The Business of Being Up when Times are Down
Larry Schmidt’s “secret” can be summed up in three words: common business sense.
No fancy MBA here, just some business classes at a junior college and the patience to sit down with a sharpened pencil to just work through it has put him where he is today. It’s a spectacular year (and that’s not even counting the Parnelli Award the company received in 2011 for Hometown Hero Sound Company of the Year!)
“The more doom and gloom the economy started to garner, the more business we got,” Schmidt, owner of Production Support Group says. It was no accident. Instead, it was a purposeful shift in business plan, inspired by, of all things, movie ticket sales. “When the banking crisis hit in 2008, did anybody else notice that box office receipts were way up? Movies had their best month when the economy as a whole had its worst. Lesson learned here: sometimes the best times are during the worst times.”
Understanding that people in hard times like a diversion, and able to see around the corner and realize that the corporate market was going to take a hit, he saw that there was “gold in them hills” and diversified and focused on that market — including, of all things, high-end, over-the-top weddings.
The “Mega” Wedding
Born in Detroit, Schmidt moved to sunny Florida in the late 1960s. Out of high school, he found himself running restaurants (“Hated it!” he laughs). He decided a career in pro audio would keep him challenged, and “simply” went and stumbled on a local band called Meltdown. When their first and only tour went bust, he turned to renting the equipment, and started the company with three others (he would buy them all out by 1987).
Like so many stories, his passion for audio was greater than his desire for comfort — but just in the beginning. He worked other jobs and took no pay his first three years, and even slept on the floor of his warehouse. But PSG took a steady climb up. Breaks included doing one-offs for diverse acts from Iggy Pop to Bill Cosby, plus increasingly getting a foothold into Florida State University, plus a lot of corporate work, and it all led to growth and success.
Early in his career, he fought the misconception banks had about his company, that it was merely a home stereo outfit. “So I took the time and did my research, and then said I didn’t want to talk to a loan officer, I wanted to talk to a vice president, someone who could say yes or no.” He found someone who, “believe it or not,” said there’d be no appointment at the bank, because the banker wanted to go see Schmidt. “He insisted on coming to me, and then I was able to show him what we were really about.” A mere 27 years later, PSG still works with the same bank and has a full line of credit. “These people have become my friends. Too many of us think of these guys are the enemy because they want to make money off you. I’d say, ‘You’re right, you Bozo!’”
Today, their live music segment is doing well. “We probably had our best fall ever. We just finished a big homecoming event for Florida State with Craig Ferguson, and that’s a variety show that involves a jazz ensemble, comedy, video, and dance.” Also this year, he had the pleasure of having his personal and professional aspirations collide when he worked this year’s Bassmaster Classic in New Orleans — the “NASCAR for fishing!”
But a key to PSG’s success through challenging times is that they certainly don’t turn their nose up at any gig. In true hometown style, they still do modest backyard gigs.
PSG also “found the large wedding market early on and, frankly, it was being ignored.” Seeing that few were delving into tent systems, Schmidt started investing in a bunch of white PAR cans, white clamps and white cables. “It’s the minor things, but you can’t have a black cable at these big events.”
How big? How about a quarter of a mil? Often held on the plantations that are usually the winter homes of these families, it’s not uncommon to bring chefs and wait staff in from Atlanta and a DJ in from L.A.
How PSG treats these gigs is uncommon, too. They figured out smaller, more powerful speakers are ideal. “Our object is for the guest to not see the gear,” he says. “When the preacher talks, the words are coming from him, not a big cabinet. I’ll hide five or six sets of speakers in the bushes, and it becomes a very ambient sound. Also, I want these to be a composite box so I don’t have to worry if I set them on the grass.”
After much research and listening, he settled on QSC I-82s. “These are small, high-powered, high-fidelity cabinets, perfect for these events. And we also use them at trade shows where the trend has been to hide them in the trussing. They have become a go-to tool in the tool box.”
QSC K-10 powered speakers are also being used a lot by PSG. They actually strap a Sennheiser body pack to the cabinets to make them wireless. At a mega-wedding, “we might be working on three acres of land, and in order to complete the experience, we want everyone to hear what is going on no matter where they are: the toasting the background music, everything.”
And yes, those are birds you hear ….
“A popular thing we do is play birdsong through the system when guests are arriving or waiting for the event to begin. People love it. We ask them to consider something different like this. We fade it out slowly for when the preacher begins.”
Schmidt may be working with different areas where the wedding ceremony is, the cocktail hour is, and where the tent for the food is, but he runs it all through a Yamaha 01V. “It’s my favorite for these events, because it has a small footprint.”
Financing with Finesse
Buying choices separate the companies that last for decades and the ones that flame out. “We buy specifically for what we have in mind,” Schmidt explains. “When I bought the I-82s, I had in mind the trend of trade shows incorporating different zones within their booth. We looked at all the line array products; QSC was one of the first ones to put a compact line array out with their WideLine-10 cabinet.” In all gear purchases, he analyzes how it can best be used, and whether or not he’ll get his money back. In this case, the WideLine-10s worked well for a big arena show he just did with Ludacris and another with Citizen Cope. “I needed a cabinet that worked for those big shows and also fit into a ballroom. I didn’t have the money for both.” Another advantage is that while some of the bigger cabinets weigh in at 500 pounds, the WideLine-10s weigh 78. “I can hang those in a ballroom with no problem.”
The K-Series stuff is popular, and “we are using it for front fills in smaller concerts and as stage monitors, in addition to hiding it in bushes” for mega weddings. “It’s the Swiss Army knife of cabinets!”
Console selection seems like a simple formula. Schmidt sat down and looked through 100 riders, and Yamaha’s PM5D was on every one. “I don’t want to argue with people everyday, so I get them what they are asking for and incorporate that into our systems.”
What comes easy to him seems to elude others: “There are lots of creative people in this business, but very few business people in this business,” he says. “Having creative people who also have a business sense is not in the mainstream. So many have the thought process of, ‘Oh that’s cool, and it sounds great!” Business people say those two things, but follow it with, ‘How do I sell it?’ There’s not a lot of us doing that.”
Schmidt laments the lack of business savvy and how regional sound companies step on each other’s toes, haggling for pricing that has the “winner” not really winning. “Sometimes these bands take a job at a club for $250, but then the sound company charges them $300. They complain, and to that, I say, ‘Then why did you take the gig at that price?’ That’s like some of these sound companies. They don’t understand ROI.”
Today, he enjoys the work more than ever. “You find down-to-earth people and those who don’t want the green M&Ms,” he says with a wink, before stressing that credit for any success is due to his team.
“I didn’t do this by myself,” Schmidt insists. Since 1987, Dennis Cooper has been an important part of PSG. “I have a great crew. I work to offer them the freedom to show me their ideas. This is not a one-man operation by any stretch of the imagination.”
Going forward, 2012 shows promise. “It doesn’t show any signs of lightening up for us,” Schmidt says. Several “mega weddings” are already booked, and there’s plenty of other work. “We see growth continuing. There’s nothing here to tell me it’s not.”
