What is your "official" title?
- Thread starterNHStech
- Start date
Esoteric
Well-Known Member
Also keep in mind that there are some of us lighting guys that design systems from the ground up that must have both the artistic knowledge (to know what will need to be done with the system) and the technical knowledge. I would say what I do day in and day out is more akin to engineering than design.
Although having been an Electrical Engineering major in college, I would never presume to call myself an engineer.
Also sometimes (outside of the largest productions in the nation), it does help to know the physics of optics and light. Things like the difference in optics, sources, etc can have a HUGE effect on a design, so to say I want a "red spot" is no longer enough because an LED red spot, an incandescent red spot (with dichroic or gel), or an arc red spot (with dichroic or gel) are all very different.
I got to have a (very short) conversation with my design hero Kevin Adams a few years ago, and when you hear him talk about design, and where it is going in the future, you will hear him talk in depth about technology and science. And he designs on the largest stages. If he needs that knowledge and finds it useful, then I think we all would.
Although having been an Electrical Engineering major in college, I would never presume to call myself an engineer.
Also sometimes (outside of the largest productions in the nation), it does help to know the physics of optics and light. Things like the difference in optics, sources, etc can have a HUGE effect on a design, so to say I want a "red spot" is no longer enough because an LED red spot, an incandescent red spot (with dichroic or gel), or an arc red spot (with dichroic or gel) are all very different.
I got to have a (very short) conversation with my design hero Kevin Adams a few years ago, and when you hear him talk about design, and where it is going in the future, you will hear him talk in depth about technology and science. And he designs on the largest stages. If he needs that knowledge and finds it useful, then I think we all would.
NHStech
Active Member
Really, everyone, maybe we should take a deep breath.
When I started this thread, all I was asking was about job titles. Mine is rather cumbersome, and all I was looking for was something that I could perhaps use to make my title a little less so. Now it has turned into sound versus lighting engineers/designers/et al/use whatever semantics/titles you will.
Obviously, both topics (light and sound) are important to shows. Both require training, albeit different kinds. And a good 90% or more of you - regardless of title - certainly know more than I in both.
If things are going to get personal, well, isn't that was the messaging utility on this forum is for?
I am sorry this thread has caused the strife it has. Most certainly not my intent.
When I started this thread, all I was asking was about job titles. Mine is rather cumbersome, and all I was looking for was something that I could perhaps use to make my title a little less so. Now it has turned into sound versus lighting engineers/designers/et al/use whatever semantics/titles you will.
Obviously, both topics (light and sound) are important to shows. Both require training, albeit different kinds. And a good 90% or more of you - regardless of title - certainly know more than I in both.
If things are going to get personal, well, isn't that was the messaging utility on this forum is for?
I am sorry this thread has caused the strife it has. Most certainly not my intent.
I find the discussion between sound and lights to be interesting. I remember watching a clip on here where the instruments use to light the stage changed during the song. They were all made to produce the same color but because of the source, how you got there was different. This caused the costumes to appear to change colors. That is an interesting mix between science and art. I think at one time lighting was more art with some science. Sound was the other way around. In my mind you can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you stand behind the console you still have to have and ear and that's art.
Today, with the advances in technology, the science has equaled out with sound.
Of course, the bggest problem is sound guys are just snobs.
Guess where I started in the business.
Today, with the advances in technology, the science has equaled out with sound.
Of course, the bggest problem is sound guys are just snobs.
Guess where I started in the business.
Esoteric
Well-Known Member
I find the discussion between sound and lights to be interesting. I remember watching a clip on here where the instruments use to light the stage changed during the song. They were all made to produce the same color but because of the source, how you got there was different. This caused the costumes to appear to change colors. That is an interesting mix between science and art. I think at one time lighting was more art with some science. Sound was the other way around. In my mind you can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you stand behind the console you still have to have and ear and that's art.
Today, with the advances in technology, the science has equaled out with sound.
Of course, the bggest problem is sound guys are just snobs.
Well, after all, their consoles are bigger than ours. ;-)
But not more expensive! (most of the time)
Honestly, I'm not sorry that you started the thread. I think that there has been a lot of great discussion on titles and how they are used. Granted, I will be sending a personal appology to MNicolai to make sure that everything is good, but I think that this is a very valuable thread.
I have worked places where the titles that I was given just didn't make any sense to what I was doing, but that has a lot to do with the way corporations do things. The biggest difference comes when people give themselves their own titles. These can often be presumptious and can be quite misleading. After all, the titles we use helps others to get some expectations of our capabilities. When we tend to mis-use or abuse titles, they become meaningless. In some ways, this was exactly the desire that early Americans used when referring to gentlemen as "Sir", devaluing the noble title that the English were using. It is exactly that which we tend to want to avoid. After all, we want to respect those who deserve it.
I find it funny that you would say that you know less than 90% of us. I had a friend whom I thought the world of his skills. I felt that I could never live up to what he could do. One day, I happened to be designing a show in his space and came to learn that he thought the exact opposite, that he could never match my skills. So, while I hope that nobody would present themselves as greater than they may be, I also hope that each of you don't underestimate your value and abilities.
I originally typed this as a response to ruinexplorer's PM to me, but I realized it's far more appropriate to post it here directly:
Personally -- I have no job title. To HR, I look like some guy who comes in a few days out of the month to do work on a show here or there. The way that my timesheet is setup, HR only even sees which events I've worked and for how long -- they have no idea which work I did for a given event. My boss sort of understands, but the most part I do things that need to get done so that they don't end up flying across his desk and taking up his time (he already spends 60+ hours in the theatre each week, with his record as high as 92 hours in a single week). As far as he's concerned, I've done my job well when things he shouldn't have to worry about don't get dumped in his lap.
What my boss knows that HR doesn't though, is that I do a lot of volunteer work. My volunteer duties (that I assigned to myself on my own accord) in the last couple months have included:
-> Reprogramming our ETC Unison fader/button stations.
-> Designing a rep plot and all of the necessary paperwork to go with it.
-> Hanging 40 dead-hung points from the grid for an event with wire rope cables I made myself from materials I purchased myself.
-> Taking 3000 photos of events to grab another 20-30 photos for our marketing and promo purposes
-> Fixing a snag in our fire curtain's tension line.
-> Conceiving a sensible hiearchy for how the doors in the building are keyed.
-> Coordinating a PA rental and an outdoor PA setup for a full band on a day with light rain
-> Driving back and forth to ETC's HQ and Full Compass' HQ to drop off gear for repairs and pick it back up.
-> Being the point-man for several clients looking for technical info on our facility.
-> Planning a workshop series this summer for our high school students and new additions to our call lists so that they can become qualified enough to work our professional, rental, and school events.
-> Skyping with the VP of Luci Della Ribalta (who was in Italy and in China while dealing with this) on the problems we've had with our Canto 1200 followspots, then working with a technician out of Atlanta, GA to get the problems resolved.
-> Setting up a backstage blog to show the community the personality and "magic" that keeps our theatre running.
-> Planning the capital projects for the year (buying a new projector and screen, installing a new lighting position, reorganizing the scene shop, contacting a real estate agent to scout for possible off-sites we could use for set construction and storage)
-> The list goes on...
I always feel a little dumb when a client asks me what my position is at our facility and the best I can say is that I'm an "unofficial technical advisor". Every time someone asks, I make up some new flavor of poo to describe what it is I do -- something that gives them enough of an idea of what I do without misleading them that I'm higher on the food chain than I am.
I cannot possibly describe what it is I do in a two or three-word job title. Back when I used to have business cards (when I felt I "needed" to have business cards), the least stupid descriptor I could put on them as my job title was "Live Event Technician". It's not wrong, but it barely scratches the surface on the roles that I play in the projects I work on.
I'm willing to bet that most of the people here on ControlBooth cannot sum up when they do in a single job title; a job title just isn't enough information. Unless you're the Commander in Chief, a job title doesn't effectively communicate the value of your skills and what it is that you do to earn your paychecks.
In my arena I am called a Stage Manager, essentially the same job as a steward in a union house. At least that's the basis of it, it has grown over the years and I cover many duties other depts are supposed to do. Anyway, when asked what I do, I tell them I supply labor for the shows and am the liason between the show and the building.
bobcatarts
Member
Title: Technical Associate
The description from our arts non-profit website: facilitates artistic and event design, production and day-to-day operations across our creative performance and production spaces.
Yes, but what do you actually do?
Advise and oversee our resident theatre and visual art companies and renters with all of their technical issues in our two small black boxes, dance studio, gallery and support spaces in both our buildings across town; change lamps in the instruments, or the offices or the bathroom (upgrading to LEDs one burnout at a time); fix the network or people's computers or the copier when they get fussy; patch the leaky roof; do pyro and firearm tests for productions; consult on new venue design (I love doing this); repair sinks and toilets when they clog or otherwise break (I do not love doing this); help with artist installs anywhere in the city; planning and executing the lighting/sound/AV/effects for our gala and special events; occasionally design & run lights and sound for outside rentals. "And other duties as necessary."
The description from our arts non-profit website: facilitates artistic and event design, production and day-to-day operations across our creative performance and production spaces.
Yes, but what do you actually do?
Advise and oversee our resident theatre and visual art companies and renters with all of their technical issues in our two small black boxes, dance studio, gallery and support spaces in both our buildings across town; change lamps in the instruments, or the offices or the bathroom (upgrading to LEDs one burnout at a time); fix the network or people's computers or the copier when they get fussy; patch the leaky roof; do pyro and firearm tests for productions; consult on new venue design (I love doing this); repair sinks and toilets when they clog or otherwise break (I do not love doing this); help with artist installs anywhere in the city; planning and executing the lighting/sound/AV/effects for our gala and special events; occasionally design & run lights and sound for outside rentals. "And other duties as necessary."
These days it seems to be "Freelance _______________"
neotrotsky
Member
Actual University Term:
Technical Director Assistant (Yes, they put that in reverse. It is a State University after all...)
Actual Job:
Well, there are two Technical Director Assistants. "OK. Cool." You think. It would be, except that there is no technical director at the venue.
Yep, you heard me right. There is no technical director.
Our supervisor is the General Director. She manages the ENTIRE venue, and an executive would. She's quite good at her job, and was a rigger, lighting engineer and directed a small school district's theater program. But, she's not the technical director per se. She doesn't hold that title. She'd be the one in *charge* of the Technical Director, if we had one. But, we don't.
The story is that our venue doesn't pull enough audience and/or profit in the grand scheme of the events division to merit a Technical Director. But, they can provide the pay of two Technical Director Assistants, part time. That means we have two part time Assistants, acting as co-directors, at part time pay. For "general time", i.e. the time we get to actually repair things, commit to administrative duties, train employees and the like outside of actual shows is 8 hours/week. That's. It. Otherwise, the HR guys and gals assume that we can do all of our jobs during the booked show times. As you can see, this means our Executive Director needs to get creative with hours to get everything done. I specialize in Audio, so to make it easy for the clients I'm the "Chief Audio Engineer". The other Technical Director Assistant specializes in lighting and was a general contractor, so he's the "Lighting Specialist". We each have "assistants", one for each diciplline. He's got a lighting guy from another university who works for us part time, and I have a grad of the local recording conservatory. Both awesome guys! And, we have two general technicians that are equally awesome.
But, while I have all the duties of a Technical Director, I only get half the pay and half the hours. My boss is pushing for a full time position, but can only *maybe* get resources for ONE full time. And that's only a *maybe*. This means that me and the other Technical Director Assistant (man, that gets tiring to type out over and over and over...) are in a way in direct competition. He's got about 15 years experience on me, but by the end of this spring I will have two MORE degrees and several more certifications. It makes for a strange and tense but still enjoyable workplace since we both get along well.
Needless to say, this makes work "interesting". The fun of working for a state university.
Technical Director Assistant (Yes, they put that in reverse. It is a State University after all...)
Actual Job:
Well, there are two Technical Director Assistants. "OK. Cool." You think. It would be, except that there is no technical director at the venue.
Yep, you heard me right. There is no technical director.
Our supervisor is the General Director. She manages the ENTIRE venue, and an executive would. She's quite good at her job, and was a rigger, lighting engineer and directed a small school district's theater program. But, she's not the technical director per se. She doesn't hold that title. She'd be the one in *charge* of the Technical Director, if we had one. But, we don't.
The story is that our venue doesn't pull enough audience and/or profit in the grand scheme of the events division to merit a Technical Director. But, they can provide the pay of two Technical Director Assistants, part time. That means we have two part time Assistants, acting as co-directors, at part time pay. For "general time", i.e. the time we get to actually repair things, commit to administrative duties, train employees and the like outside of actual shows is 8 hours/week. That's. It. Otherwise, the HR guys and gals assume that we can do all of our jobs during the booked show times. As you can see, this means our Executive Director needs to get creative with hours to get everything done. I specialize in Audio, so to make it easy for the clients I'm the "Chief Audio Engineer". The other Technical Director Assistant specializes in lighting and was a general contractor, so he's the "Lighting Specialist". We each have "assistants", one for each diciplline. He's got a lighting guy from another university who works for us part time, and I have a grad of the local recording conservatory. Both awesome guys! And, we have two general technicians that are equally awesome.
But, while I have all the duties of a Technical Director, I only get half the pay and half the hours. My boss is pushing for a full time position, but can only *maybe* get resources for ONE full time. And that's only a *maybe*. This means that me and the other Technical Director Assistant (man, that gets tiring to type out over and over and over...) are in a way in direct competition. He's got about 15 years experience on me, but by the end of this spring I will have two MORE degrees and several more certifications. It makes for a strange and tense but still enjoyable workplace since we both get along well.
Needless to say, this makes work "interesting". The fun of working for a state university.
Sounds like a venue I worked at in downtown Phoenix. Three theaters, three assistant TDs, no TD, just a VP of Operations (could have just been an inflated title, though he rarely stepped out of his office). One of us was an audio specialist, another lighting/rigging, the other was an actor/carpenter (he really wanted to have his own theater company). It was a city owned building, operated by a non-profit, which meant the pay scale was pitiful. I made more money as a technician when I left there.
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