Put it on the list

My high school does not have a faculty TD but rather a music teacher/director wrapped into one. We told him we were out of gaff tape and almost out of bulbs early in the year and we still havent gotten them. Is there anything i can do to convince him to get atleast the gaff tape? The bulbs are easy since they are necessary but are there any safety concerns with using duct tape instead of gaff? Or negative effects of duct on the fixtures?
 
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I'm insane as it sounds, and may just need to go order it yourselves. If you think that you're having issues, and need it, then just go do it. You can go pester your purchasing/business office/department later.


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I'm insane as it sounds, and may just need to go order it yourselves. If you think that you're having issues, and need it, then just go do it. You can go pester your purchasing/business office/department later.


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No, don't go spend your own money on shows while you are in HS, that's terrible advice chaus!
 
Yargh! IMO duct tape has no place in a theater. Nasty nasty residue, not to mention being easy to melt, being ugly, and overtrusted. If people use duct tape to secure cables, or if they put it on anything at all, I make them clean off the residue. That's one of my biggest pet peeves: sticky residue on cables or leftover gaff tape that someone was too lazy to peel off a cable.

I feel your pain, though. We have everything available to us at our theater except what we need. I always figured it was a law of high school theater nature.
 
A case of gaff tape shouldn't be more than $250. Find out how to do a purchase order and have an a teacher process it. Same with lamps. If you need stuff and have the budget, you should get it.
 
A case of gaff tape shouldn't be more than $250. Find out how to do a purchase order and have an a teacher process it. Same with lamps. If you need stuff and have the budget, you should get it.

Where are you buying your cases? I can't buy a case for less then 340ish.

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well the problem is our tech program is not a program at all, simply part of a club. So ,we cant ask the district for anything, everything is out of the club fund except for our consoles and sound system. So, all orders go through the teacher and i personally cant afford to buy anything. We already have some seemingly permanent residue on our wireless mic antenna cords and the teacher will decide to blame us for that so im trying to work out a persuading arguement to get us the gaff tape.
 
No, don't go spend your own money on shows while you are in HS, that's terrible advice chaus!

I said spend it to get the tape now, and turn in receipts for reimbursement.


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I said spend it to get the tape now, and turn in receipts for reimbursement.


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Except that is not going to happen. Odds are there is a spending freeze in place just like there is at every other public school in the country. Its been 4 years since I taught. When I started I had a district credit card that I could use for just about anything. By the time I left I had to do a 3 step P.O. process that made it so difficult to buy anything it was nearly impossible to do and teach. Your not going to get your money back. Don't ever spend your own money on a high school or college show.
 
The one time I did spend my own money on parts for a college show it took 3 months for the business office to process it.

DON'T spend your own money on a show!
 
Yeah DO NOT spend personal money or use personal items when it comes to that. Unless you'd like to be accused (note I said accused not actually doing it) of stealing.

I bought a bunch of stuff when I was in school or worked my connections to get stuff to get the place operating. When I graduated and brought the stuff with me certain people wanted to accuse me of stealing even though I was never reimbursed and they didn't even know what the items were.
 
Okay, well I will just say this. I have had to buy things myself, and I was reimbursed in less then a week.
 
Yeah DO NOT spend personal money or use personal items when it comes to that. Unless you'd like to be accused (note I said accused not actually doing it) of stealing.

I bought a bunch of stuff when I was in school or worked my connections to get stuff to get the place operating. When I graduated and brought the stuff with me certain people wanted to accuse me of stealing even though I was never reimbursed and they didn't even know what the items were.

I can totally see that happening. It's along the same lines of "should I store my gear at the school since that's the only place I use it?"

I learned the hard way about how bad of an idea THAT was after my teacher passed away unexpectedly and I had to provide receipts for everything I wanted to take...
 
Okay, well I will just say this. I have had to buy things myself, and I was reimbursed in less then a week.

I'm glad that worked for you.


And ok, I'll come clean, some time over a year ago I bought my own roll of board tape. That roll is still going strong.
 
Just get on the good side of your local supplier the school has an account with and order stuff on their account. :whistles: just hope your school pays the PO without many questions other wise that supply house won't be on your good side.

You'd be amazed what you can do if you walk the walk talk the talk. Granted I always had the OK of the organization I was purchasing under but the supply houses never verified that. They just trusted me
 
I know many are against it, but I would say try it once to see how it goes. Also, ASK before doing so.

Coming from a Highschool with a similar situation as you hslighting, with no budget for equipment/expendables other then what our two Drama clubs can get together, in order to ever get anything done I purchase things a lot myself. And all I need to do is turn in the receipt to either a Drama director to have it come out of their account (note I said account, not budget, which they do not have either), or bring it to the business manager to come from the school's Activity's Budget.

Honestly, in a Highschool setting, putting a PO through can take weeks if not months which is unacceptable for things like tape. I can usually get a cash, sometimes check for larger ticket items, reimbursement within a day or two.

Again, ASK before you buy something, as they never have to refund you for something. Try it once and see how it goes, the worst that could happen is that you have an extra roll of gaff tape in your personal kit.

And in my case sometimes I don't even try to get a refund for tape because I use it for my own personal uses too, same with some more expensive things such as adapters, wires, etc. I will often buy something specifically for use at the school but I'm just going to take it once I leave, being mine. Unless they want to buy it off me at that time. Example, we didn't have a single Direct Box, so I went and bought one and use it at the school, but it is still mine whenever I want it.

Not telling you how to use your money, but I know as a student, it's the only way to get things done sometimes.

And like Edrick said, getting on the good side of your supplier is always a good thing. I know the people at ours pretty well and often get discounts.
 
Just get on the good side of your local supplier the school has an account with and order stuff on their account. :whistles: just hope your school pays the PO without many questions other wise that supply house won't be on your good side.

You'd be amazed what you can do if you walk the walk talk the talk. Granted I always had the OK of the organization I was purchasing under but the supply houses never verified that. They just trusted me

If I had a student call a supplier that I had a net30 account with and order stuff on the schools behalf, I would not only have that student pulled so far out of the "drama club" but would probably have some sort of disciplinary action taken on the student. Most business offices will deny any invoice they get that is not attached to a P.O. so its a moot point anyway. Not only are you going to get in trouble with your teacher, but you run the possibility of being locked out from that vendor.

This truly might be some of the worst advice you can give a student in any situation.

If the teacher won't buy it, do without. Plenty of places do. Times are tough in the public sector. The lack of gaff tape is not going to change anything in how you learn.
 
Just get on the good side of your local supplier the school has an account with and order stuff on their account. :whistles: just hope your school pays the PO without many questions other wise that supply house won't be on your good side.

Thats a great way to get in a crap load of trouble...
 
Thats a great way to get in a crap load of trouble...

A little trouble and a life lesson, everyone's gotta learn. I wasn't being serious with that advice.
 

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