled the earth looking for the best steakhouses in all but a handful of countries.   Rabold and Pooch share all of their knowledge in this very informal series of videos where you get to be a “fly on the wall,” while two of the most respected live sound engineers talk freely about audio.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjx5xSFzwXd43XL4cZDeCag

Robert Scovill – The Back Lounge

An online social group called “The Back Lounge”. Here industry people of all types; production people, i.e. road managers, production managers, backline, audio and lighting pros, company owners and personnel, HOW staff etc. all gather to discuss the state and future of the industry and share guidance and resources on financial assistance strategies and any other topic that suits the discussion.

First three Fridays of every month. 4:20 p.m. PDT

This is first come first served with a room limit of 300.

https://www.robertscovill.com/

Sennheiser Academy Online Webinars

Sennheiser is pleased to announce a series of webinars for our customers and partners. Join us online in the coming weeks to learn about a wide range of topics, from RF and microphone basics to roundtable discussions with sound engineers, as well as a chance to put your questions to our application engineering team.

https://en-us.sennheiser.com/webinars

Updates & Resources

For COVID-19 updates and resources, check out the NAMM. In addition, NAMM is offering a variety of webinars and sessions to help understand alternatives and tips to coping with this new dynamic.

https://www.namm.org/covid-19

Club Cubase

Join Club Cubase Google livestreams every Tuesday and Friday, as Greg Ondo answers all of your questions.

https://www.facebook.com/47279836044/posts/10157291784976045/?d=n

Show Makers Symposium

The Show Makers Symposium is a place for us to gather, learn and give back. During these uncertain times, we will shine as much light as possible toward the end of the tunnel and provide as many resources as available for growth and mental resilience.

https://showmakersymposium.com/#missionstatement

Event Safety Alliance

The Event Safety Alliance® (ESA) is dedicated to promoting “life safety first” throughout all phases of event production and execution. We strive to eliminate the knowledge barrier that often contributes to unsafe conditions and behaviors through the promotion and teaching of good practices and the development of training and planning resources.

https://www.eventsafetyalliance.org/

Learn with Dave Rat

Learn new tips for pro audio engineers and sound techs on Dave Rat’s YouTube Channel. Dave mixed FOH sound for Red Hot Chili Peppers for 27 years, Rage Against the Machine, Blink 182, Soundgarden, Foo Fighters, The Offspring, and more. When he was 18 years old, he co-founded Rat Sound Systems which is the primary sound vendor for Coachella and provides world-class audio sound systems for numerous touring artists including Pearl Jam, Jack Johnson, Pixies, Alt J.. In addition to being president of Rat Sound, Dave has designed speaker systems including the EAW MicroWedge series and Rat SuperSub. The SoundTools.com division of Rat Sound is actively manufacturing and distributing his product designs.

https://www.youtube.com/user/www73171/featured

Wireless Side Chats

Lectrosonics has produced the new video series Wireless Side Chats, hosted by VP of Sales and Marketing Karl Winkler. Episode 1 explores the history of early wireless, episode 2 shows how to solve the seven most common wireless mic problems, episode 3 is an in-depth clinic about Lectrosonic wireless designer software, and episode 4 further explores best practices when using wireless.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwnOnolFSN5K2-2QZOwzVq-0ZFYgoPXDH

eMotion LV1 WEBINARS

Join Waves on our special eMotion LV1 Online Webinars series with one of Waves’ top live sound specialists as your guide. The seminars will be conducted as intimate sessions for small groups, involving an overview of eMotion LV1 mixer with a chance for you to ask questions after being given an overview of the layout and main functions and advantages of this product. Check the website for upcoming dates.

https://www.waves.com/events/lv1-online-webinars

Richard Furch – #mixtipwednesday

Now in the third year,  #mixtipwednesday aims to offer quick tips to get you out of the creative ruts and keep you inspired making records and improving your craft. Also, an Instagram Live event, every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. PDT, mixer Richard Furch (@richardfurchmix) answers your questions and engages the listeners with insights into the craft and business of record mixing.

QSC@Home

QSC@Home is a comprehensive online launch point dedicated to users’ success across a vast range of solutions and applications. Through its “Connect, Learn and Experience” architecture, QSC@Home visitors are treated to unique collection of online training, tutorials, certification, webinars, entertainment and live online support from company experts, all of which is constantly curated and updated. QSC@Home is a valuable tool for everyone from systems contractors, integrators, A/V IT technicians, A/V consultants, musicians, artists, djs, live sound engineers, recording pros, HOW musical directors, cinema technicians, cinema dealers and end-users at all levels of expertise

https://www.qsc.com/qsc-at-home/

Conversations with Sound Artists

The Dolby Institute and the SoundWorks Collection Podcast, now in its 6th season, is putting the spotlight on episodic content, featuring in-depth conversations with the sound artists behind some of the best broadcast and streaming shows. Join the talented artists behind the shows The Mandalorian, Westworld, Mindhunter, Ozark, Locke & Key, and Unorthodox for in-depth discussions about the creative sound choices for these shows.

Learn more:  https://dolbylabs.co/33NNrgw

Wrong End of the Snake

Tuesdays at 2:00 PM EST

Front of House Live Sound Engineer Ken “Pooch” Van Druten, and Monitor Live Sound Engineer Kevin “Tater” McCarthy, team up to host a webinar exploring the sometimes irrational, always spirited relationships between the music industry tribe. Join us each week as Pooch and Tater reflect on decades of highs and lows, professional tips and tricks, and a special industry guest.

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R2_ZRFobS3Og41Ax9JeQqQ?

ADAM Academy

An informative video series on the company’s YouTube channel which provides all viewers from entry-level audio students to skilled working professionals with valuable information, tips and tools that they can use to get the best performance from their loudspeaker monitor systems. Recent video topics include: How to Calibrate a Subwoofer; Studio Monitor Placement; Proper Monitor Maintenance & Cleaning; Mixing Rap and Hip Hop Master Class by Brooklyn-based hip hop producer and engineer Paul Womack; Audio Post; How to Mix Acoustic Sessions; How to Mix Live Sessions for Video featuring engineer Eric Bastinelli;  How to Tune Drums; How to Mic Drums; Drum Editing in Pro Tools; Tips for Becoming a Successful Freelance Musician presented by Grammy-nominated bassist Jonathan Maron.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGSZx_3dmWXqXo1-k5GqJtEmU9Uy4Sfye

New Lurssen Mastering YouTube Channel

On this channel with weekly updates, Lurssen Mastering engineers, Gavin Lurssen and Reuben Cohen get you closer to their audio engineering world and share useful tips and insights into the art of mastering.

Lurssen Mastering is a world-renowned multi-Grammy award-winning mastering studio. They have mastered many gold and platinum records and have received several industry awards. In addition to the Grammys earned and proudly displayed by Lurssen Mastering, numerous songs worked on by the team have been nominated for Oscars over the years and several have won this prestigious award.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuSlopV23zOqLzuKpeLKSIQ

 

Department Heads,  Please Don’t Forget Your Sound Mixer

 

This year, I had the privilege of being back on a set during a time where set work still isn’t prevalent. Was I scared? Yes. A pandemic is still going on. But, this is the first film in a long time where I wasn’t a part of the sound department. Post or set! This was also the first feature I had ever worked on. A daunting task to be a part of the assistant director’s department as well! I learned some things about being back on a set. That included how much I could help the sound department when problems arose.

One of the main things I learned? The Sound Department is still overlooked (both post and set). Yes, a film is a visual medium but bad visuals don’t take you out of the moment as much as bad sound does.

I recently had a meeting with some department heads from the film and gave my own insight (what little I have) about the sound department and what they can change for their next feature. Our sound mixer wasn’t invited to the location scouts. Something I did not know until halfway through filming. He was just as new to each location as I was! Which meant he wasn’t always prepared for what sounds and problems the locations would bring. A noisy/echo-y locker room which most definitely will be looped later. Many consistent sounds at locations that couldn’t be turned off at all or weren’t thought of on the location scouts. When at the post-filming meeting, the department heads were genuinely surprised that a sound person should be brought on scouts or even thought of. I know I’ve had my share of location managers tell me “Don’t worry! The location is super silent!” only to get there and there’s a loud water boiler that can’t be turned off, chickens and roosters galore in the backyard, etc. I’ve even had weird high-pitched noises from set recordings that no one knew what it was and I was asked in post to fix it. Always better to fix it on set than in post. BUT, I do understand that some locations you just have to deal with. Could be due to budgets or any other number of reasons. I get it. It’s better to know what those problems are before even filming so you can save everyone the headaches or what could happen.

Why the emphasis to try and work with your sound person and get a clean recording instead of just fixing it in Post?

Well, you also want to preserve the actor’s performance as much as possible. Sometimes bringing them in for an ADR session won’t always give you back the performance they had on set. Since I worked as an assistant director on this feature, it was also my duty to help our sound mixer with whatever problems had arisen. That should always be the case with sound mixers. Different departments should be working together since a sound mixer or their team can’t fix or do everything by themselves. Another department sound mixers should work with are costume designers. Our sound mixer and costume designer didn’t have the time to chat with each other so they had to wire up actors without any prior knowledge of any problems that could have been fixed. I always had a production assistant ready to go on a run for things such as batteries or moleskin for the sound mixer. Though, we did work night shoots which also need to factor into production. Not a lot of places are open in those wee hours of the night. That means things need to be bought earlier or you’d have to wait till the next day and that can’t help anyone.

A simple way to start noticing the sound at a location is to stand in the middle of a room or area, close your eyes and listen to all that is around you. The refrigerator, the a/c blowing inside or the unit outside, walk around and hear how loud your footsteps will be on set, etc. Also, check to see what the power situation will be for different departments. A set I was on required us to run cables through windows which meant those windows had to stay open. Not ideal for sound at all. This also means you have to make sure all movement must be halted from other departments that are near set and that can be a tricky task when you’re limited by budget and time. Another thing is to allow the sound mixer to get that room tone in each place that is filmed. It doesn’t take long but it can be so helpful in the long run.

I can go on about things to be thought of when you, as a sound mixer, have to work with on a set. But, I truly hope that other departments can accommodate or help as much as they can because it’ll help. Let the other departments know that you’re not trying to be ‘fussy’ or the like. You’re trying to get the best sound possible for them. Support one another! I have no idea when this almost ‘anti sound mentality came into play on set but, we all need to work and support one another, or else the final product of a film won’t be as good as it could possibly be. We’re all working together to bring multiple peoples’ ideas to life and we genuinely want that final product to be the best it can be. So other departments, please work with and not against your sound team. It may just save you some money and headache later.

For a very detailed article about this topic.

Check out: “An Open Letter From Your Sound Department”

 

Depression, Anxiety, and Hope from a Roadie In The Age of Covid

Dear Everyone, you are not alone.

 

**TRIGGER WARNING: This blog contains personal content surrounding issues of mental health including depression and anxiety, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Reader discretion is advised.**

The alarm on my phone went off at 6:30 a.m.

I rolled out of my bunk, carefully trying to make as little noise as possible as I gathered my backpack, clothes, and tool bag before exiting the bus.

The morning air felt cool against my face as I looked around me trying to orient myself in the direction of the loading dock to the arena. Were we in New York? Ohio? Pennsylvania? In the morning before coffee, those details were difficult to remember.

Passed the elephant door, the arena sprawled out before me, empty and suspensefully silent. I looked up with a mixed sense of awe and critical analysis as I noted the three tiers of the arena, the red seats forming distinct geometrical shapes between each section. As I made my way out to the middle of the deceivingly large room, I looked toward the ground in hopes of finding that tell-tale button marking the middle of the room, if I was lucky.

As I set up my tripod, I heard the footsteps of the rigging team as they began stretching out their yellow measuring tapes across the cement floor. The clapping of their feet echoed in the room and soon the sound of their voices calling out distances joined the chorus in the reverb tails.

I turned on my laser and pulled out my notepad, the pen tucked in my hair as I aimed for the first measurement.

Then I woke up.

Up above me, all I could see was the white air-tile of the basement ceiling while the mini-fridge hummed in the corner of the room.

For a few seconds, or maybe it was a full minute, I had absolutely no idea where I was.

I wanted to scream.

I lay in bed for what could have been 15 minutes or an hour, telling myself I had to get out of bed. I couldn’t just lay here. I had to do something. Get up. Get UP.

Eventually, I made my way upstairs and put on a pot of water for coffee. When I opened my phone and opened Facebook, I saw a status update from a friend about a friend of a friend who had passed away. My heart sank. I remembered doing a load-in with that person. Years ago, at a corporate event in another city, in another lifetime. They didn’t post details on what had happened to them. Frankly, it wasn’t anyone’s business, but the family and those closest to them. Yet my heart felt heavy.

Six months ago, or maybe more, time had ceased to have any tangible meaning at this point, I had been sitting in a restaurant in Northern California when the artists told the whole tour that we were all going home. Tomorrow. Like a series of ill-fated dominoes, events were canceling one-by-one across the country and across the world. Before I knew it, I was back in my storage unit at my best friend’s house, trying to shove aside the boxes I had packed up 4 or 5 months earlier to make room for an inflatable mattress so I had somewhere to sleep. I hadn’t really expected to be “home” yet so I hadn’t really come up with a plan as to what I was going to do.

Maybe I’ll go camping for the next month or so. Try to get some time to think. I loved nature and being out in the trees always made me feel better about everything, so maybe that was the thing to do. Every day I looked at the local newspaper’s report of the number of Covid-19 cases in California. It started out in the double digits. The next day it was in the triple digits. Then it grew again. And again. Every day the numbers grew bigger and notices of business closing and areas being restricted filled the pages and notifications across the Internet.

Fast-forward and the next thing I knew, I was packing all my possessions into a U-Haul trailer and driving across the country to be with my sister in Illinois. She had my baby niece a little over a year ago, so I figured the best use of my time would be to spend time with my family while I could.

I was somewhere driving across Kansas when the reality of what was happening hit me. As someone who loved making lists and planning out everything from their packing lists to their hopes and dreams in life, I—for once—literally had no idea what I was doing. This seemed like the best idea I could think of at the time.

Fast-forward and I was sitting on the phone in the basement of my sister’s house in the room she had graciously fabricated for me out of sectioned-off tapestries. I looked at the timestamp on my phone for how long I had been on hold with the Unemployment Office. Two hours and thirty minutes. It took twenty calls in a row to try and get through to someone at the California Employment Development Department. At the three-hour mark, the line disconnected. I just looked down at my phone.

I remember one Christmas when I was with my dad’s side of the family at dinner, I tried to explain what I do to them.

“So you are a DJ, then?” my aunt asked enthusiastically, believing that she had finally gotten it right.

“No,” I said.

“Do you play with the band?” my uncle asked.

“No, I’m the person who tries to make sure everyone in the audience can hear the band,” I tried to laugh.

Everyone laughed that sort of half-laugh when you try to pretend you get the joke, but you don’t actually get it.

Across my social media feeds, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and everyone in between, were all sharing updates of how they had to get “real jobs”, how they couldn’t get through to unemployment or their state had completely failed to get them any unemployment at all, how they were angry, desperate, and how they needed to feed their families. Leaders in the industry grew from the motivation of trying to speak out on behalf of the live events industry to the government, pleading for financial relief for businesses, venues, individuals, and more, and my feeds flooded with initiatives and campaigns for awareness of the plight of the live events industry.

Yet when I talked to people who were not in the industry, they seemed to have no idea that the live events sector had been affected at all. Worse yet, I realized more and more that so few people had any idea of what people in the live events industry actually do. Organizations struggled to get news channels to do exposés on the subject, and perhaps it was because there were so many people across every sector of every industry that were struggling. In one conversation with a friend, I had explained that there were nearly 100 people on a tour that I had worked on between the production, tech crew, artist’s tech crew, everyone. They couldn’t believe so many people were working behind the scenes at one concert.

Yet the more I talked about my job and the more time that passed, the more I felt like I was talking about a dream. This fear grew inside me that there was no end in sight to all this and the stories started to repeat themselves and it started to feel like these were stories of what had been, not what was. It was becoming increasingly difficult to concentrate when talking to people about “regular” things in our daily lives because it was not work. Talking about the weather was not talking about rigging plots or truckloads, so my brain just refused to focus on it. Yet I couldn’t stop thinking about the industry: watching webinars, learning new things because I just wanted so desperately to go back to my career that I fabricated schedules and deadlines around other obligations to feel like work was still there.

Then the thought that underpinned all this rose up like a monster from the sea:

Who am I without my job?

I read an article Dave Grohl wrote [1] about performing and playing music on-stage for people, how there was nothing like that feeling in the whole world. I think he hit on something that, in effect, is really indescribable to anyone who has not worked in the live events world. There was a feeling unlike any other of standing in a room with tens of thousands of people screaming at deafening levels. There was a feeling unlike any other of standing alone in a room listening to a PA and crafting it to sound the way you wanted it to. There was a feeling unlike any other of hearing motors running in the morning while pulling a snake across an arena floor. There was a feeling unlike any other of complete, utter exhaustion riding a bus in the morning to the next load-in after doing 4, 5, 6, however many gigs in a row. I tried to explain these feelings to my friends and family who listened with compassion, but I couldn’t help but feel that sometimes they were just pretending to get the joke.

Days, weeks, months floated by and the more time passed, the more I felt like I was floating in a dream. This was a bad dream that I would wake up from. It had to be. Then when I came to reality and realized that this was not a dream, that this was where I was in my life now, it felt like my brain and the entire fabric of my being was splitting in two. It was not unbeknownst to me how fortunate I was with my sister taking me in. Every morning I tried to say 5 things I was grateful for to keep my spirits up and my sister was always one of them.

The painful irony was that I had stopped going to therapy in January 2020 because I felt I had gotten to an OK point in my life where I was good for now. I had gotten where I needed to for the time being and I could shelve all the other stuff for now until I had time to address them. Then suddenly I had all the time in the world and while shut down in quarantine, all those things in my brain I told myself I would deal with later…Well, now I had no other choice than to deal with them, and really this all intersected with the question at hand of who was I without my job.

And I don’t think I was alone

The thing people don’t tell you about working in the industry is the social toll it takes on your life and soul. The things you give up and the parts of yourself you give up to make it a full-time gig. Yet there is this mentality of toughing it through because there are 3,000 other people waiting in line to take your spot and if you falter for even just one step, you could be gone and replaced just as easily. Organizations focusing on mental health in the industry started to arise from the pandemic because, in fact, it wasn’t just me. There are many people who struggle to find that balance of life and work let alone when there is a global health crisis at hand. All this should make one feel less alone, and to some extent it does. The truth is that the journey towards finding yourself is, as you would imagine, something each person has to do for themself. And my reality was that despite all the sacrifices needed for this job, all I wanted to do was run back to it as fast as I could.

Without my work, it felt like a huge hole was missing from my entire being. That sense of being in a dream pervaded my every waking moment and even in my dreams, I dreamt of work to the point where I had to take sleeping aids just so I would stop thinking about it in my dreams too. I found myself at this strange place in my life where I reunited myself with hobbies that I previously cast aside for touring life and trying to appreciate what happiness they could offer. More webinars and industry discussions popped up about “pivoting” into new industries or fields and in some of these, you could physically see the pain in the interviewees’ faces as they tried to discuss how they had made their way in another field.

One day I was playing with my baby niece and I told her we had to stop playing to go do something, but we would come back to playing later. She just looked at me in utter bewilderment and said, “No! No! No!” Then I remembered that small children have no concept of “now” versus “later”. Everything literally is in the “now” for them. It struck me as something very profound that my niece lived completely in the moment. Everything was a move from one activity to the next, always moving forward. So with much effort and pushback against every fiber of my future-thinking self, I just stopped trying to think of anything further than the next day ahead of me. Just move one foot in front of the other and be grateful every day that I am here in what’s happening at this moment.

Now with the vaccination programs here in the United States and the rumblings of movement trickling across the grapevine, it feels like for the first time in more than a year that there is hope on the horizon. There is a part of me that is so desperate for it to be true and part of me that is suspiciously wary of it being true. Like seeing the carrot on the ground, but being very aware of the fact there is a string attached to it that can easily pull the carrot away from you once more.

There is a hard road ahead and a trepidatious one, at that. Yet after months and months of complete uncertainty, there is something to be said about having hope that things will return to a new type of “normal”. Because “normal” would imply that we would return to how things were before 2020. I believe that there is good change and reflection that came in the pause of the pandemic that we should not revert back from: a collective reflection on who we are, whether we wanted to address it to ourselves or not.

What will happen from this point moving forward is anyone’s gamble, but I always like to think that growth doesn’t come from being comfortable. So with one foot in front of the other, we move forward into this next phase of time. And like another phrase that seems to come up over and over again, “Well, we will cross that bridge when we come to it.”

References:

[1]https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/05/dave-grohl-irreplaceable-thrill-rock-show/611113/

Ready for the Road?

 

I’ve been on the road for the better part of a decade, so I’ll easily admit that I’m biased in favor of tour life, but it’s fascinating to hear what other people think my work is like. Mostly they see the glamour of a life that some only dream of being paid to travel across the country or even the world. They’re less enamored when they hear what my work schedule actually entails and that I’m not some carefree nomad having adventures and playing pretend every night. Still, I bet most would give it a go if they ever got the chance.

So what does the reality of touring look like? Well, let’s start with the least appealing side of it and get that out of the way

Time and Stress

Since tours only make money when they’re actively on the road, the ideal is to be booked constantly. Most shows have a few weeks scattered throughout the schedule that aren’t booked and the actors, musicians, and crew are laid off. To a 9-5 worker, “layoff” is a horrible word, but on tour, it’s synonymous with a scheduled, short, unpaid vacation, and you’re still working 45-50 weeks out of the year. However, that means there’s limited time off to see friends and family back home or just to recharge, and it can be difficult to get time off for events like weddings, graduations, or even family emergencies.

Then you have your day-to-day work schedule. On a whim, I calculated how many days I’ve had off in an average year on tour. That qualifies as a day not in the theatre, not traveling to the next venue, nothing work-related. My average was 70-75 days off per year over seven years on the road. To put it in 9-5 terms, if you just count weekends that’s two days off a week, multiplied by 52 weeks, most people get 104 days off in a year, not even looking at holidays or vacation time.

(Touring data based on my 2019 year on tour with Miss Saigon, then Mean Girls.)

Plus, 40-hour work is the norm, but on the road, you’re looking at anywhere from a 60 – 80 hour workweek depending on how often you have to load in and out.

Moving on to stress

Somedays tour feels like holding 10 pounds of crazy and staring at a 5-pound bag, trying to formulate a plan that gets everything in. Each show and every venue have quirks and your job is to figure out how to work with or around them. Sometimes it’s easy: in Cleveland, there’s only space for the actual show deck onstage, so the local crew knows that amp racks typically go in an alcove in the house. Other times it takes some finagling: in DC, the Les Mis speaker towers weighed about 3000 lbs all together, but the structure the motor was attached to could only support 2000 lbs, so I calculated a way to build most of the tower, then slide the rest into place so we didn’t exceed the weight limit and still kept most of the build on the motor instead of overtaxing our manpower.

But, if you think that sounds stressful, those are the times when things went pretty well and we were able to come up with a solution that still accomplished the design. There are times you simply can’t do what you’ve planned: in Hartford, we had to get a mid-load in delivery of truss when the measurements we’d had for the rigging points were wrong. We found out partway into the day that the points were simply too far apart to safely fly the smaller truss we carried. Or something malfunctions right before the show is ready to start and you have a stage manager watching you, giving play-by-play commentary to the SM at the call desk as you attempt to suss out the problem, knowing the curtain is waiting on your troubleshooting skills.

These stressors can take a toll on your mental and emotional well-being, which affects your physical health. Fast and unhealthy food is much easier to access on the road, and the post-show default is to head to the nearest bar with your crew to unwind from the day and socialize. As an introvert, I had to learn to pay better attention to what I needed socially: some days it was respecting my need to relax, other times it was noticing that I’d lacked social interaction and, despite the habitual ease of just heading back to the hotel, I’d actually prefer to be out with the crew.

Mostly what it comes down to is fatigue. It takes a concerted effort to take care of yourself on the road: finding or choosing healthy foods, making time to exercise, checking in with yourself. Sometimes you don’t have the energy to deal with that after a long day of work, and your well-being falls to the wayside.

All that being said, touring sounds really appealing right? Well, let’s take a look at what’s kept me on the road for so long.

Experience

One huge benefit is experience. That same stress that fell into the Con column has equal footing in the Pro side by virtue of the adage “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Every load in and out, you’re handed new challenges to solve and, by the sheer repetition of it, you learn how to analyze situations faster and build a log of potential fixes you’ve tried before.

Plus, it’s all hands-on practice. You can talk about the theory as much as you want, but it will never be as beneficial as putting a contingency plan into action.

Along with problem-solving, you also (hopefully) gain people skills: just like analyzing situations, you also learn how to read people. Part of your job is learning if you can hand a project off to the house head and let them direct the crew, or if you’ll have to check in constantly to make sure it gets done. It’s noticing someone who’s willing to work, but is new and needs detailed directions, yet is too nervous to say they don’t understand. There are times you have to light a (figurative) fire to get a languorous crew moving, but others where you can joke and enjoy chatting and they’ll still get the job done.

The Pay

A large appeal of touring is the money. On the road, the company will provide you with accommodations or per diem for food and housing, so the majority of your survival expenses are taken care of. With that covered, it frees up the majority of your salary to pay down credit card debt, mortgages, or student loans, while simultaneously having some money to save or use for a guilt-free splurge. Personally, having the opportunity to up my savings percentage paved the way for me to discover the financial independence community, which is worth exploring no matter where you are in your financial journey. (Check out this list of FI blogs, or two of my favorites: JL Collins or Afford Anything)

The People

Last, but absolutely not least, are the people. Your crew and coworkers become family. Often boisterous and sometimes dysfunctional, you’ll find some of your best life-long friends on the road. When you’re together day in and day out, you help each other solve problems, pull off incredible under-the-wire show saves, or make it through a crappy day that you can laugh about afterward. Stagehands are the best kind of people I know to take lemons and turn it into an epic comedy of errors, and there are always new stories whenever you end up in the same city again to catch up.

Touring is life where the amp is always turned to 11

The lows are confidence-shattering and lonely, but the highs are soul-affirming and leave you with the feeling that there’s nowhere else you’d rather be.

I’m the first to tell anyone that they should absolutely tour if they have any desire to do it, but I’m also the first to say that it isn’t for everyone. I’ve learned that I’m built to tour. Even when I wasn’t sure if I was any good at sound, I still knew I loved touring: stressful situations are puzzles to solve and most days I thrive on the challenge, plus my family has always been understanding that I have very tight constraints on my schedule. The pros of touring outweigh the cons by a mile for me, however, even I (and my knees) know that the day I look towards getting off the road isn’t all that far down the line. For others, life on the road just isn’t appealing from the get-go: I know people who are amazing at their job but hate the lifestyle, the stress, and the mental and physical toll it takes.

It’s always important to take stock of how you honestly feel and refrain from talking yourself into signing up for another tour if the cons outweigh the pros. It’s not worth making yourself (and everyone you work with) miserable if you hate your life day in and day out.

But if you do like it, pack those suitcases and get ready for an adventure. I know I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything!

 

10 things you need to be successful (and they’re all free!)

We have made it to June! 6 months into 2021, halfway through the post-pandemic year. Things are looking a little brighter, shows are starting to get booked, calls are coming in for work. You might be thinking about getting back on track with finding yourself a job on tour. In my book, I write about the 10 qualities or attributes you need to be successful. Let’s take a look at them.

Being on time

This is huge. You need to respect everyone’s time on the tour. If 10 other people have sacrificed sleep, a coffee, a workout, or whatever else to make sure they’re on time for lobby call, then you’d better make sure you’re on time too! Oh and on time is late, make sure you’re there 15 mins before you’re meant to be. The bus WILL leave without you!

Work ethic

If someone doesn’t want to be on a tour or doesn’t want to be part of a team, they won’t last long. If you have a strong work ethic and make yourself indispensable, you’ll have a long career.

Effort

Make sure you are putting some effort in, try a little harder, it’ll get noticed. Also see point 9.

Body Language

Whether we like it or not, we all judge and are all judged on how we look or stand. Quick first impressions or even people you’ve worked with a long time. This is something totally within your control to change the attitude of the room and the people around you, which in turn will make a more pleasant experience for you too.

Energy

It can be very tiring on tour, and as the above point, it is easy to slip into a negative mindset here and there. If you aim to bring the highest energy every day, you can pick someone else up which is a win all around.

Attitude

It may be a cliche but a positive mental attitude will get you very far in life. It’s difficult out there, don’t get me wrong.. but we can try to improve our mental state with things such as meditation or working out or just making sure we get enough sleep. We can then tackle each day with the best attitude.

Passion

It’s the reason why we’re here. We love what we do. If you stop loving it, maybe try a different path, a different job on tour, but always be passionate about what you do. As the saying goes “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life”.

Being coachable

Even having a lifetime of experience doesn’t mean you know everything. Be open to learning from others.

Doing extra/going the extra mile

This will always get noticed and come back to you down the road. Remember why you’re doing your job, remember the sacrifices that got you to where you are now. Keep working harder and pushing harder and you will reap the rewards.

Being prepared

As they say, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”. Know what you are doing, where you’re supposed to be, what’s happening tomorrow, the week ahead. Be on top of things. Carry a notepad, make notes, set reminders, whatever you need to do.

You see, you don’t need to be an expert at your job to start with, you just need the right attitude and to arm yourself with these attributes and you’ll do just fine.

To read more about breaking into the world of touring, check out my book on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Road-Touring-Female-Perspective/dp/B084QGRKVW

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