Light Minds Think Alike

Oktoberfest

ETC Controls Product Manager Sarah Clausen writes from far afield:

"You moved to GERMANY?"

Yes, yes I did. Last March. And at the moment I'm supposed to be writing a blog post on that move. However, we're in the process of getting ready for a big open-house event here in Holzkirchen and that will be far more interesting to write about, I think. So, you all have to wait.

In the meantime, however, I offer the following link to a story on CNN that I read today. It's about Oktoberfest. You know -  beer, pretzels, beer, traditional outfits, beer, singing, beer, dancing on tables, beer... You get the idea. This article is written by one of Munich's famous Eisbach surfers, who happens to be the director of the recent documentary on those surfers called "Keep Surfing." Yes, we have surfers here, just north of the Alps in central Munich. Anyway, read up on Oktoberfest, perhaps while enjoying a nice Hacker-Pschorr or Spaten beverage, and I'll get back to you with photos from Fokus 2010 in a couple of weeks.

Movie director's 10 tips for a perfect Oktoberfest (Links to CNN.com)

Surfing on the Eisbach - Keep Surfing Film site

Bis dann!

The Last Day

"On the last day of a tradeshow, people get weary. You begin to look at your coworkers and they all start to look the same. PLASA, Day 4..." - David Lincecum, ETC Marketing Manager

A Wisconsin-based rigging accident

From the desk of ETC Technical Service Manager David North:

A Wisconsin-based rigging accident

Okay, so now I have your attention.

Last winter, a nearby ski hill [we have no mountains in WI], suffered a frightening accident that rigging-equipment designers, rigging specifiers and rigging operators should all take note of, as it applies directly to what we do every day. Harvey Sweet, senior technical product manager, one of several resident rigging specialists and a key member of the ESTA Standards Committee on Rigging had the following comments on the situation:

AN ACCIDENT IN WISCONSIN

The good news is that the accident did not involve theatrical rigging equipment. The bad news is that at least 14 people were injured.

 A ski lift was in use during the Christmas holiday in 2009, when suddenly the lift stopped moving forward and quickly reversed, gaining speed. People on the lift were rapidly dragged downhill and eventually fell off of the lift or were bruised and injured by lift chairs slamming into them as the chairs stacked up at the bottom of the ski lift system.

What happened and why is this important to stage rigging?

The gear box on the lift motor sheared its teeth and could no longer move the load. The load brake that should have stopped the hoist was on the power input side of the motor/gear box and could not control the load because the brake was dependent upon a functional gear box to transmit power to the moving load.

This is a cautionary tale for power hoist rigging for the theater.

When a load is suspended above the stage and the machinery fails, the equipment should be designed to prevent the kind of accident that occurred with this ski lift.

How?

Placing a load brake on the hoist so that it directly controls the motor output side of the machine (and its load) will prevent a failure in the gear box or motor from causing scenery or any other lifted load from falling uncontrolled out of the stage loft. Short form: machines with load brakes on the output shaft of a stage power hoist system are safer than machines that control the load through the motor or gearbox.

There are several lessons to be learned here.

1. The lift had an inadequately designed and maintained load-side brake, independent of the viability of the gearbox. Lesson: Hoist products should have a load brake mounted to the output shaft of the gearbox.

2. The lift was to have had a daily and weekly inspection of safety devices, which that day had only partially been completed and had rarely been performed previously. Also, no training records were available to verify who was trained on what procedures. Lesson: Have established procedures for operating stage machinery, have qualified people following those procedures, and have documentation of training on file.

3. Additional safety equipment had been suggested on a yearly inspection and had not been installed. Lesson: Get yearly inspections and follow the recommendations or shut down the equipment until such time as they can be followed.

Imagine the sinking and horrific feeling that dozens of people had as the machinery they relied upon reversed direction without warning.

Harvey has some other tasty tidbits of advice, standards and policy on rigging that we'll get to in the coming months. Also look over the Prodigy webpages to see how we've taken care of that fear factor. http://www.etcrigging.com/

Be safe,

David

Is ETC a "corporate" environment?

It is amazing how much the culture of ETC has changed over time - and how much has stayed the same. When I joined ETC in 1994 the place was a mish-mash of offices, office furniture, copiers - everything had been gathered over the years as the company grew. We had all different types of PCs, cell phones, often based on personal preferences and lax controls around buying.

Of course time makes changes. Now we have standard PCs and phones, unified office equipment - and yes - Dilbertesque cube farms. But personalization still reigns!

Novella Smiths office door, above - and the sign she had made for herself inside the office - below.

Project manager Keith Stephens shuns too much light.

Tibetan Prayer flags and waterfalls decorate the office of Chris Mizerack, software engineer for Eos. I got that peaceful, easy feeling.

Heather Hatley embraces ergonomic furniture - and notice just behind Heather? The cubes have windows in them.

Rachel Frederick and Heather demonstrate the highly functional windows! Sometimes windows present challenges, and the Quotes department has risen to meet them.

Good curtains make for good neighbors as demonstrated in the Quotes department by Curt Nummerdor and Heather Robbins.

Don't ask why the drapes are suspended in mid-air -- it has something to do with separating the boys and the girls. (It's a Quotes department thing.)

Doug Tuttrup and Alison Daughters - good neighbors. Hey Doug - is all that stuff written on the whiteboard about Alison?

Just like in Hawaii - you may run into the occasional chicken.

Doug Tuttrup pays homage to his favorite customer - the Walt Disney company with his Disney styrofoam ball collection decorating his cube top. Even Bobblehead Fred celebrates the mouse.

If you don't like sitting at a desk - you can adjust your Desk to "Bar Height" (Bryan Palmer prefers the bar) or as Jake Dunnum shows below - A "standing desk."

Jake has a lot of height to deal with - and an expansive back to nurture.

Often misunderstood - ever present - Grover flies through the office of Steve Traut. Steve's office is also where old Macs go to retire.

So yes - we have standard PC's, standard furniture, cube farms and purchasing restrictions. We have have become corporate -- at least a little.  We also try to keep things clean. Fred Foster -- beloved CEO --holds twice yearly "white glove inspections" designed to keep down the accumulated trash and clutter -- but he never attacks the individual personalities available at every desk.  He does ask people to keep the windows clean. At least we think it's Fred Foster making those inspections, wearing white gloves . . .