This is not news in itself, but the willingness of these CEO’s to make a commitment to have a program in place in 2013 is a very positive development.

The presidents of Duracell, Energizer, Kodak, Rayovac and Panasonic began discussions in 2010 regarding getting a nationwide recycling program in place and now finally seem willing to commit to a date for a program roll out.

Certainly, the logistics and science in getting a program into place are complicated, but it is hard to see how plans and discussions could be going into their fourth year.

We would love to be able to point our customers towards a reliable recycling option in their community, regardless of where they live.

Check back here and also at Recyclebattery.org to track their progress.

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. We are prod to feature extension cords from Hosatech.  Our Duracell Procell batteries are the real thing and we sell them “Satisfaction Guaranteed”.

I had written several articles about stage collapses this summer and had been one of many in the production community who called for a re-examination of the standards applied to temporary stage structures.

I only realized recently that one very important part of the impacted community had not really spoken up.  This was because Cheap Trick guitarist and manager Dave Frey visited Congress to lobby for increased regulations on temporary stages.

As you may remember, Cheap Trick was set to perform on the stage that collapsed at the Ottowa Blues Fest on July 17.  Obvioiusly, these two have a unique experience in this area and speak with a voice that needs to be heard.

Nothing would bring about changes in this critical area more quickly than to have performers refuse to play in structures that did not meet strict codes and undergo thorough inspection.

A contract that specifies “no brown M&M’s” in the dressing room but says nothing about the safety of the stage is over due to be re-written.

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 and OnStage Stand mic stands.

Maybe this model is used in other industries, but this is the only one I am familiar with. These magazines are filled with dozens of really useful articles, and, many times, the advertising is filled with good info as well.

I use these journals regularly to find new products for our catalog. Its also really great to come across articles about our customers. I even saw one of our products in a photo accompanying a story about the NFL Playoffs.

Any student or hobbyist in sound, lighting or theater tech can easily begin receiving these journals by simply making up a business name. The magazines base their ad rates on the number of subscribers, so they are happy to add you to their subscriber list. They rarely do much to insure that you are a legitimate business with a large purchasing budget.

Journals like Pro Sound News, Sound & Video Contractor , Live Sound International, Church Production, and FOH Magazine are yours for the asking. They have great columns, handy “how to” articles, and honest equipment reviews. The photo quality is first good and the editorial content, while advertiser driven, is still useful. Most of the writing is first rate.

Interested? You can sign up for regular subscriptions at any of the publication web sites in this article.

Goodbuyguys.com is a collection of web sites (including buytape.com, buybattery.com, buymicstand.com, buyextensioncord.com, buyaflashlight.com and buywireties.com) designed to deliver a great selection of production supplies.

Every trade magazine I pick up these days has an article about yet another Ipad, smart phone  or tablet computer app that is designed to wirelessly interface with a piece of sound or lighting equipment so that it can operated through an internet interface.   These are exciting developments and certainly give production pros a great new set of tools for managing their shows.

The article I am expecting to see next month, or the month after, is about how some 20,000 seat arena concert or major corporate media event has been hijacked by someone who has been able to hack one of these sound, lighting or video controllers and bring the show to its knees.  It seems inevitable to me.

All sorts of recent revelations regarding how much energy black hat hackers apply to cracking financial networks and major e-commerce sites show us time and again how vulnerable these interconnected resources are.  If major credit card and online sales  web sites that spend millions on security can be hacked and taken over, even briefly, by outside parties, it seems highly likely that wireless internet-based show controllers, subject to little or no security, must be quite vulnerable.

No kisses are going to be blown when this prediction comes true!

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel 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 lots of other useful production supplies.

I subscribe to a lot of them, and no matter how hard I try, I get behind in my reading.

I picked up the July edition of Front of House to read over lunch and was pleased to see two prominent North Carolina companies featured.

Special Events Services, from Winston-Salem, provided their new Martin Audio MLA sound system to support Oprah’s final television shows-Oprah’s Surprise Spectacular-at Chicago’s United Center Arena.  This was one of the most highly anticipated television broadcasts of the year, and SES and Martin Audio made sure that the audience heard every word.  Click here for the details.

SE Systems, headquartered in Greensboro, was featured in celebration of their 24th year as the exclusive technical support vendor for Merelfest, a major bluegrass and traditional music festival.  Click here to read the article.

We’re proud to call these two great companies customers and tip our hat to Front of House for their recognition.

Goodbuyguys.com is a collection of web sites (including buytape.com, buybattery.com,buymicstand.com, buyextensioncord.com, buyaflashlight.com and buywireties.com) designed to deliver a great selection of production supplies.

I have always been amused at how the live events industry has allowed such practices as referring to sound persons as “engineers“, and this is a good example of how the special events production industry has evolved outside of the mainstream.  Real engineers have college degrees, face rigorous testing and must be licensed before they ply their trade.  All a sound “engineer” needs is a Sharpie and a Maglite!  You need an architect, a licensed contractor and a building permit to add a bathroom to your house, but you can build a six story tall temporary structure in the midst of 10,000 people by just being lucky enough to win the bid.

I was in the outdoor staging business for many years, and must disclose, upfront, that I was guilty of more than one questionable decision, because we are all so deeply committed to the concept that “the show must go on“.  I am now amazed that over a period of more than 20 years no one ever asked me who designed this roof, who built this stage, and what are their qualifications?

Somewhere along the way, our commitment to hard work and quick thinking have managed to allow us to escape the scrutiny (government and otherwise) that similar industries must submit to every day.  Those days are likely nearing an end.

We used to joke that building stages was like having a construction job without a lunch break.  The joke should have also included “and without a permit“. The building of temporary structures puts performers and audience members at the same sort of risk they would be exposed to when shows are in permanent buildings, but the fly-by-night nature (I don’t mean this in a derogatory manner, since we literally do “fly-by-night)  of what we do has allowed it to escape the inspection and permitting process.

The evolution of stage roofs from being a tent over a flat bed truck to massive structures like that one in Indiana has happened in rapid fashion, and the notion that an unlicensed contractor can hang thousands of pounds over the heads of audience members and performers without being subjected to formal training, licensing and inspection now must come to an end.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel 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 lots of other useful production supplies.

There’s not really a lot that can be done to improve this braided cotton cord. Or that’s what I thought until we received our first shipment from a new supplier for this product. For years, the tie line we sold had been wrapped on cardboard spools. I have used this product a lot myself over the years, and it seemed like before the tie line was gone that the spool had ripped, collapsed, or completely disintegrated through rough handling and packing into road cases and tool boxes.

This new tie line supplier had spooled their product on a heavy-duty plastic spool and it works much, much better. The spool can stand up to rough handling, sweaty palms and a little rain on an outdoor event site. The product is the same but it is now offered in a much better package.

This new vendor is also supplying us with new smaller 300 foot spools, so now you can buy a spool that will fit in your tool box or under the seat of your truck. No need to lug around a lifetime supply if you only need a small amount.

If you need tie line, but aren’t sure whether to buy the glazed or unglazed version, here’s a little info that might help. If you intend to tie and untie the knots over and over againg (say, for cable ties) use unglazed. It does not hold a knot as tightly. If your use is for something more permanent (e.g. tying a drape onto a truss or batten) use glazed. Knots tied with glazed time line remain tightly bound over a long period of time.

I never cease to be amazed at how a simple change in packaging can dramatically change the way I look at a product.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel 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 lots of other useful supplies for cable management.

We enjoy working with our local schools and are particularly proud 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.

I began my career as a an audio techncian, and spent many years building, setting up, configuring, and repairing concert sound systems. People who design computer peripheral wiring could learn a lot from the audio industry.

While the performance and compatibility of computer peripherals continues to improve, the interconnections between these devices never catches up. I can’t think of a single data-type connector that comes close to matching the performance of the lowly audio XLR connector, a design that is well into its second half-century of use.

I just spent 15 frustrating minutes trying to replace a computer monitor in the office, only to be reminded that there are at least three (if not more) different pin configurations for a D-sub connector, even though they all have the same physical shell. Maybe, it’s just me, but I almost always have to try to plug in a USB connector at least two times, as there is nothing visible on the outside of the connector to indicate which end is up. I guess there are savings involved in making ethernet connectors with with almost useless plastic locking pins, but the savings quickly evaporate when you spend a half-hour trying to pry one out of a computer port after the release tab snaps off. The list goes on and on.

Audio connectors, on the other hand, are designed to be patched in the dark, repaired (when necessary) in the field, and to be common to hundreds and hundreds of different manufacturers equipment. The Shure SM57 microphone ( probably the most popular and common in the world) uses the same connector now as when it came to market in 1965. A 40 year old SM57 works with a brand new Chinese-made microphone cable right out of the box.

We’re depending more and more on computer-based devices all the time, and the portability designed into these items means that they are constantly having to be cabled and uncabled. Hopefully, manufacturers will consider adopting some connector standards that are up to the task.

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 and OnStage Stand mic stands. Count on us to meet your cable needs.

Take a look at this. The dmx phone from Digital Light Solutions is a lighting controller interface that will let you use a common cordless telephone to remotely control a dmx enabled stage lighting system. The manufacturer promotes the device as a simple and effective remote focus tool, as, at least in theory, the telephone can also store multiple cues.

It’s a little hard to follow the logic of spending $500.00 so that you can then use a $29.99 cordless phone from Radio Shack to focus and control a lighting system without being tethered by a cable. Especially when simple DMX controllers can be purchased for a couple hundred bucks. I guess that the wireless capability would be nice, that is if you were willing to put up with the laughter of everyone else on the crew. “LD,  phone home!”

Here’s what really got me thinking about this package.

My cordless phone at home constantly scans for unused frequencies in the range allocated by the FCC for telephones. This is so I can have some privacy from neighbors whose phones might use the same frequency.

I have tickets for an upcoming performance of The Lion King. If they had the dmx phone interface in their lighting system, could I fire up my phone, scan to find the frequency their system was set to, and take over control of the show? Now that would be cool.

Got a cool idea to share? Let us know.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel 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 lots of other useful production supplies

I’m sitting and staring at two glowing flashlights on my desk as I write this blog-one flashlight is using a couple of Duracell Procell AA batteries and an identical light contains a fresh pair of AA from a company called Permalife.

Unfortunately,it looks like the “Permalife” is going to be considerably less than “Permanent”. It’s already starting to dim.

We were excited when we got pricing information about the Permalife brand, as these batteries had real potential to save our customers some money. The savings evaporate in a hurry if it takes three or four batteries to match the performance of one ProCell.

It’s bad when a flashlight fails in use, but you usually get some warning. It gradually fades out rather than failing all at once. A wireless microphone is very different. Once its voltage in the transmitter falls below a certain point, the receiver becomes vulnerable to all sorts of outside interference. This can be disasterous or funny. Usually the former. Rarely the latter.

As the sun sets on this blog, the Permalife-equpped flashlight fades to black and our quest for a good no name battery continues. If we ever find one, I’ll let you know.

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 and OnStage Stand mic stands. We’re your source for honest battery information.

For their summer residency in New York City, the Royal Shakespeare Company is building a reproduction of their stage at Stratford On Avon inside the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan. The Shakespeare company has sent 46 shipping containers by boat to the Upper East Side of Manhattan to build the stage they will need for a six week residency beginning this week and running into August. Rather than have to locate storage facilities for the shipping containers, this innovative stage actually incorporates the containers into the stage construction.

Building a replica of their stage in England means that performers will feel right at home on their temporary stage.

This presentation of six of Shakespeare’s works runs through August 14.

You can see a slide show of the construction process here.

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.

An article in yesterday’s New York Times brought to light how overbuilding, overselling and problems in the broader economy have brought some of these arenas to the brink of bankruptcy.  Unfortunately, since most of them are owned by municipalities, simple bankruptcy is not a real option.  The whole town would have to essentially go out of business to do that.  Not really very realistic.

Towns all over America were sold on the idea that building an arena would revitalize their downtowns or allow them to drive development to a new area where they wanted to focus future economic growth.  The companies that took the lead in making these sales have failed to deliver the promised fans in the seats and the money they were supposed to bring with them.

Now they are having to do things like put off  employee raises and leave other bills unpaid to service the debt on their new buildings.  Layoffs probably come next.

Even in good economic times, the demand for tickets to second tier sports teams is limited and there are not enough concert and entertainment acts that can make money in these mid-size performance spaces.

We wish the best for these towns that are now struggling to afford their new palaces but realize that they are not all going to survive.

Anybody want to buy an arena?

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.  Every extension cord we sell is “Satisfaction Guaranteed“.

The most recent edition of Front of House magazine (one of my favorite trade journals) highlights how some of those concert production pros are redefining their careers in the information age.

Front of House, or FOH is published by Timeless Communications, the leader in trade journal publications for the sound and lighting industry.  They touch just about every aspect of hands on production with good articles, equipment reviews and industry news.

In their current edition, FOH announces the hiring of Mark Frink as the new editor.  Frink is well known to the pro audio community, having worked with acts ranging from Tony Bennett to Jessica Simpson.  He’s worked at the Super Bowl and was involved in Pope John Paul II appearance at Giants Stadium,  so he obviously knows what producing a big event is all about.

Congratulations to Mark in his new position.  We look forward to reading his contributions.  And a tip of the hat to Timeless Communications and FOH for turning to the industry that supports them to provide new talent.

In an business where a retirement plan is about as elusive as perfect sound at every seat in the house,  it’s great to see new ideas for a “second act.”

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.  Every extension cord we sell is “Satisfaction Guaranteed“.

This involves churches that hold services in spaces not normally intended for worship. Holding church services in a storefront, a school auditorium, or a hotel meeting room is nothing new. It has been going on for years, and it is the way many churches get started. Building a church is expensive, and until there are enough members to sustain the cost, some temporary space is necessary. This is not the trend I am talking about.

What I am talking about is a church service focused on youth that is done as a full blown concert experience. This means a full band with a concert quality sound system, high end lighting, video image magnification and special effects. The whole set up loads into a local arena or amphitheater like a regular show and is run by church staff members who are experts in various areas of special event production.

Having to set up full sound, lighting, video and staging is a tremendous amount of work, but bringing their message into an environment where young people are open to new ideas is proving to be really effective.

We salute these technicians in their efforts and are proud to be a part of what they are doing.

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

This weekend I got to witness something that could change that in a really positive way.

I had the pleasure of attending an entertainment technologoy conference at the UNC School Of The Arts in Winston-Salem, NC, which featured presenters for Cirque du Soleil and some of their suppliers.

Cirque provided some of their highest profile technicians and administrators and presented training seminars and “hands on” training for UNCSA students and students from a number of other university technical training programs.

In addition, there were workshops on resume preparation and arts administration careers, again taught by Cirque staff.  Representatives from Cirque du Soleil made it clear to student attendees that they would be looking to college technical theatre programs as an important source for new techs for all their shows.

Until this weekend, I had been unaware of the connection between North Carolina university theatre programs and Cirque du Soleil.  Alumni from The School for The Arts, UNC Chapel Hill, and others were represented among the presenters and Cirque representatives let student attendees know that they were hoping to strengthen these ties.

While it is true that our company has ties to a number of Cirque vendors (and Cirque itself) as an expendables supplier, my interest in attending was primarily in the capacity of a volunteer at our local high school.  I am interested in helping high schools develop technical theatre training programs and can’t wait to share what I learned this weekend.

Thank you, UNC School Of The Arts, for being such a great host. And for opening my eyes to a great new opportunity for students to develop a relationship with one of the greatest entertainment presenters in the world.

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. Click here for unbeatable deals on Shure wireless microphones.

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.

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.

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.  Our Hosa & MI cables use industry standard XLR connectors.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

A new site which hosts documentary films is making this web video addiction a lot more of a problem.

The site is SnagFilms.com, which hosts hundreds of documentaries and does it in a way that allows you to embed them in a blog, attach them to an email, or use them as content in your own web site.  The site is free, and you are only shown a few very short advertisments during the film.

SnagFilms is free and you are only shown a few short ads during the screening of the film.  You can even view it a full screen mode.

This is a great way for a documentary maker to get lots of exposure and even make a little money, since you can buy a DVD of the film right from the site.

I just finished watching a film about life in the New York City Fire Department called “Brotherhood”.  Here’s a link: 

Leave it to the British to bring us a decidely “low tech” solution to handling sound mixing for those interminable 8 hour corporate meetings or all night rehearsals.

Its the Canford Wine Rack, a 3 space rack mount module, designed to store up to four bottles of wine in an audio rack.

Apparently this is not a joke (even though I first came across it on “boingboing“).  It appears that you can actually order it.

Obviously cooling might present a problem if you prefer a Chardonnay or Reisling, but we are going to get to work right away on a nitrogen chilling system.

Check back here for updates.

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 quality speaker cables.

This ill advised attempt at vertical integration in the concert and entertainment business is getting ready to fail yet again.

The idea of owning every component of  an entertainment venture from the performer to the venue was a bad one from the start.  Livenation continues to prove how bad an idea it was every single day.

Their stock (LVY) has lost 40% since the beginning of the year and is down a whopping 200% over the last 12 months.  Their sale of controlling interest in many of the theatres  they ruled to a British theatrical producer during the winter gave them a little breathing room, but their most recent spending spree on artists may be the final nail in their coffin.

It appears that the strategy of controlling venues and ticket distribution is now morphing into ownership of artists.  They are paying ridiculous sums to concert performers in exchange for their future earnings in performance, recording and merchandising and the stock market continues to vote with investors’ dollars.  The vote is a resounding “NO”.

Today’s announcement regards Nickelback, a band that’s been over for longer than they were popular.  Livenation has made a deal for somewhere between $50 million and $70 million for these Canadian has beens, and  the stock is now flirting wtih its 52 week low.

Add this deal to those for Madonna ($120 million), Jay-Z ($150 million), U2($120 million), and its obvious that Livenation won’t be alive much longer.

Even still relevant acts like U2 and Jay-Z (hasn’t he retired a couple of times already?) can’t possibly generate enough revenue to make these deals pay off.

Every move that Livenation has made into the entertainment business has been bad for the consumer and for local venues.  We can only hope that their continued failures will lead us back to local control and booking of venues, fair pricing of tickets, and the chance for new entertainers to reach an audience.

Lets hope that this is the beginning of the end for this failed experiment.

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 other quality concert production supplies.

With my background in pro sound, I was familiar with both the quarter inch standard , and the Canon EP    multipin standard. I had never seen the XLR used for speaker cables.  I quickly became a convert. Here’s why.

Because speaker cables with XLR connectors have a male connector on one end and a female on the other, its easy to extend the length of a cable without an adapter.  Not using an adapter  means not losing an adapter.  This is a really valuable feature when doing long outdoor speaker cable runs.

Each pin in an XLR3 connector is rated at 15 amps.   That’s more than enough current carrying capacity for most practical amplifier outputs.

The flexible strain relief boot on an XLR connector is flexible enough to handle 2 conductor 14 gauge, or even 12 gauge cable.

Each pin makes independent contact with the mating connector, unlike a quarter inch connector where the tip must make contact with the sleeve before it mates with the tip.

Finally the solid, easy to use locking mechanism on the XLR3 means that no additional securing of a connection is necessary when cables are linked together.

A couple of amplifier manufacturers adopted this standard back in the 1980′s, but they let it fall by the wayside when the industry as a whole failed to sign up.

On more than one occasion, I must admit that I used a microphone cable as a temporary speaker cable when I ran out of speaker cables.  Try that with a Speakon cable!

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 quality speaker cables.

How many times have you gotten to the end of a long XLR cable run, only to discover that you had the wrong gender connector in your hand?  The Convertcon makes that a thing of the past.

By simply sliding the connector barrel forward or back, a male XLR3 connector can become a female XLR3, or vice versa.  No more coiling and rerunning the cable or digging through your tool box for a turn around.

While the cost ($12.00 or more) keeps this connector from being practical to use on all mic cables, those special long run control cables or the ones you use to interface with someone else’s equipment are where this innovative connector shines.

The problem of running a long interface cable “blind” to a remote patch bay, an outboard production truck, or an unknown facility interface just got a whole lot easier.

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 quality speaker cables.