Dance groups are my bread and butter, but I also have a pretty good working relationship with all of my clients and can anticipate their specific and sometimes unusual needs. Some come in and do their thing, but others need some
hand holding. It just depends.
As far as contract, our district mandates that only school-authorized personnel are to operate equipment. This saves us a lot of hassle. That includes the flys, the sound board and lighting controller, and requires that they hire an SM. On occasion with certain clients I've let them have a guest
followspot op (particularly if it's a last-minute addition or I can't get a kid to do it). When I have groups that come in with the mindset that "their" people will be running equipment I explain to them that it's just not possible. I do let them run media (
play tracks/videos) if they have a guy and I'll always offer to let their sound or lighting people sit in with my techs, but we use a digital sound
console and LightFactory (computer-based controller) and I've yet to see any dance company bring in someone that could even begin to understand how to use either of those.
I also explain that they are paying for non-skilled labor at minimum wage. We use HS techs whose experience can range from 0-3 years. They are kids and they will make mistakes. I make every effort to ensure that we mitigate that, but it does happen. On the rare complaint I just explain that if they would prefer, they could rent the local union roadhouse for about 4 times as much and guarantee that it will work flawlessly, but I also suspect that they will not get as much flexibility there since we usually accommodate them with their weird requests if it's not too weird.
Two other things I encourage are that they have someone they trust on
headset with my kids. It's usually better when they are calling (or at least talking to my SM about) the show and when mistakes happen it's on them, not my SM. I also prod them in the week or two before for a tech sheet of some sort. Even if it's just a dance list with some colors on it. Anything I can do to
build a skeleton
cue stack to save them time. Most groups are not proactive about getting you information, but all groups will complain if they have to wait on lighting (which is just a fact of life unfortunately).
It's very odd to me that a student would be dealing with a client on this
level. No offense intended, but it's a huge liability on the part of the school. You could say or do something that would unintentionally violate a board policy and create a weird situation. I am very picky about which students I let even interact with clients, let alone handle a show prep like that.
Second what has been said about professionalism. I strongly encourage my kids to wear their tech shirts (with our
logo) the first day of tech and if it's a multi day then whatever until showtime, when it's back to
logo shirts and black. This way the client can identify my techs and be able to seek them out if they have issues. I treat my kids like adults and employees and they respond in kind. In that regard it's about creating a culture, but that's entirely a thread of its own.
One last thought, the only time I
book a group without tech is if they are doing a
one-off rehearsal without an audience. Most of the time this is a band or choir and it's just the kids and director. If there's no crowd, I don't have to act as
house manager and can just turn on the lights for them and record it if they request it. If there's an audience, it's automatically required that I have techs. If an audience member takes ill or falls or something, I have to be able to deal with that and not run sound for the show.
One last, last thought- I don't
book body building shows. They trash the dressing rooms (even the ones that clean up) with that spray crap. And the last two I've had flaked on dates and one booked with me, got the dates wrong and marketed before I could correct her, ended up doing the show at a neighboring
venue and then didn't pay them. So yeah. No more bodybuilders.