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[Lee Wright]

I run a couple of small production businesses in Australia.   We do pub bands, corporate, weddings, outdoor community events etc.  As a country we've been really sheltered from COVID & I'd say we're about 4-6 months behind the U.S.    It looks like we'll be coming out of lockdown in October.  Do any operators have any tips so I can be prepared?   For example:

-What challenges did you face getting back into business? 
-Have the type of jobs changed?
-Are event organisers hesitant to start running events?
-Have you & your staff suffered from COVID?
-Have outdoor events been more popular?

At the beginning of the pandemic I thought it would all be over in 18 months but I expect we're going to be living with this for a couple of years yet at least.

I was thinking of spending about $10K on gear to diversify what I do.  For example getting some wedding lighting gear, inflatable screen for back yard parties & maybe a 20x20ft marquee (I already do a bit of event hire).  I'm a bit reluctant to spend the money when I'm not sure how much work will be coming in.    I was talking to a event hire guy in Canada who said they've had their busiest summer ever so hopefully that's a good sign for the audio business too.

Anyway appreciate any ideas. 


       

[Mike Monte]

I run a couple of small production businesses in Australia.   We do pub bands, corporate, weddings, outdoor community events etc.  As a country we've been really sheltered from COVID & I'd say we're about 4-6 months behind the U.S.    It looks like we'll be coming out of lockdown in October.  Do any operators have any tips so I can be prepared?   For example:

-What challenges did you face getting back into business? 
-Have the type of jobs changed?
-Are event organisers hesitant to start running events?
-Have you & your staff suffered from COVID?
-Have outdoor events been more popular?

At the beginning of the pandemic I thought it would all be over in 18 months but I expect we're going to be living with this for a couple of years yet at least.

I was thinking of spending about $10K on gear to diversify what I do.  For example getting some wedding lighting gear, inflatable screen for back yard parties & maybe a 20x20ft marquee (I already do a bit of event hire).  I'm a bit reluctant to spend the money when I'm not sure how much work will be coming in.    I was talking to a event hire guy in Canada who said they've had their busiest summer ever so hopefully that's a good sign for the audio business too.
Anyway appreciate any ideas.     

What I found in my area (RI/MA usa) far as weddings go, as we were (are?) in/out of restrictions many weddings that were to take place indoors (event halls, etc.) ended up taking place outdoors at private homes thus caterers, tent rentals, chairs/tables (anything else to do with remote weddings) made a killing.....and are still doing so...  My classical ensemble ended up with quite a few last minute weddings...

Last fall in RI the limit for gatherings was capped at 50ppl.  My math grades in school were just ok but it sure looked to be a tad more than 50 in attendance at most of them...   

[Peter Kowalczyk]

My Advice?  get non-refundable deposits.  Summer was crazy busy for me, then things started getting cancelled again.  Be prepared to be adaptable.

[Lee Wright]

What I found in my area (RI/MA usa) far as weddings go, as we were (are?) in/out of restrictions many weddings that were to take place indoors (event halls, etc.) ended up taking place outdoors at private homes thus caterers, tent rentals, chairs/tables (anything else to do with remote weddings) made a killing.....and are still doing so...  My classical ensemble ended up with quite a few last minute weddings...

Last fall in RI the limit for gatherings was capped at 50ppl.  My math grades in school were just ok but it sure looked to be a tad more than 50 in attendance at most of them...   

Yes outdoors makes sense.   It gives organisers a lot more flexibility if things change & is also safer from a COVID view.   That suits us well as we do a bunch our battery powered speakers which are popular with our back yard weddings.   If last minute bookings are a thing then we might need to have some staff lined up.    Thanks.

[Lee Wright]

Yes outdoors makes sense.   It gives organisers a lot more flexibility if things change & is also safer from a COVID view.   That suits us well as we do a bunch our battery powered speakers which are popular with our back yard weddings.   If last minute bookings are a thing then we might need to have some staff lined up.    Thanks.

Yes good point.   I've been offering people free postponements up to 6 months.    That really got me out of a bind early last year as I would have had to refund a lot money. 

[Bill Hornibrook]

I run a couple of small production businesses in Australia.   We do pub bands, corporate, weddings, outdoor community events etc...

I can answer with direct experience at the club (pub) level. Be prepared for the upside and then some. Business just exploded when restrictions were lifted, with packed clubs the norm. Drinking people largely do not care about the risks involved, and many club owners do not either. Masking and capacity limits were largely ignored.

Have you & your staff suffered from COVID?

Not me, but a club I'm involved with had five bar staff hit at the same time, and had to close - and on one of the busiest weeks of the summer season for my area. All were under 30, unvaccinated. Four had mild cold-like cases. One ended up in ICU, but was back at work in two weeks.

We had a few community events cancelled in the area once positive numbers started rising late summer. I wasn't involved in any of them so don't know the details. But at that level people get more responsible, so be prepared.

Just reading about an anti-lockdown riot in Melbourne on Sept. 18th... wow! I hope you come out of this in one piece!

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/18/australia/australia-lockdown-protest-intl/index.html

[Lee Wright]

I can answer with direct experience at the club (pub) level. Be prepared for the upside and then some. Business just exploded when restrictions were lifted, with packed clubs the norm. Drinking people largely do not care about the risks involved, and many club owners do not either. Masking and capacity limits were largely ignored.
Not me, but a club I'm involved with had five bar staff hit at the same time, and had to close - and on one of the busiest weeks of the summer season for my area. All were under 30, unvaccinated. Four had mild cold-like cases. One ended up in ICU, but was back at work in two weeks.

I don't know whether to be happy or sad about that.    It's nice to get the work but if people are just going to throw caution to the wind & end up in danger I'm not so keen.   When you come to think of it, it does make logical sense that people that hang out at pubs are probably less risk averse when it come to health regardless of COVID.

We had a few community events cancelled in the area once positive numbers started rising late summer. I wasn't involved in any of them so don't know the details. But at that level people get more responsible, so be prepared.

Just reading about an anti-lockdown riot in Melbourne on Sept. 18th... wow! I hope you come out of this in one piece!

Yes we like the community events.   Will prepare for cancellations.   
I'm surprised the riots even made the the news over there.  My main business in Sydney which was pretty quiet.

Thanks for the info.

[ThomasA(lbenberger)]

Hi Lee!

Let me give you some thoughts from a freelance tech perspective.

I've been working freelance in Austria/Europe for 20 years when the pandemic hit us. I was working a lot of different jobs, from high-level corporate to non-profit indie-rock and everything in between. But from one day to another I didn't have any work, because all the events I was already booked for were being cancelled. I did not get any compensation from the venues or the event providers that booked me for their jobs. In ALL cases, I didn't even get a call informing me of the cancellation, apologizing or discussing how to go about the lost work.

With most of these companies and venues I had a very long relationship of working together. For all these years I was always striving to do the best job I could for them, being available for their calls even if it meant rearranging my personal life around them and representing them in the best way when interacting with their customers. I was a (small) part in their business success and I have always been loyal to them. None of this mattered, when the lockdowns took away our businesses. In a way I can understand this, given the magnitude of the experience and the uncertainty all of us faced back then. And I never mentioned my feelings to any of them or reminded them that strictly speaking, they didn't honour our contracts back then.

But after a while, when financial support from the state was established and everybody got to start doing maintenance work on their equipment, live-streaming events, theatre rehearsals, later on hybrid events, outdoor shows etc. business slowly started up again, but very slowly and apparently only for a few techs that were busy, while me and many of my collegues still had no or very little work at all. That was very frustrating when I saw, how little awareness there was for me and all the others that were still out of work.

Right now everything is back to normal or even more busy than before. I have more job calls than I can take, so I have to decide which ones to decline. And I still remember the companies that had work during the lockdowns but didn't call me. Call it silly, but not everyone I worked for before the pandemic is getting me back for their jobs now. Not because they have done something wrong, just because they have done nothing at all, shown no loyalty, no appreciation for the past years of my good work or any emotion towards my current situation at all.

So, take care of your freelancers, get them in doing maintenance work or work the occasional job. At least call them, show them you care about them and ask how they are doing. Make sure, they are available and still willing to work for you when you need them.

Best regards,

Thomas

PS: Here in Austria, October is the month when it's getting colder and our vaccination rate is much too low right now. I give us another 10 days or 2 weeks until the next lockdown...

[Lee Wright]

Thanks Thomas.
I've been fortunate in that I haven't had any regular contractors to let go.
Good to see at least you got enough work.

[Luke Geis]

I carry a different attitude and perspective about the whole covid thing and how it has impacted me and my career. First, it is busy as hell right now, so it is obvious that a large number of people give zero crap about covid. The ones I get angry about are the ones that require masks and negative or vaccine cards at their event for all staff..... My thought is this: If you are so scared, worried, and or proactive against/for covid, then what in the hell are you throwing a party for? And if so why are you requiring a whole crew to heed to your wishes in order to add security to your indiscretions? Refer to point A...

I myself am not vaccinated, will not get vaccinated, and truly don't care whether you finally get to throw that party you have been waiting two years to do. In my area, it is pretty hard to find a crew of vaccinated individuals who are well trained in our craft. We can't find enough people to work as it is, so one less party won't kill us. As to what we have had to do in order to keep the wheels rolling, well, we just keep putting out help wanted ads and trying as hard as we can to keep up with the number of jobs we have coming in. We wear masks when we are indoors as required, we keep our distance from people as much as we can and more or less, do as we have always done, just with not nearly enough staff to do it.

Our policies have changed. We increased our minimum to weed out small, low-profit margin jobs. We require a non-refundable 50% deposit and full payment 30 days in advance of the event. We schedule our setups and strikes to be separated from other vendors to reduce contact and clutter. We advise our clients that there are still rules relating to covid and that the industry as a whole is still recovering and adapting to them. We tell them we have to limit changes because we may not be able to get a certain product in time, that we need to staff well in advance to meet certain desires and things are more expensive than they were two years ago.

My advice, only chew what you can swallow, make sure you know your local rules relating to covid, and charge your clients appropriately. It is too busy right now to take everything that crosses your table, so cherry-pick your clients and maximize your profits while you can. Soon enough the market will be oversaturated with vendors again, so set yourself up to align with the higher markets. Don't overextend and certainly don't under-deliver simply get everything you can.

[ProSoundWeb Community]