The History of Bandit Lites
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RonaldBeal
Well-Known Member
Having Lived through, and witnessed firsthand some of the history in the article, it is very "rose colored" ... looks like it was written by a Bandit employee. Lots of half truths, and lies by omission.
I don't intend for this to be an attack on Bandit, I respect them currently as a company, I have friends that work there, and used to room mate with one of their shop managers( no longer works there though)
Lets see..." Production manager Mikey Weiss opened the eyes of Bandit in 1994 regarding fall protection, and from that day to this, Bandit has led the initiative to put OSHA and HSE compliant fall protection equipment on all lighting systems."
I guess a fatal fall and OSHA coming down on Bandit with hefty fines, and insurance companies getting involved had nothing to do with it.
No mention of the ending of the cozy relationship between High End, and Bandit.... HAd a little to do with Vari-Lites lawsuit against HE, where Bandit was involved in part of the "unfair business competition" aspect of the suit.
There are a lot of other nits I could pick..... Just pointing out it reads more like a press release, than an accurate history.
RB
I don't intend for this to be an attack on Bandit, I respect them currently as a company, I have friends that work there, and used to room mate with one of their shop managers( no longer works there though)
Lets see..." Production manager Mikey Weiss opened the eyes of Bandit in 1994 regarding fall protection, and from that day to this, Bandit has led the initiative to put OSHA and HSE compliant fall protection equipment on all lighting systems."
I guess a fatal fall and OSHA coming down on Bandit with hefty fines, and insurance companies getting involved had nothing to do with it.
No mention of the ending of the cozy relationship between High End, and Bandit.... HAd a little to do with Vari-Lites lawsuit against HE, where Bandit was involved in part of the "unfair business competition" aspect of the suit.
There are a lot of other nits I could pick..... Just pointing out it reads more like a press release, than an accurate history.
RB
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
I could support you better naharnahekim and BabitoRO if I knew you aren't connected to the company you are defending and speaking so well of.
RonaldBeal
Well-Known Member
My intent was not to turn the thread ugly... just to put the "history" into perspective. While the "history" is interesting, it is not all together factual. That is all I am asserting.
Caveat Emptor!
Cheers
RB
Caveat Emptor!
Cheers
RB
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
When someone posts a link to a purely commercial puff piece on a bulletin board on the Internet the responses are to expected. Frankly I'm surprised the link away from CB was not deleted since a link I posted to a magazine article was deleted.
Wow that got snarky quick, I read a story about how a major company was started by a 12 year old. I found the story fun and decided to post it to share a bit of industry history for those who aren't familiar. Clearly several of you are a bit too familiar with Bandit and read an entirely different article than I did. Yes it is a corporate anniversary puff piece, but teaching those not familiar with the past where we came from and how we got here is one of our missions and that's what this article does.
As for why this post was acceptable. My only motivation was to share a little bit of what I thought was interesting industry history. I did not write the article, I am not affiliated with Bandit, I'm not affiliated with the website it was published on, I have no axes to grind with Bandit, and I am not in a position to profit (or not) based on the success (or failure) of Bandit.
Remember it's okay for you to disagree with each other and even with CB staff, but keep it polite.
As for why this post was acceptable. My only motivation was to share a little bit of what I thought was interesting industry history. I did not write the article, I am not affiliated with Bandit, I'm not affiliated with the website it was published on, I have no axes to grind with Bandit, and I am not in a position to profit (or not) based on the success (or failure) of Bandit.
Remember it's okay for you to disagree with each other and even with CB staff, but keep it polite.
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Derek,
Mr. Beal seems to have a deep resentment of the organization for which I work. Having been here for more than 17 years, this is not a new phenomena and often is the position of those who were not there, have nothing but word of mouth from which to form an opinion and want to make themselves appear knowedgeable.
I can say, an employee fell and suffered serious injury requiring a very long rehabilitation period. Bandit chose to change the approach to personal safety equipment and affected a change in the industry. He continues to tour and will do so until such time as he chooses to quit touring and take a warehouse or office position. NO RIG leaves our factilites without the full compliment of safety gear and if you feel it necessary to climb our rig without OUR gear, you may sign the indemnity form.
I personally have enjoyed the company of "C Level" HES employees. They are great folks and HES and Bandit continue to enjoy a fruitful relationship.
Mr. Beal is certainly entitled to his opinion and I do appreciate your taking the time to post this article, having lived the historic year of one of the few, if not the only, lighting company to have been in business for, now, more than 40 years under the same owner.
There are others who want to voice thier opinions. Feel free. I personally would be hesitant to say anything without a better knowledge of the situation and cannot, in good conscience as an American, do anything to silence them.
RO
Mr. Beal seems to have a deep resentment of the organization for which I work. Having been here for more than 17 years, this is not a new phenomena and often is the position of those who were not there, have nothing but word of mouth from which to form an opinion and want to make themselves appear knowedgeable.
I can say, an employee fell and suffered serious injury requiring a very long rehabilitation period. Bandit chose to change the approach to personal safety equipment and affected a change in the industry. He continues to tour and will do so until such time as he chooses to quit touring and take a warehouse or office position. NO RIG leaves our factilites without the full compliment of safety gear and if you feel it necessary to climb our rig without OUR gear, you may sign the indemnity form.
I personally have enjoyed the company of "C Level" HES employees. They are great folks and HES and Bandit continue to enjoy a fruitful relationship.
Mr. Beal is certainly entitled to his opinion and I do appreciate your taking the time to post this article, having lived the historic year of one of the few, if not the only, lighting company to have been in business for, now, more than 40 years under the same owner.
There are others who want to voice thier opinions. Feel free. I personally would be hesitant to say anything without a better knowledge of the situation and cannot, in good conscience as an American, do anything to silence them.
RO
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
The article could have taught more if it included some of the not so warm and fuzzy parts of the history and from which lessons learned resulted in making the company stronger and better. Without Mr. Beal's contribution, we would never have learned that (a) bad things will happen and (b) you can learn from them and become better as apparently Bandit Lights did based on the satisfaction and pride of at least one employee.
The article is an overview of 40 years of history. Every decision point cannot be discussed in detail as there is only so much time in a life.
Mr. Beal's assertions more closely resemble opinion and speculation than fact.
And YES, I am an employee of Bandit and I am in the article. The article does not discuss my qualifications or background either... Again, we all have only one life to live.
Feel free to contact me directly if you would like to discuss what I know of the history of this company. I suspect both our organizations could benefit from a partnership rather than a snarky on line dispute.
Have a great day Bill.
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
SNARKY: 1. Rudely sarcastic or disrespectful; snide. 2. Irritable or short-tempered; irascible.
Which of my posts here are other than serious and respectful?
"I suspect both our organizations could benefit from a partnership rather than a snarky on line dispute."
Guess I was wrong there.
No offense, which apparently is tough to do in the waters of this thread, I think as a response that would qualify.
I'm not sure why this is so heated, I get why Derek (edit: misspoke and meant gaff as OP not derek) posted it, but every company has secrets or regrets that they'd probably rather not talk about. I'm sure ETC (or insert anybody else in the industry) has skeletons theyd rather not have dredged up. The article wasn't trying to teach anybody anything it was a basically a birthday notice and some of the things they have done. Which apparently was a powder keg.
Via tapatalk
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BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
With all due respect, I simply asked BanditRO which of my posts on this topic did BanditRO deem snarky. How is that question disrespectful or sarcastic? Until BanditRO admitted there was some motivation other than the articles note to take safety seriously, I never spoke poorly of the company or took any side in the debate, and then I only tried to spin it positively based on BanditRO's post.
From being purely on the sidelines with no personal knowledge of the posters or Bandit Lights, Mr. Beal's comments would have had much less credibility if they had simply been ignored as internet chatter and/or an old grudge.
First, don't drag Derek into this, I was the one who kicked the hornet's nest by posting what I thought was a fun article. Sorry if I tried to use the story of a successful 12 year old to inspire the young people around here to pursue their dreams at a young age. 
If this statement is correct, the guy was seriously injured, went through a long rehab, and still chooses to work at Bandit. As a result Bandit has changed it's safety procedures. What is there to be upset about? I could see you guys being mad if someone died and a company did nothing about it (like the stories out of Vegas a couple years ago). Clearly there are other personal issues here, because your complaints about Bandit make no sense to us outsiders.
If this statement is correct, the guy was seriously injured, went through a long rehab, and still chooses to work at Bandit. As a result Bandit has changed it's safety procedures. What is there to be upset about? I could see you guys being mad if someone died and a company did nothing about it (like the stories out of Vegas a couple years ago). Clearly there are other personal issues here, because your complaints about Bandit make no sense to us outsiders.
Bill, I apologize if I have caused you any offence.
It is difficult to stand by and watch someone, Mr. Beal in this instance, make unfounded allegations only to have another poster, in this instance you, imply my statements may not be trusted as I work for Bandit ("I could support you better naharnahekim and BabitoRO if I knew you aren't connected to the company you are defending and speaking so well of.")
I hope that you will not think ill of Bandit Lites or myself if I misunderstood your intent.
RO
It is difficult to stand by and watch someone, Mr. Beal in this instance, make unfounded allegations only to have another poster, in this instance you, imply my statements may not be trusted as I work for Bandit ("I could support you better naharnahekim and BabitoRO if I knew you aren't connected to the company you are defending and speaking so well of.")
I hope that you will not think ill of Bandit Lites or myself if I misunderstood your intent.
RO
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
I'm thick skinned and not particularly bothered. As I suggested - should have left Beal's beef go IMHO. But the story said "Production manager Mikey Weiss opened the eyes of Bandit in 1994 regarding fall protection, and from that day to this, Bandit has led the initiative to put OSHA and HSE compliant fall protection equipment on all lighting systems. The use of the equipment was a huge challenge in the early days but Bandit moved on. Today, thanks to Bandit and others that joined in, the industry is a much safer place to work." and I think it would have been more instructive and interesting if it had included at least the bare bones of your account of an accident that seems to have prompted the positive and welcomed changes. It's really more compelling and more believable.
Simply, Bandit Lights is not a major player in the new install business, which is all I do now. I see you do a few but compared to a number of companies, it's not your focus, and I guess I could say that is obvious. It's interesting but I have observed it's really hard for a production company to do both live events and new installs. Partly, the pressure around a live event makes it too easy to let a high school or college new install get pushed out, and while that probably makes sense to you, I can't stand it. The doing it forever techniques are simply different than doing it for tonight's show. And the whole nature of competitive public bids isn't really a part of the event experience. So, unlikely that that we would really have the opportunity to work together.
And I intended acknowledging that the company changed and improved it's safety programs and that their employees are satisfied and proud of the company as a compliment - absolutely no snark intended.
Plus, the whole secrecy and non-disclosure around incidents and events resulting in injuries is unfortunate and regrettable and prevents an opportunity where we could all learn and benefit and be safer.
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