On one hand, I (and the entire FOH/PLSN staff) finally get a chance to take a deep breath, but I have to admit it has been a pretty exhilarating time, and I may actually miss the challenge and the adrenaline rush. I am talking about the past 10 weeks, which saw us dealing with two major holidays, a total of six issues of the mags, the fifth edition of the EPD (our annual directory to all things production oriented) and the now completed Pro Production 2005. First up, a big thank you to everyone–exhibitors, panelists, staff and attendees–who came together to make our fourth annual conference the best one we have ever done. I am always a little stunned at the industry hotshots we are able to get on the panels, and this year just flat-out rocked. The Parnelli Awards (which will be covered in depth next month) saw us giving the inaugural Innovator Award to John Meyer–someone who has symbolized that concept for more years than many of us have been around. Out on the show floor, connections were made and business done, and the two seminar rooms hosted not only a slew of great, informative, educational and entertaining panel sessions, but also two–count 'em, two–keynote speeches, both of which left a lot of us (yours truly very much included) with quite a bit to think about.
Kevin Lyman, founder of the Warped Tour, laid out the changing economics of the concert touring world and how those changes will affect the rest of the live event production industry, with an emphasis on recognizing and accentuating the things that really make a gig great. He related talking with one crew guy and asking him what made his favorite tour special, and getting this answer: "I got anything I asked for. It was great."
"That tour," said Lyman, "lost $2.5 million." He challenged us all to start thinking of compensation as having a direct link to performance and incentivizing things wherever possible. He has done that with everyone from artists to promoters to crew on his current tour, and the result is a smoother running show, with people actually making more money that they would have on a straight negotiated rate.
His timing was perfect. Lyman's chat with us has made me think a lot about my own expectations in regard to compensation and re-examine a system I have fought against in the past. This kind of incentive-based compensation is the way we can count on smart businesses running in the future, and I need to catch the train before it steams out of the station. It is something for you to think about as well, be you a company owner or an independent audio tech.
As the show was ending, I was talking with Paul Freudenberg, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at L-Acoustics (and one-time FOH columnist) about the session hosted by artist Todd Rundgren. Paul–in addition to proving he plays a mean six-string at the Industry Jam–had completely grokked Todd's message about production. 1) We need to dress things up and make them look good, and that can be done inexpensively; and 2) live performance is where the future of financial success in the music industry will be found.
That is a great message for all of us, and combined with Lyman's comments from the day before, it drew a pretty accurate picture of where our industry is headed. Now if you will excuse me, I am going to take a moment to catch my breath and think about performance and incentives and how they all work together.
