Industry Issues
Ridiculously low numbers of female techies. Why?
February saw a record 2,536 attend the ENTECH Roadshow, of which just 4.5% were female. This spurred some commentary as to whether it represents female participation in entertainment technical roles – or whether ENTECH isn’t considered welcoming. “It is a very obvious trend in the technical production community”, said Kat Grandquist, who is studying tech…
Read MoreCX goes Digital Free
CX was one the only fully paid circulation trade mags in the world until this month when we went digital free. It was a decision made some time ago and timed for the inflection point where advertising revenue fell below a trigger. This sounds illogical. Wouldn’t we be chasing every dollar, especially readership money, to…
Read MoreVulture Gorges on Pizza
Biz Talk: Inside the Eagle Boys disaster By Julius Grafton As an ex roadie I have a healthy interest in pizza and beer. The former is of course easy road food, and Eagle Boys was one of the more ubiquitous franchise chains, behind dominant Dominoes and Pizza Hut, purveyors of the best Hawaiian pizza in…
Read MoreDeath of a son
By Stuart Milne Early in 2015 I took 95-specialist crew to Baku, Azerbaijan to work on the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the European Games. This was after successfully supplying crew to London 2012, Sochi 2014 and Glasgow 2014. I was on-site Administrator for all these projects and again for Baku. None of us really…
Read MoreV.E.T. Training is Dead
Forget about V.E.T. Courses – look to Higher Education instead Slowly the stories emerge about college recruiters stalking disadvantaged people at Centrelink, offering $50 cash and a laptop if they sign on for a ‘free’ Vocational Education and Training (V.E.T.) course. What happened next is astounding. The government would pay the college in full for…
Read MoreVale Eric Robinson. Live Production Pioneer
JPJ Audio chief Eric Robinson died on November 11 from complications with cancer. He had just turned 67 and had retired to Port Douglas. Eric was the best known pioneer of Australian live production, having taken control of Jands in 1970 from its founders. Eric and the Mulholland brothers Paul and David drove Jands hard,…
Read MoreWhy Sydney Uni wants to demolish Seymour Centre
Theaters are in short supply and if Sydney University has its way, the Seymour Center will be demolished in favor of a subway station. The University previously shuttered the Footbridge Theater on Parramatta Road more than a decade ago. Losing the Seymour Center would sever its links to the performing arts. The University wants the…
Read MoreTax Break for Small Business
The $20,000 accelerated depreciation provision in the 2015 Federal Budget is a dream come true for many CX readers who buy equipment. The provision allows you to buy as much as you like, provided no one item of equipment is valued at more than $20,000. With most moving lights, line array elements and screens costing…
Read MoreMinimum Technical Skills
Sound and Lighting Technicians: what should they know? By Julius Grafton What skills should an entry level entertainment technology worker possess once ‘trained’? Last month we had over 400 experienced crew complete a lengthy survey, and now we have a draft set of skills – one for audio; and one for lighting. The survey revealed…
Read MorePush out the Cowboys. Why we need ACCREDITATION
Our lead news story in December CX shows at least one government events department thinks we should work for nothing. They didn’t just decide to cut their sound and lighting budget by 75%. Someone is prepared to do the work. My solution is to accredit legitimate operators, using an industry scheme. It would be simple…
Read MorePaying for Contractor Compliance
A reader contacted me at deadline with this cracker tale. It seems some venues are now outsourcing compliance. Enter the new era, with Smartek. This is fully owned by Barrington Group Australia (Barringtons) and has its roots in a standalone computer system going back to the mid 1990s. One of the first major instances of…
Read MoreHills restore SVL call-centre
Today Hills SVL dealers received a most welcome email, after a solid slew of gripes about the decentralised call centre approach they adopted when harmonizing SVL with other formerly separate Hills divisions. Typical of the complaints here at CXMAGBLOG was this: “I called Hills today and asked for Sales. They had NO IDEA what…
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