For the past couple of weeks I have been working with a couple of “veteran” sound guys trying to put together a tribute to one of the giants of live event audio industry. I have always thought that we tend to wait too long to pay tribute to people who deserve it and that we should do it while they can still see and appreciate it. It has been a moving and humbling experience.
As we have gathered materials, something was tickling the back of my brain that I couldn’t identify. Something that working on this project was trying to tell me and I could just not get it. Of course, when it finally broke through my thick skull, it was just hours before this issue needed to go to the printer. I had already turned in an Editor’s Note, and now the art and production departments get to re-do it on deadline (and that department includes my lovely wife, so I will likely be in trouble at home, too).
We have talked may times before about how FOH is not just another business-to-business trade magazine. The thing that sets us apart, IMHO, is that FOH is written and produced by people who do what you do. I have a couple of pro writers that I turn to, but most of our regular contributors spend their days prepping gear, setting stages and doing shows, just like all of you.
And once a year we get to kind of formalize that peer-to-peer idea by recognizing the people in our industry whose work has been notable both recently and over the course of a career. I speak of the annual Parnelli Awards.
I know, I say this every year, but it is damn important, so I am saying it again. I hate award shows. Won’t watch ‘em on TV and avoid attending them as often as I can. Because they are so often just crap. But I am passionate about the Parnellis because they bring the only legitimate chance for people in the live event production industry to recognize their own. And it goes deeper than just that. Unlike other awards shows, including the Oscars and Grammys, you do not have to be a member of some organization where you have to pay dues in order to vote. It doesn’t matter if you are the owner of a huge national sound company or a guy pushing cases around and running cable. If you work in this industry and care enough about it to subscribe to FOH, you get to vote. And a vote from the green A2 counts just as much as one from his or her boss.
If there is something else like the Parnellis, then I don’t know about it. And I can tell you this, people in the business really care about who wins and loses. I can’t tell you how many members of our tribe have casually told me how much they wish they could even be nominated. Or how many times I have gotten bitched out by someone who thought they should have won. And I take both of those as compliments. Not for me, but for the whole idea behind the Parnellis.
Nominations are officially opened with this issue, and I encourage you to let us know who you think is worthy of being honored this year. Of course I have my own ideas, but I get surprised every year when someone gets a bunch of votes at the nomination stage and I have to ask around to find out who he or she is. And you know it never fails that I end up feeling stupid because the nominee is someone that I should know.
Over the years we have handed out awards to some of the best in the biz and it is always a thrill for me to hand over the plaque. And not just to the “big” winners. One of the most gratifying things I get to do every year is hand an award to someone from a regional sound company that is doing great work and might never be recognized in any other forum. As much as I hate Orlando and going to LDI. I must admit that I am once again looking forward to the actual awards and being able to be even a small part of them.
I hope to see you there and before I wrap this up a big thank you to the audio companies who have recognized the importance of these awards and help make them possible. We could not do it without them. If you have never attended the event, you need to. You will never find another place with so many of your peers present or where the unsung in our industry will get their moment of recognition. It’s even worth going to LDI….
