Pro Sound Web: During my time with the last AV crew, I watched people come and go. Most who stayed for any length of time fit into one of a few categories:
—People who worked cheap.
—People who the owner felt obligated to keep.
—People who were absolutely invaluable.
That’s pretty much it.
4 comments:
The gripes about the typical unreliable guys who still get put on the call is something that I saw a lot when working load ins during undergrad. Being invaluable in Richmond was not difficult because the bar for management and grunt labor was set so low. The Richmond Coliseum uses homeless guys as loaders for a majority of the calls and the IATSE local has been run out of a majority of the venues because of incompetence. Some of the independent sound companies are well managed and in my four years of undergrad one company had proven themselves invaluable is Soundworks and that is because Steve Paine the owner was very diligent in getting a core group of full time staff who had first proven themselves as A2's on smaller gigs throughout the Mid-Atlantic. Making yourself invaluable is spelled out perfectly in Adam Savages 10 rules for success.
I've definitely heard advice in this vein before, but it never hurts to hear it again. Act competent, have a good attitude, take initiative, and be helpful. At least for Erik, it seems to have worked out pretty well! I would think it's hard to go wrong if you always try to do a good job and put your best foot forward, regardless of the situation.
This somewhat reminds me of something Kevin Hines said in class the other day: "You can't teach a non theatre person to be a theatre person." Which can arguably be translated to "not everyone has the same passions or resources." This seems to be true in Erik's case especially amongst the roadies and other techs. Although each member was there for one reason or another, it seems as if Erik's problem-solving passion paid off greatly. This is definitley something to keep in mind in all job opportunites and future performance work!
A good attitude is the most important tool you can carry in your tool box, especially if other people have bad ones. Also the ability to put up with anything and just do the job is really important too. I think another thing that can make you invaluable is communication with your boss, because you are out doing the work and can really assess what is going on on the floor you can tell them where they are having personnel problems and how they could tighten up ship. Being the eyes and ears for your employer can put you in a good position and build trust with them.
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