It was hard trying to catch up with father and son Mario and Carmen Educate to discuss On Stage Audio’s past 30 years — they were both busy working on the next 30. “We stay in this business because we have a passion for it,” Mario says. “Yes the investments get larger, and competition gets tougher, but the main thing is we keep the right people working with us. Our employees have a passion for what we do.”
While OSA dabbles in touring, their mainstay has always been corporate and special events. It’s a niche Mario likes because corporate events involve creativity and expertise in an environment where change is constant — even when that constant change means 12 to 16 hour workdays. Corporate events as a whole have changed considerably since the early 1980’s when he first started doing them. “It used to be Broadway-style cast shows built around a product release, but today there’s more video design, playback, panel discussions…and larger audiences in attendance.”
OSA can list some pretty impressive clients, who have been with them since the start. “We have to always do our best with solutions and pricing, but along with that comes delivering the best service. You can’t take anything for granted in this business, and you have to be one step ahead.” Today, OSA’s pie is 65 percent corporate mixed in with a lot of specialty entertainment events and tours, and they have managed to pick up plenty of awards and nominations along long the way including Parnellis, ISES Esprits and Road Dogs.
Chicago Style
Mario Educate grew up in Chicago. In 1977, he started as a theater projectionist but quickly found audio more interesting. Soon he was acquiring equipment and doing small corporate and special events on his own. It was slow growing in those early days, but in 1985 he incorporated and OSA started hiring people. Years later they would open offices in Orlando, Detroit, Las Vegas and Nashville; although today they keep it to their original HQ in Chicago, Las Vegas (opened in 1992) — and most recently — Nashville, which opened in 2012.
Growing up, Carmen says he sat on a lot of risers while his dad mixed shows. “The draw of being around the hustle and glamour of a show, that lifestyle was embedded in me,” he says. “I started off soldering cables and helping fix gear in the shop after school when I was a teenager and learned about what work ethic really was.” Like his dad, he still has a great passion for this business. Today, he’s a senior engineer and does much of the high profile sound design for the company. When we spoke, Carmen was mixing and acting as production manager for Babyface at the BET Soul Train Awards weekend in Las Vegas. Prior to that, he served as the sound designer and FOH engineer for David Foster and Friends with Stevie Wonder, with a handful other events and shows he manages.
Carmen is the oldest of five. Three of his younger siblings are also in the family business: brothers Michael and Paul as system technicians while their sister, Merissa Iannuccilli, handles payroll and accounts receivable. Carmen is very proud of his younger siblings, and enjoys being able to share workdays with them occasionally in the office and on the road. Carmen boasts that the most recent additions, Michael and Pauly are “the best. They love being in the industry, and are definitely coming up the same way I came up — eager to learn. Both are diving into the new technology, reading the manuals, books, and forums, and keeping up with what is next and where we are headed with technology.” Mario adds it won’t be long until one of his 10 grandchildren makes OSA a three-generation family business.
Slow and Steady
Reflecting back, Mario says OSA grew slow and steady. “We always ran under the radar, and we’re bad at marketing ourselves, but we’ve always had enough work. Growth was at a nice pace, and I was always proud that we didn’t take anything for granted. An event for 12 people, might be more important than one for 15,000, because those 12 might be the top of the organization, and the stakes are actually much higher.”
Looking back through it all, as tough as 9/11 was on the industry, the Great Recession of 2007 was tougher. “During that time, every ballroom in Vegas was empty. Everything went away for a while, and you felt bad calling on people, because you knew they didn’t have anything happening. We just stayed lean and kept our staff. Luckily, corporate America came back and came back strong.”
“We have a lot of longtime clients,” Carmen adds. “That’s how we’ve been able to maintain and grow our company, and they take us around the world to deliver their message.” OSA listens to those clients, and when the need to provide video services was clear, they knew they wanted to expand into that area. “We didn’t start a video company — we bought a phenomenal one in 2009, Media Solutions,” Carmen says. Their reputation for high-end video work has turned OSA into a full AV outfit.
OSA stays on top of its game by “trying to stay involved on where the industry will be in 5, 10, 15 years,” Carmen says. Lately that includes a lot of Martin MLA, MLA Compact and MLA Mini gear that utilize multi-cellular technology, and Studer Vista 5 consoles for sound quality. He notes this is the system combination that he’s been using for the past couple Parnelli Awards shows, a show for which OSA has served as a production partner for years.
More important than the equipment they bring to an event, however, is what they do with it. “The key to our success is our staff,” Mario says. We do live shows, and only get one shot to exceed our client’s expectations and deliver the best possible solution for them. Without the creativity and expertise of our staff, we wouldn’t be able to do that regardless of the equipment we use.”
Mario believes the industry today involves more precision, and much more advance work. Back in the day, “people would show up with a roll of tape and a Sharpie.” He laughs at the question of retirement. “I’m working longer days now more than ever! I enjoy what I do, and I enjoy this industry. I still mix shows, manage events, and I like to stay in front of the equipment; this way I’m not just in an office wondering what is going on out there.” He says he’s proud of everyone who has worked for OSA, even those who have moved on. “I’m still friends, proud of them, and like to stay in touch. I also like that we have a lot of employees who have been with us from the beginning.”
As to the next 30 years, Mario says: “We’re looking to continue building contacts, taking on bigger projects, and continuing our nice steady run.”
For more info on OSA, visit their website at www.osacorp.com.
