Light Minds Think Alike

I Don't Want to be a Downer...

It seems like there is always a good bit of talk about what a fun place ETC is to work but last night I was lying awake in bed obsessing over a number of different issue I need to deal with and felt that someone should address the fact that we do real work here J Now I’m defiantly of the belief that ETC is a great place to work but it is still work.

One must keep in mind that for everyone of us sometimes crazy theatre people that work in customer facing departments, there are countless others that are doing the day-to-day labor that actually leads to products getting shipped to customers. Remember, in real terms ETC is a manufacturing company. I often find myself envying these individuals in the ability to come to work, complete a quality task, and then go home with the feeling of a job well done. When I was a Factory Field Technician, I had that feeling on a regular basis as I spent the majority of my time installing new ETC Lighting Systems and was rewarded with a happy new ‘end user’ at the end of my efforts. Or I got to fly into a city in the 11^th hour, do some magic and save the day; usually with the assistance of a much smarter Phone Support Technician who did not get to see the smiling customers face or get the free beer after the show.

 Now, as a manager of 10 years, I endeavor to ensure that the cogs in the machine run smooth for any employee or customer I come in contact with. Although I find the task enjoyable and rewarding, it is does not give the same degree of daily or weekly satisfaction I once had and thus it seems more like work and therefore less fun.

Then there are the fights and arguments that are the opposite of fun. Fights you say? Arguments? Well yes, but in the: ‘We all want to go for Chinese buffet but spend so much time debating which is the best place that we use up our lunch hour and have to order in pizza’ kind of way. Meaning that the people I work with are so committed to finding the best way to things that we often fight about what the absolute best course of action is and on the service side I have seen it spin out of control…always to the benefit of the customer. For example: A call might come into Phone Support and it is decided to that a RMA should be issued. A coffee break 10 minutes later leads to discussion about the problem and a manger decides that a new unit should be sent. Then a second manager is consulted and believes that a Field Tech should first be sent to site to investigate the problem. Now the fun begins. The cheapest thing would be to send a loaner and issue an RMA. Sending new equipment or a service tech to site is expensive. So we fight about the best way to resolve the issue and eventually end up sending new equipment and a service tech and some extra parts that we think maybe will be needed.

Finally there is the guilt that makes working in service at ETC un-fun. You see, I was raised Catholic but joined the Unitarian church 7 years ago…but I still suffer from “Catholic Guilt”. I also suffer from “Service Guilt”. Service Guilt happens when despite your best efforts and intentions you outright fail to fix the customers problems. In the case above, the best decision might have been to send a loaner and issue a RMA. But then the loaner does not work when it shows up at site. You send a service technician to investigate and the problem is with the loaner. You do a quick-turnaround on the repair and send it back right away. It breaks again 4 days later. You send a whole new unit. It shows up with a broken GM fader. These things happen and they are beyond my control but I end up with an extreme sense of guilt that I have just put some TD at the local community theatre through the worst service experience of their life. It is not a fun job on that day.

In the last month I have: Had a picnic for all my German employees at my house, gone to the ETC Inc Summer picnic in my Lederhosen, gone to the ETC GmbH Summer picnic on a large hill overlooking a beautiful valley, went to a ETC Professional Services potluck, and had countless after work outings with coworkers who are also loyal friends. Yes, there is the unhappy getting up and going to work every day thing but God help me, I love it so.

Rare sighting at ETC

A very rare event was experienced today. A member of the ETC team retired and there was a party in town square!

This is only known to have happened one time before and there was also a party for that occasion. Dean North has been with ETC over 12 years and if you have a Unison dimmer rack - you probably have an item he made.

Congrat's to Dean. Today made me look forward to my own retirement.

On the subject of fun

As long as we are blogging about ETC being a fun place to work. I thought I would share this photo. It is on the door leading into Fred's office. The regular door - not the garage door.

Fred posted the "addendum" at the bottom. Enough said.

David Lincecum

Lunchtime fun

So just a couple of days ago Mike Meskill, Durrell Ramer and myself went to get a sandwich and soup for lunch.  Durrell always suggests healthy food places during the rare times we head outside of the building together and it's for that, and the great conversation, that I like hanging out with him at lunch.  Until this week, that is....

On the way down Pleasant View Road, we pass a number of interesting small businesses, a beer distributor and a meat packing company in the Middleton Industrial Park.  However it wasn't beer or meat that caught our eyes this fine summer day.

Standing on the curb, prominently perched in a pile of throw out old personal belongings from one of those rental storage facilites was the coolest orange ceramic lamp we've seen in a long time.  Meskill was not impressed.  "We should get that."  "Yes, we should."  "That's a cool lamp."  Meskill thinks we're nuts.

On the way back we see it again.  "Should we stop." "Yes."  But Meskill groans about having to be at a meeting.  "But you can drop me off and go back."  So we did.

We hustle back up the street, put on the blinkers, hop out on to the curb and pick up the prize.  It was at this moment that I thought it would be fun for Dick Titus to see two of his managers digging through the trash on Pleasant View Road.  (A pic of the prize is attached).

This place is fun.

The door's open, come on in!

In the wee hours of the morning on Saturday of Workshop, Michael Harris and I were bantering about workshop and ETC culture.  Michael has always been one of the attendees whom I really look forward to seeing. He’s always good for a laugh, a snippet of Canadian wisdom, or occasionally a bit of third-party insight in regards to ETC.

On this particular occasion, Michael took the opportunity to mention to me how newcomers to Workshop are welcomed into the fold and therefore get a glimpse of what it truly means to be a part of the ETC family.  I suppose the welcoming nature of some of the events, the lightheartedness of the newsletters  and, of course, the daily videos,  all of these obviously help. But it goes further than that.  There’s something ingrained in the company’s culture and it really becomes clear within the context of Michael’s story.

Apparently a new employee with one of our dealers found herself in a social circle with both Michael (whom she knew) and Joe DiNardo, (whom she had only heard of).  After a few moments of uncertainty and, I imagine, anxiety, she quietly asked Michael if she was allowed to “talk” to Joe DiNardo.  She explained that in her previous place of employ, such mingling would have been far above her station and was therefore ill-advised.

Naturally, Michael met this query with surprise, if not disbelief.  I mean, we’re talking about Joe DiNardo.  A.K.A.  DiNardo, Joey, Joey D., Joey the Hammer, Joey Bag-of-Donuts (don’t EVER call him that), Donuts, or more affectionately, Mr. Satchel-of-Pastries.    Who on Earth would hesitate to speak to HIM?!  Least of all, one of his customers! Is there a more friendly, more lovable, more cuddly person to have as your regional?  Okay, okay, Nicky Pencils is a close second, but I digress.

The point is, this person, this new dealer-employee, this genuine, cautious, well-intentioned acolyte made an assumption based on a stereotype that fits the vast majority of companies out there.  A Regional Sales Manager, or any upper-echelon manager for that matter, exists on a plane of existence that you can only dream of and you consort with them at the risk of your own peril.

Well, not at ETC.

If there’s one thing that ETC seems to pride itself on, it’s approachability. Both internally and externally. The lines are not drawn between those in charge and those not.  Nor between customer and insider. Welcoming you into the fold, regardless of your station, experience level, or knowledge, is part of who we strive to be.  And it shows.

I like that…a lot.

Not a word was spoke between us there was little risk involved
Everything up to that point had been left unresolved
Try imagining a place where it's always safe and warm
"Come in" she said
"I'll give you shelter from the storm".
                                                                -Bob Dylan

Light Minds at ETC Workshop 2008

Every year about this time we hold a workshop for our dealers and reps in the US. It is always a fun event and we try to keep things active and upbeat. Attendees get in depth product training and we have a lot of fun outside activities as well. The event has full press coverage on our main website and you should deifinitely take a look. Of special note is the fantastic video coverage provided by our own Lincoln Theiler (webmaster and digital designer) and Joe Kirschling (Technical writer and officer of fun.) Putting these two together was a brilliant idea.  You have to watch the daily video coverage in order to get the flow of the event. You may feel just like you are there! But don't get hypnotized.  Wednesday     Thursday    Friday

There is also a daily newsletter including a column by a mystery "snoop" - an anonymous dealer or rep (we don't know which) who takes shots at us daily. We had three great guest speakers this year. Tim Hunter gave a great presentation on "convergence" and he will be doing a workshop this morning. We had a specialist in the field of Marketing to churches who gave 2 sessions and then a very great presenter - Chuck West from the UW who did 2 sessions on sales. This event has been developing for years and it has really gotten quite advanced.

One of the reasons I love working for ETC is that most everything is sprinkled with fun. The fun is infectious and it extends out into our dealer and rep network and to our customers too. Watch these videos and join the fun.

David

An Opera follow up

In a few posts I have pondered what is happening to the arts in "this day and age." I do wonder about these things - but I don't lose much sleep over them.

When I posted about the NYC opera deciding to take a year off and then do a season of all modern operas I was left thinking alot about opera and where it would end up this century. Then I read a remarkable story in the WSJ telling me that I could go and see Opera at a local movie theatre around the country!

I have to admit I was suprised. I also started to think along the lines of David North in his post on an evening with Rush. Was this what opera was coming to? But considering it more carefully I think this sort of thing might be pure genius. This is the kind of evolution that I imagine will need to happen in all live theatre forms. How can we preserve the art and move it forward to a wider audience simultaneously.

I think I was most interested in the idea that this was a simulcast and not a canned film shoot. The idea that I could experience the opera - as it was performed in real-time - but in a place I could be actually sounds rather inviting. I also liked the idea that the intermissions were filled with impromptu backstage interviews with staff. I love the idea of an interview with a designer or stage manager while watching the sets shift.

And I would be lying if I didn't say that the idea of popcorn and milk duds actually makes opera sound a little better to me. Read the article and see what you think.

Wireless airspace management

Talking a while back to my buddy Victor he was updating me on the RFR being used for a NY production.  Turns out it was working great until the audio guys showed up, installed their own personal wireless network and absorbed some of the last few free channels available.

I facetiously asked how many production meetings discussed wireless airspace usage knowing already the answer would be none.  The problem to me seems to be that no one ever manages the airspace as it can't be seen and wireless solutions from Best Buy are cheap and easy to configure.

My guess is that during production meetings there is discussion about backstage space and who will occupy what area with which item.  The same must be true for the fly space, booth space and seating areas.  Why not airspace?

More technology to adapt to I'm sure.  Perhaps we can get people to start planning this invisible resource in the near future.  Out of sight does not mean out of mind.

Have a good time.

So, I've been a little preoccupied.  Lincecum and I talked quite a while ago about adding my two cents to the ETC blog pool and I was all jazzed about it.  I mean, what a great opportunity to actually get to write something interesting!  No offense to those of you who actually wait with baited breath for the next version of the Eos manual. 

But of course, real work got in the way.  Always does.  Nonetheless, the influx of bloggers to the ETC community has been expanding and each time there is a new post I get a little email notice telling me that someone else has posted.  Like an annoying 7-year-old (Bill Cosby called them "Informers"), these notifications poked my subconscious as if to say, "Other people are getting to do something FUN!"

Well, I decided that I finally had to make time.  Not just for blogging, but for all of the side projects that, when faced with a looming deadline, seem to crowd the back burner.  So today, I made it my mission to pick up a few of those dusty tasks and dedicate a little time to them.  Basically, a renewed effort to make room for having a good time (Yes, I have Paul Simon playing in the background).  One of those projects was blogging.

Luckily, another one was familiarizing myself with some of the efforts going into Workshop 2008.  And this coincides with “Joe's newfound blogging effort” quite well.  Particularly since I found that what's buzzing around ETC for Workshop is pretty darn cool.

I'm sure most of you have your own perception of what Workshop is, has been, or will be to you.  Information overload?  Possibly.  A great social engagement?  I hope so.  A waste of time?  I doubt it.  And I have a pretty good feel for how ETCers tend to perceive it, which is a whirlwind of friends and colleagues, familiar voices being matched to faces, and an enormous information download.  Personally, I look forward to it every year.  If for no other reason than I get to surround myself with a mass of people who actually have an interest in what I do for a living...what we all do for a living.  How rare an opportunity is that?

In poking around today within Marketing, I garnered a lot of zeal about all the things we're going to be doing to enhance the Workshop experience.  I'm even lucky enough to get to participate in some of it.  And after I had made the rounds, I got to thinking about all of it and what it means.

To be sure, a lot of what we are doing involves our newest products or changes in strategies.  Of course there are all of the training and informational classes that are the drive for the entire event.  Then there are the social aspects: the Welcome reception, dinner, barbeque, and softball to name a few.  But on top of that, I found that there are a lot of little plans in the works that aren't really there for any discernible reason...other than for your enjoyment.  Nothing more.  And THAT is what I think is really exceptional.

Sure, we want you to come and see the factory.  Yes, we hope that we can teach you something while you're here.  And we certainly hope that you will be well-fed.  But to top it all off, we truly are working hard on a lot of little extras in hopes that you will enjoy yourself.  How many companies have that on their list of objectives for a 3-day workshop?

Personally, I find it remarkable.  In the midst of so much else going on, there are plenty of individual efforts going into ensuring that you can come to ETC, learn a few things, and most importantly, have a good time doing it....really....we mean it.

So here's to hoping that all of our efforts come to fruition in the next couple of weeks.  Workshop is shaping up to be a great event, yet again, and we look forward to seeing you.  When you're here, keep your eyes peeled for the little extras that we've whipped up for you, try to learn something, and most importantly, have a good time.

"So God bless the goods we was given
And God bless the U. S. of A.
And God bless our standard of livin’
Let’s keep it that way
And we’ll all have a good time."
                                     - Paul Simon

An Evening with Rush – spoiled??

I’ve been a fan of Rush since before I was allowed to go to their concerts. Whether its 2112 taking notes from Ayn Rand’s “Anthem,” a mathematical cacophony of syncopation and time signature changes, or social and political lyrics by the non-singing drummer, how could a mind get bored?  Recently I was lucky enough to see them again at Summerfest with my brothers and a sister-in-law shortly after a downpour of rain.  We had the cheap seats in the bleachers not under the shed roof but we were third row center and could see everything including three of the house-owned five video screens. The audio was clear and the mix not bad.  At one point early in the show I turned around to see a full rainbow, end to end, over Lake Michigan. It was going to be a good night.

I’ve always liked Howard Ungerleider’s lighting no matter that I didn’t even know who he was the first couple of times I saw his work and this show was no exception. There was good and yet restrained use of each type of lighting unit and effect so that I visually didn’t get tired even from the bleachers. Some older songs, although still lit all with movers, were in open white. LED strips were only used in a few songs and even the HES Showguns were used to specific taste and not just a constant blast away effect. This was all well integrated with the video which alternated between cameras on the three guys, video clips and blank screens. Again, thank you for artistic choices that let me concentrate appropriately on the artists and music.

About halfway through the show, two barley pop influenced concert goers in row one (of the bleachers) caught my eye with hand waving.  It took me a couple of songs to figure out what was going on but it certainly seemed to me that between arms in the air, furrowed brows and animated discussion they were unhappy. Turns out that they didn’t like the video screens blank and they wanted Neil, Geddy and Alex on the screens all the time. This bothered me and I’m not sure if anyone else will agree but my thinking follows that of some scenes Lin and I have played out at Disney Animal Kingdom years ago.

A lady walked in through Genesis Gardens, looked at her park map and exclaimed, “Why this is just a zoo!” Is there something wrong with that? Other times I would stand at the marmoset pen in front of the Tree of Life and point out the tiny creatures to people in a hurry to go ride something. It worked: they stopped.

I am concerned we are getting to an age where we need to have something on a screen in front of us all the time, that we want to be fed education and entertainment, that we want our own voyeuristic access to any activity, that cell phone video clips are important to grab and post on YouTube. Will we soon visit the Redwood Forest and Old Faithful through iPhones and not be there to hear the wind through the branches and smell the mineral deposits? Why is it wrong to have someone present art or nature in their own view, to tell their own story? Does it always have to be the viewer’s story? Or am I worried too much.

I don’t know. It just bothered me that those two guys couldn’t sit back and enjoy the presentation, as opposed to assuming something was wrong, and be in the moment which was really about the music and not the people. It was, after all, an Evening with Rush.

Twin Cities theatre closing

I noticed this while on vacation (so sweet!)

That a longtime Minneapolis theatre had closed its doors dues to debt. This is a very sad situation, especially considering the strong stature of the theatre. They won a tony award three years ago for outstanding regional theatre and have been producing in the twin cities for 30 years.

I have to admit that I fear for arts organizations in a US economic downturn. I know that entertainment has traditionally done well in tough economic times - but I wonder how it will be this time around. "Entertainment" is  a much broader field than in the past. My fear is that regional theatres have a lot of competition for dollars these days. I wrote a few weeks ago about the New York City opera's decision to take a season "off." We have also seen this situation in Madison - where local theatres are competing more actively for dollars against the poor economy and the influx of broadway tours to the arts center in town.

Does anyone have a take on this? There are alot of comments at the star tribune site about the fall of this regional theatre.

David

Lesson on launching new features

There's quite a bit of chatter online the last few weeks regarding Netflix's decision to first kill, then revive, a little-used, cumbersome feature of it's service called "Profiles". I'm not a Netflix subscriber (I actually use Blockbuster's mail service), but this story is one that made me stop and think about the way we consider and commit to web projects here at ETC.

The story goes like this:

Some time ago, Netflix added a "Profiles" feature to their website, which was essentially an advanced way for users to manage their queues. At some point - presumably based on feedback from their users - Netflix decided this feature was a bust, and decided to kill it. They wrote about their decision on their community blog:
http://blog.netflix.com/2008/06/profiles-feature-going-away.html

Well, the outcry among the users that actually used this feature was fairly immediate and fairly noisy. And, less than two weeks after they took the feature away, Neflix added "Profiles" back. They wrote about their decision to reverse their previous decision:
http://blog.netflix.com/2008/06/profiles-feature-not-going-away.html

Once again, since I'm not a Netflix user, I don't have an opinion on the usefulness of the feature in question, nor on whether or not the folks at Netflix handled the PR of this well. It's just a really clear anecdotal lesson on thinking through features before you decide to build them, and thinking through (your commitment to) those features even more before you decide to launch them. Once you've made your investment, and especially once users have made theirs, there's a marriage in place and the separation costs aren't likely to be inconsequential.

I've probably not followed this guideline in the past on websites I've worked on, and will conceivably make the same conscious decision to ignore it again in the future on etcconnect.com or some other site. But, as they say about rules, you have to know them before you can break them.

Thanks for the refresher, Netflix!

Mike’s Three and a Half Years in Europe

After three and a half years of living and working in Europe I have only come to grasp one thing with absolute certainty: Europe is not the U.S.A. and the European Union is not a single market place. Granted, it is very nice to have a single currency in the form of the EURO.

In my case, I left a nice comfortable job as the Field Service Manager with the ETC Mother-ship in Middleton, WI for the diverse, multi-level working environment of Europe. In principle the general idea of my job is the same as when I worked in Middleton: Provide the highest level of customer service and exceed the expectations of customers. But ETC’s European companies are small organizations when compared to our U.S. Headquarters. Because of this, working in Europe tends to remind me of the ETC I started at as an intern in 1995. Everyone is doing everything and anything to get the job done. Now this is not to say that employees in the U.S. are not doing what it takes to meet our customers’ needs but there is a distinct advantage to the economies of scale that a larger organization can offer in terms of available resources. I have no doubt that some of you believe that the large size of ETC often makes it more difficult to work with but I can give you my personal insurance that every time I’m in the U.S. I hear conversations about how to improve the customer experience. It remains an overriding force that drives the company forward. As a matter of fact, I have often said that as soon as I feel ETC has stopped caring, that it would be time for me to leave. So far I’m planning on retiring from here.  

In the U.S. I had the luxury of sitting in my office and focusing on the needs of customers and ASC’s (Authorized Service Providers). Sure I was involved with ‘other stuff’ but in the end I just had my little piece of the service puzzle. Work in Europe is nowhere near so compartmentalized. I get to move freely between service, shipping, customs and duties, projects, and finance, all on levels that I would never have been exposed to in the U.S. And this hold true for almost all the employees here. We run around and stick our fingers in the holes of the dam and pray we do not run out of fingers. It is maddening….but at the same time; I never go home at the end of the day feeling that I did not accomplish anything!