superuser2
Member
I work in a campus theater that, at my request, recently established a semi-permanent FOH mix position and acquired an LS9 to fill it. It was a stretch for our budget, and I was very happy about it, and I'd like to make sure it stays safe. It spends the academic year, however, on a folding table behind the last row of seats.
The security model for our hall is... interesting. It's a 100+ year old building. There are a lot of keys floating around for the main entrance (a lot more people have need of our loading dock, storage closet, basement access, etc. than actually work for the theater), obscure back entrances to storage rooms and tunnels with rusted-out locking hardware that can be defeated with a pocketknife, and building managers who will open the doors to anyone with a convincing story, despite our allegedly having a policy that no one is allowed in the hall without hall staff present. The orchestra is an exception to this policy - they have their own keys and do a rehearsal every week with no supervision from us. All of this to say that, if an unauthorized person wanted to get into the house in the middle of the night with no one knowing, the attack surface is enormous. From there, he could easily walk out with my precious console.
We've dealt with this in the past by locking anything that matters in our closets and booth, which have single, solid doors on tightly-controlled keys. That's how we protect the Clear-Com, microphones, cable, lamps, light board, etc. But now that we have an FOH mix position, life is a little different.
Surely others have faced this situation before. How did you handle it? Is it even necessary to address? Are there creative solutions for keeping your console from walking away?
(Note that I don't particularly care if an unauthorized person *uses* the console - I have a config backup on a flash drive and limiters on the loudspeakers. I just need the thing not to disappear.)
The security model for our hall is... interesting. It's a 100+ year old building. There are a lot of keys floating around for the main entrance (a lot more people have need of our loading dock, storage closet, basement access, etc. than actually work for the theater), obscure back entrances to storage rooms and tunnels with rusted-out locking hardware that can be defeated with a pocketknife, and building managers who will open the doors to anyone with a convincing story, despite our allegedly having a policy that no one is allowed in the hall without hall staff present. The orchestra is an exception to this policy - they have their own keys and do a rehearsal every week with no supervision from us. All of this to say that, if an unauthorized person wanted to get into the house in the middle of the night with no one knowing, the attack surface is enormous. From there, he could easily walk out with my precious console.
We've dealt with this in the past by locking anything that matters in our closets and booth, which have single, solid doors on tightly-controlled keys. That's how we protect the Clear-Com, microphones, cable, lamps, light board, etc. But now that we have an FOH mix position, life is a little different.
- We could carry the console to a locked closet every night, but reconnecting the analog snake is annoying and I think the risk of physical damage while being carried is more significant than the risk of theft.
- I'd use one of those Kensington locks, but there's no port.
- There are locking rolltop desks for this purpose, but the console was a stretch at $6500 and I have a sneaking suspicion custom furniture is going to cost twice that.
Surely others have faced this situation before. How did you handle it? Is it even necessary to address? Are there creative solutions for keeping your console from walking away?
(Note that I don't particularly care if an unauthorized person *uses* the console - I have a config backup on a flash drive and limiters on the loudspeakers. I just need the thing not to disappear.)