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Who’s The Winner Here? Probably Not You

Friday, January 29th, 2010

This week’s announcement that the US Justice Dept. would allow the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster is a game changer for the entertainment industry.

If you’ve attended a major concert or other arena event recently, you realize that you can’t turn around without someone sticking their hand in your pocket, even though you’ve already bought a ticket for the event.

Start with the ticket service fee. You can’t buy a ticket without paying that, even if you purchase at the box office.

Next comes parking. $7.00 is the going rate around here, and some tickets automatically add a parking surcharge to every ticket, regardless of how many patrons might share a ride.

Next comes concessions. Mandatory purse and backpack checks assure that you won’t bring in so much as a bottle of water. Once you’re inside, prices range from $4.00 up for a simple snack to as much as $11.00 for a beer. If you’re covering the cost for a family of four, your out of pocket expenses can easily double the ticket price.

Ticketmaster and Live Nation share the credit for devising this system, and the Justice Department decisions means that it is now open season on event patrons.

By allowing these two companies to combine forces there is no longer any reason for one to try to gain a competitive advantage over the other by pricing tickets or add ons more competitively.

If you are concerned about this pending monopoly, you might find this web site interesting.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.

Posted in Other News, Pro Sound, Pro lighting, customer service, good business ideas | No Comments »

A Round Peg In A Square Hole

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Recent responses to an older blog posting about using XLR connectors on speaker cables caught me by surprise. It got me thinking about how ongoing evolution in this connector system has allowed it to stay relevant through generation after generation of audio development.

The XLR connector was first developed by James Cannon at ITT and was introduced to the audio market in 1958. Amazingly, through all the changes in connector standards and component wiring, the XLR is still the audio standard for microphone and patch cables.

One reason for its long life is that the basics of the design, much like good computer software design, have moved into the public domain. Anyone who has a better idea can bring their own version of the XLR connector to market.

A simple innovation developed by the Switchcraft company is an example of this design concept.

Cannon’s design for the XLR was for a round connector-a good idea since it fit well to a round cable and allowed the cable to be dragged along the floor without catching and tangling. Cannon’s concept called for both round body connectors on the cable and a round body “chassis mount” connector-the mating female connector found on the equipment or multicable box that the cable connector mated with.

A simple innovation by Switchcraft-changing the body shape of the panel mount connector from round to rectangular-meant that more connectors could be mounted side-by-side in a confined space since they could now fit edge to edge. You can see the value of that design change today by comparing a contemporary audio mixer to one built in the 1960’s or ’70’s.

Many minds contributing to the evolution of the XLR connector means that it will remain the audio industry standard for many years to come.

Posted in Pro Sound, Pro lighting, audio visual, good business ideas, mic cables, microphones & mic stands, speaker cables | No Comments »

Your Local High School Needs You

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

We enjoy working with our local schools and are particularly proud this holiday season to be involved with the arts curriculum at Northwood High School, the school my daughter attends. They are finishing up a series of special events this week and we applaud them for their hard work.

Periodically, I have pointed out the phenomenon I call the “graying” of the concert production industry. Lots of hands-on techs who got their start in sound and lighting began their careers in the 1970’s and ’80’s and are now looking at retirement or career changes. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of kids ready to take their places.

If you read the trade journals that cover the concert production industry, you know that a very high percentage of the articles feature technicians in their 50’s or even 60’s.

My work at Northwood High confirms this trend. Northwood has a newly renovated auditorium with state of the art sound and lighting systems. Twenty years ago, there would have been students crawling all over each other to get a chance to learn to operate this equipment.

Not today. Northwood has hundreds of kids involved in band, dance and drama but almost no students who want to work backstage or in the production booth. They simply don’t see it as a college or career track.

We have recently developed a series of “how to” animations related to teaching technical theatre skills, along with a set of printed guides.

It is our hope little things like this, along with our involvement in training students and teaching tech skills, will open the eyes of some of these high school students to the possibilities of an exciting career path that will soon have lots of employment opportunities.

If you have technical skills and are making a career change, give some thought to sharing all you’ve learned with your local high school arts program.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords andOnStage Stand mic stands. We’re passionate about arts education in the public schools.

Posted in Other News, Pro Sound, Pro lighting, audio visual, good business ideas | No Comments »

A Seasonal Reminder From Google Alerts

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

I use the Google Alerts notification system in order to track information about our customers, products and vendors. It’s a great time saver and turns up a lot of unexpected information.

One of my alerts is set to the search phrase “extension cord“. Unfortunately, all too often this time of year these alerts also include the word “fire“.

Somehow, it seems that Christmas decorating and overloaded extension cords regularly make headline news. While it’s easy to understand how this can happen, it’s also easy to prevent.

All electrical devices (including lights and powered decorations) are required to be tagged with information relating to how much power they consume. This information is usually listed along with the term “watts”. When you plug multiple lights or electrical decorations into an extension cord, it is necessary to add the total number of watts (also known as “current draw”) to determine what size of extension cord is called for.

If this simple arithmetic is a little daunting, there is an easier way to figure out if there is a problem.

Plug everything in, turn all the decorations on, and hold the extension cord in your hand for three or four minutes. If the cord becomes warm to the touch, then it is overloaded. Remove one or more of the items plugged into it and try again.

If you can’t reduce the current draw, then you need to increase the size (known as the “gauge” of the cable). This can be a little confusing, as the smaller the gauge number, the higher the current carrying capacity of the extension cord. That is, a 14 gauge cord has a lower current carrying capacity than a 12 gauge cord.

Finally, even if you don’t have an overloaded extension cord, running it under a rug or behind a wall can still create a fire hazard if air can’t circulate and remove any heat build up. It should be left out in the open.

Take a minute to plan before you begin holiday decorating. I don’t want to be reading about you in Google Alerts.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. We’ve got lots of products that make holiday decorating easier.

Posted in Pro lighting, customer service, extension cords | No Comments »

How Do You Get To Carnegie Hall? Join the Stagehands Union

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

I spent a number of years working as a union stagehand, rising to the position of vice-president of my local and enjoying a steady income while seeing lots of great shows. I gave this sort of work up several years ago, but an article in yesterday’s New York Times is making me rethink my decision.

The times reports that Dennis O’Connell, the props manager at Carnegie Hall, earned $530004.00 in pay and benefits last year. That’s right. Over a half million dollars income working as a stagehand.

These figures come from the Carnegie Hall’s 2007-2008 tax return and it shows that several other stagehands had compensation packages that exceeded $400,000.00.

The times went to some length to point out that stagehand pay many times far exceeded the amount earned by well known performers actually appearing on the stage.

The top executive at Carnegie Hall, Clive Gillinson, actually defended the pay, saying that stagehands “have huge and varied jobs to carry out”.

Now, I’ve been to Carnegie Hall (my wife & son performed with The Duke Chapel Choir there) and I’ve seen these stagehands at work. Moving risers, setting up the conductors podium and controlling the lighting may require some special abilities, but probably not on par with a skilled surgeon. I’m not sure that they even require any specific education.

I remember in detail the “huge and varied jobs” I did as a stagehand-everything from unloading a truck to climbing a lighting truss-and how happy I was to earn $15.00 an hour. I seemed like a fair wage at the time, and some of the work I did was so interesting that I probably would have done it for free.

Sure, there is some wear and tear on the body, but I’m guessing that the earnings of a Carnegie stagehand, including double and triple overtime, compensation for unsed vacation, and various union-mandated payouts, go a long way towards easing the pain.

The next time you pay $100 for a ticket and go to a concert, pay careful attention to the stagehands you see. They may be the highest paid performers in the building.

Want to know more? Here’s a link to the Times article.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. Check back here often for my random observations about show business.

Posted in Other News, Pro Sound, Pro lighting, audio visual, customer service, good business ideas | No Comments »

The 20 Amp Extension Cord Mystery

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

We have a great line of extension cords intended for heavy duty use. They use 12 gauge cable which gives them a 20 amp capacity, but we can’t really call them 20 amp cables because of the connectors that we use.

This has led to more than a little confusion among our customers.

Here’s why.

If you are familiar with standard wall outlets, you are probably aware that there are two different versions of outlets that look almost identical.

The standard 15 amp duplex receptacle (wall outlet) has openings for two parallel blades and a semi-circular ground prong. This has been standard for almost 50 years.

An almost identical version of this outlet has an additional slot set at a right angle as part of the parallel blade opening on one side.

If the outlet has this additional right angle slot, it is intended not just 15 amp service, but 20 amp service as well.

A true 20 amp connector (male) on an extension cord will have, not two parallel blades, but rather two blades set at right angles to each other. Otherwise they are identical. Same size connector body, same size blades, same everything else.

15 Amp(Nema 5-15)

20 Amp (Nema 5-20)

If we sold our “20 amp” extension cords with a 20 amp rated connector, they it would only plug into the version of the wall outlet that is designed to accomodate both types of blades.

20 Amp Wall Outlet(Nema 5-20)

While we are confident that the product we sell is designed to handle a true 20 amp load, in order to truly rate an extension cord as being “20 amps” it must have one of its connector blades at right angles to the other.

Want to know more? Here’s a valuable Wikipedia article.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords andOnStage Stand mic stands. Click here to sign up for our newsletter. Lots more good ideas at our Twitter feed.

Posted in POWERCON, Pro Sound, Pro lighting, audio visual, extension cords | No Comments »

How About A Little Balance Here

Monday, April 13th, 2009

I spend my entire day online staring at four computer monitors. It is not exciting as life was when I was a special event producer, but it is a heck of a lot better way to get my childrens’ tuition bills paid.

That’s the idea that led to the launching of goodbuyguys.com.

After almost thirty years in the special events production business, it just made sense to develop a web business that could take advantage of what I had learned from three decades of “hands on” experience.

A good part of my time is spent monitoring forums about audio visual and stagecraft discussions, looking for info about how the products we sell are being discussed and used in the field.

Unfortunately, most of the moderators of forums that cater to those in the sound and lighting business take exception with the idea that you can combine a production career with supplying products that you used successfully when you actually used what you sell now.

It seems that if those who control these forums think that you make a living selling something, then you are automatically disqualified from posting useful information to their forum.

It is difficult to understand how bringing practical knowledge to the marketplace somehow disqualifies the seller from being able to answer questions and comment on forum user postings. Would you rather buy your gaffers tape from someone who has taped down enough cable to go to the moon and back, or someone who has spent their entire life in a sales office. The sense that selling a product discounts the value of the sellers experience means that the real loser is the person who posts a forum question. They are denied access to what may be a lifetime of experience just because the email address of the person answering their questions points to a domain that sells the product.

As the web continues to build a larger and larger database of links back to the sellers domain, it becomes even more likely that the forum administrator will disallow postings from an experienced seller with real world experience.

The end result of this sort of thinking means that the forum subscribers are denied access to a lot of valuable information.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment ONe extension cords, OnStage Stand mic stands. Look here for good information about web development too!

Posted in Pro Sound, Pro lighting, audio visual, good business ideas, web development | No Comments »

Let iGoogle Do The Heavy Lifting

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

Anybody who has tried to us a web service called RSS (Really Simple Syndication) to subscribe to online news, podcasts, blogs, etc. knows that the first “S” in RSS stands for anything but “simple“.

In theory, by subscribing to a RSS “feed”, updated information is pushed at you by the website hosting the new information so that you don’t have to go looking for it. Setting up this service has been really confusing and a lot of people don’t take advantage of it.

A version of Google called iGoogle has finally made the “simple” part of RSS really simple.

If you haven’t tried iGoogle, you ought to take a look. iGoogle lets you set up a personalized version of Google which can is customized for each user.

In addition to things like local weather and links to favorite web sites, you can also use iGoogle to subscribe to as many RSS feeds as you want. When information is updated in the feeds you have subscribed to, this information shows up on your iGoogle page.

We have RSS feeds generated by GoodBuyGuys.com which sends out new product information, and a feed from this blog that is distributed to anyone who wants to subscribe to it.

I include these RSS feeds in those I can see on my iGoogle page, and when we update something, it shows up on iGoogle within minutes.

Already got an iGoogle page? Here’s a link to very easy instructions for adding RSS feeds.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords , OnStage Stand mic stands and “value added” customer service.

Posted in Other News, Pro Sound, Pro lighting, good business ideas, web development | No Comments »

Don’t Forget To Water Your Par Cans

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

There are lots of very exciting things happening in the development of new lighting technologies. The desire to save energy and use fewer natural resources in lighting manufacturing means that big changes are right around the corner.

General Electric is developing LED lighting technology that makes use of organic compounds that are incorporated into light emitting diodes or OLEDs. This technology still has lots of problems to solve, but it actually works in the lab.

Sheets of plastic film containing OLEDs emit a blue-white glow when an electric current is applied. Because these sheets are flexible, it may be possible someday to have your wallpaper or ceiling also be your light source.

The OLED panels provide a diffuse lighting source that doesn’t need lamp shades or frosting like a conventional tungsten filament light bulb. GE and Siemens are already working with manufacturers of devices like cell phones and televisions, even though the cost is still far too great to be practical. That, no doubt, will surely change.

Meanwhile, anybody who has watched their electrical meter spin at dizzying speeds when all the lights are on, has better days to look forward to.

Want to know more? Click here!

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Enterainment 1 extension cords , OnStage Stand mic stands and quality speaker cables.

Posted in Pro lighting, audio visual, extension cords, flashlights, good business ideas | No Comments »

Is There A Place For Us In The Green Theatre Initiative?

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

I recently came across an interesting article in Stage Directions magazine and it leads to a discussion that we need to be a part of.

The article, by Mike Lawler, features Gideon Banner of the Green Theatre Initiative . It is one that anybody involved in using or selling expendables to the theatre industry needs to pay attention to.

To date, the green theatre movement has primarily focused on infrastructure and on conservation. Its great that new theatre facilities building is taking into consideration concepts like solar lighting, water conversation, and environmentally sustainable construction techniques. Unfortunately, it takes generations for these sorts of changes to work their way through the system. Theatre buildings last for decades, and quite often they are not able to easily be upgraded in an environmentally responsible way, even if funding is available.

More immediate results can be realized from simple conservation techniques. Upgrading lighting fixtures to LED technology, using more efficient sound system components and addressing wasteful uses of energy and water are something that every theatre facility can address every day.

My concern, honestly, is how this green movement will impact our own business. It is regrettable that the nature of expendables means that a lot of what we sell will end up in the landfill at the end of the show. You can’t reuse tape, and rechargeable battery technology has not reached the point where sound techs are willing to trust them in wireless microphones.

We are always on the lookout for reusable solutions for cable management and we are working with Sanyo on their Eneloop rechargeable battery line in hopes of offering this product to our customers who buy batteries for wireless mics.

We are anxious to be part of the dialog and I welcome your comments.

Posted in Pro Sound, Pro lighting, batteries, gaffers tape, good business ideas, tape | No Comments »

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