Who: Ted Leamy, COO, Pro Media/UltraSound.
What: Tour sound, corporate event production and audio installations.
Where: Hercules, Calif. (Just north of San Francisco)
When: Founded in 1978.
Full-time employees: 40
Recent tours and events: Dave Matthews Band, San Francisco Symphony, Irish Tenors, Pro Bowl, Andrea Bocelli, Primus, among others.
Recent installations: HP Pavilion Arena, San Jose, Calif.; and Anaheim Pond Arena.
Recent company highlights: Hired Ted! … and the company was recently awarded the Dallas Cowboys Texas stadium project. The new stadium is slated to open before the 2009 NFL season and will accommodate 80,000 to 100,000 people.
Honored to be: Director of the Zappa Institute of Technology, a program for at-risk students in the Los Angeles school district.
Gig before this gig: JBL, vice president of installed sound.
First gig: “A very long time ago — when Mick Whelan was still on the road!”
I knew I wanted to be in this business when… “At 13 years old, I just said, ‘I’m doing that.’ I was a nerdy little kid, and everything about sound was just fascinating.”
Biggest challenge of my job: “Balancing my time between the installation and tour sound divisions. That, and kicking the occasional butt.”
Best part of my job: “First, getting back to the music. Secondly, being able to encourage people entering the industry that they too can realize their dreams and be successful.”
What annoys me most about live concerts today is… “Why does it take sooooo many laptops to run a show?”
If I could have lunch with anybody, living or dead, it would be… Donny.
My greatest fear is… “Forgetting to point the loud part of the speaker towards the audience.”
Words to live by: “Stick with it… just stick with it.”
