Here we go again, he can’t come up with something coherent to write about so he is going to throw together a bunch of random crap. Geez, why can’t this guy be all intellectual and organized like that guy who runs the magazine for the squints?
Because I can’t, that’s f#&%ing why so just shut up and deal with it.
OK, now where was I? Oh yeah random stuff…
People Rule
Have I mentioned lately how much I like the people in this industry, most of them anyway? A couple of weeks ago, some of us here in Vegas got e-mail from a prominent local band about the theft of a trailer full of gear. I was très impressed by how quickly the production community hopped into action. An e-mail from Mark Dennis at MGM/KA got the ball rolling, and within hours, pretty much everyone in the local production community knew and was on the lookout. Our contribution was to e-mail blast all of our Nevada subscribers.
The last time this happened, the stolen truck was recovered with all of the stuff (in this case a bunch of lighting gear) still in it. We have not been as lucky this time, which may be due to the fact that the gear in question — backline stuff including a drum kit, bass and guitar rigs and keys — is a lot easier to move as stolen goods than high-end pro sound and lighting gear.
But the important thing here is that people — a lot of people — took time out of very packed schedules to get the word out and try to get these guys their stuff back.
Speaking of People
Over the past year, FOH staffers have been on the ground, covering some big tours and some smaller shows run by regional companies. This is always a tough thing for us because, to be brutally honest, the travel budget just is not there to fly writers around the country on a regular basis, so we generally do this when we have been asked by a soundco or manufacturer to cover a specific event and they are picking up the travel tab.
I had been thinking about this when, just this morning, I saw a news blurb about an online “news” service in my exhometown. Before getting back to trade publishing — first on the MI side via Gig Magazine and for the past almost five years on the pro side with FOH — I was the editor of a local newspaper based in Pasadena, Calif. This news blurb said that the online service in question had outsourced its coverage of the local city council to a couple of journalists in — wait for it — India.
The publisher called it “efficient” — which translates as “I can get 15 stories a week out of these guys for $10K a year.” You know, when I was on that same beat, we did some good work. Won a bunch of awards and everything. But we did not get them by watching the council meetings on a Web cast. We got them because a hugely talented and energetic young reporter by the name of Chris Bray used to go dumpster diving at City Hall and came up with records of stuff the powers-that-be would have preferred we did not know about. You can’t do that from another continent via e-mail.
Side note: Chris left that paper when he decided he wanted to write about foreign and military affairs and would have more cred if he had served. At age 25, he enlisted and then spent two years sweeping the motor pool in Ft. Benning, Ga., because the Army has no clue what to do with a 25-year-old, very smart grunt. But it worked, and Chris was getting published with the big boys in places like the New York Times. Until he got called back to serve in the Middle East, five years after he got out. I hear he’s back now (after another two years). I should really try to get a hold of him.
Anyway, the reason for this little rant is to let the regional companies know that we at FOH know there is a big difference between being “on the ground” and writing from a post-event press release. When I recently went to Memphis, I also got video that should be online by the time you read this. What I am trying to let you know is that, if you have an event you really want covered, give me a call. Maybe we can put our heads together and figure out a way to make it work and get the travel covered. I would love to come out and see what you are working on.
People, people who love people are the bevans@fohonline.com
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