The following is an op-ed penned by LD Tomm Gilles from Seeking Productions
March 17:
We are the “[people] behind the curtain.” The ones you don’t notice unless something goes  wrong. The ones who, if we do our job right, no one knows we exist. The ones who make the magic happen. And overnight, our livelihoods were shut down. If you have been to a Business Conference, a Convention or Trade Show, a Play, a Concert, or any of a number of performances or Keynote presentations ever in your life, you have been in our world, but you probably never saw us. You may have seen some of us — the cameraman near the stage, the small group of people at what you think is the back of the room, which we call Front Of House (FOH for short) on a slightly raised platform with TVs in front of them and large consoles full of buttons, knobs, and lights; or the occasional Assistant Stage Manager or Audio Tech (A2) who comes on stage to fix a microphone or hand the CEO a product to show off to the crowd; a Deck Hand or two who have to do a live set change, adding furniture or removing it so the show can keep moving. In the theatre though, we’re usually in a booth, out of sight. Often, we try to do those set changes during a Video roll, or at the next coffee break, or between scenes or Acts in a play.
We do our best to remain unseen. To blend into the background. To “not exist” in the mind  of the audience, so you can enjoy the show. And, in addition to those few you may see out in the house, there are two to three times as many backstage, completely hidden.
Then, there are potentially dozens more back in the Production office, working on what happens after this Session. There were sometimes up to 100s of us there days or even  weeks before you arrived, building the sets, hanging the lights, the video screens or LED Walls, the Audio speakers, etc… There were months of meetings, conference calls, site visits, designs, scheduling, logistics, hotel bookings, flight bookings, revisions, changes, etc… just to get to the moment when the doors open to the ballroom and you, the audience, walk in.
We’ve made the magic happen for decades on ever increasing demands with shrinking budgets from Clients who live in an “instantaneous” world. And we have delivered. Sometimes to our own detriment. Forgoing sleep, food, bathroom breaks, or even a moment of downtime, to fulfill the promise of “The Show must go on.” But now, the trick was played on us. Our Industry just disappeared – right before our eyes. And no one said a word. Oh, there’s been mention of Broadway closing or SXSW cancelling. But from the perspective of the Audience — what they’ll miss out on. I am talking about tens of thousands of people whose livelihoods dried up overnight last week, most of whom are Independent Artists or Technicians, who don’t have a “regular job”, who are happy to work long hard hours and go unnoticed by the public for that public’s entertainment; or so this or that company can announce their new product to that public; or a CEO can speak to hundreds or thousands of their employees all in one place; or so people who’ve worked hard the past year can be rewarded and recognized in front of their peers when their name is announced and they come to the stage with lights flashing, music playing and their colleagues cheering for them.
All. Gone.
Work from home? LOL. Many of us DO work from home — BEFORE we go to the show. But if there’s no show, there’s no pre-show work to be done either. And many of the Stage Hands, the ones who are only there before and after, who build the show and take it down but never get to see it? Many of them live paycheck to paycheck, so no shows equals no paycheck. And for those of us in the Corporate Events market — a multi-billion dollar a year industry by the way — the companies who just cancelled their shows, sometimes only days before we were set to travel, aren’t paying us what we would have made if the show had gone on. Not even a portion.
- • •
May 26:
I started writing this the night I learned that my fourth show in a row had just cancelled and I would be out of work at least until the end of June when my next gig was scheduled. The next week, our county went on lockdown. The week after that, my June gig cancelled. My next tentatively scheduled gig on the books is in September. In China. Something tells me that one ain’t happening either. It feels almost like being George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life”, when Clarence the angel shows him what the world would be like if he’d never been born. Nothing works right in the town. Many of the people are mean, drunk, or both. When he does try to help Mr. Gower in the bar, he gets tossed out into the snow for his efforts. And no one knows who he is or why he’s there. In fact, many of them become indignant with him when he tries to help them — sometimes similar events happen on shows with Attendees or even Talent when they don’t get their way. But, like George, we keep on being us. Helping those who need it. Doing our jobs. Being invisible.
But, now I’d like you to imagine what it might feel like as an attendee at an Event if none of us existed. You walk into the Convention Center or the Ballroom Foyer, but you don’t know exactly where to go, because there are no signs to direct the way. There’s no Registration Desk where you can sign in and get your badge. You see a few other Attendees and ask them where the Keynote is happening. They shrug. “No idea. We were wondering if you might know.”
Together, you all wander around the foyer until somebody decides to open the door to one of the ballrooms. It’s empty. Dark & Quiet. No stage. No chairs. No colored lights moving around the room. No music playing. No video screens or LED Walls projecting company branding messages or pictures of past events. Nothing.
Then you hear a sound, at the far back corner. Is that a person? Yes. Someone is in here. “Hello?” you shout. “Hello,” they answer back. It sounds like…could it be? Sure enough, the CEO of the company emerges out of the darkness, lit by the thin sliver of sunlight streaming through the doorway you’ve propped open with your foot.
“Hey,” he says. “Glad you all could make it.”
“Umm…is this where the Keynote is?” one of your new cohorts asks.
“Yeah,” the CEO says.
“But, where’s all the stuff? You know, the A/V thing.”
“Good question,” the CEO replies. “I’ve been wondering that myself. It’s usually all set up
by the time I arrive, and I’ve been here for two days.”
“So, is the show cancelled?” you interject.
Nothing happens without us. Nothing. Yet we are invisible. We “don’t exist.” I’m not complaining. It’s what we signed up for. We don’t want the spotlight. We want to shine it on others and make them look, sound, and be their best. We want to be invisible. But now, 70+ days into Shelter-in-place orders, 10-12 weeks since our last gig, no prospects and/or idea on when our next gig might be, our invisibility shield has become a major hindrance. Our kryptonite, if you will.
Yes, some states are starting to open back up. Yes, many people in other industries have been able to work from home throughout this time and continue to do so. Many people (perhaps even some in my industry) have received unemployment benefits. Some have gotten PPP money and kept some full-time employees on the payroll. Those in IATSE or other Unions within our industry have received some benefits. But most in our industry have not. And those that have gotten help — I’m pretty sure it’s not enough.
We are the original “Gig Economy”. In my own case, I own a small corporation. We have one employee: Me. We used tohave two, but my Accountant told me to fire my wife at the end of last year — better for us in the long run. So, if I apply for unemployment as the Employee, I pay for it as the Employer. There’s a lovely Catch-22. I applied for PPP, and have gotten a dozen emails from my bank. Here’s a brief summary and timeline of those emails (emphasis mine, italics = my interpretation and/or comment):
- 4/5: Thanks for inquiry. We’ll let you know when you can apply.
- 4/7: Please go online to complete your application.
- 4/9: We’ve received your application.
- 4/10: You may be eligible for a PPP Loan and can now go online to apply.
(Ummm… Okay. Thought I already did that.)
- 4/17: The SBA ran out of money before we even looked at your application, but we’ll still keep processing the applications we’ve received. We’ll let you know if more money ever becomes available.
- 4/19: Your application is in Step 2 of our Process — Payroll Review (since the SBA ran out of money, we decided to look at your application finally).
- 4/19: We never received a completed application from you. Are you still interested in applying for a PPP loan (even though the SBA is out of money for this loan program and we told you nine hours ago that your application was in Step 2 of the process)?
- 4/22: The Senate approved more money. We’ll resume sending applications for businesses in Step 3 of our process (which you’re not in, because you’re either in Step 2 like we told you in our email before, or not in any Step because you haven’t completed your application like we told you in our email after the email that told you you were in Step 2).
- 4/24: Since the SBA gave a whole bunch of money to businesses and universities  that really didn’t need it in the first round (nor should they have applied, but we sent their applications in before we even read yours), there is some new guidance for the second round. When you applied, you certified that you really needed the money. Do you want to withdraw your application? You can. If you already got the money, you can repay it without any penalty. Oh, and by the way, “knowingly making a false statement to obtain a guaranteed loan from SBA is punishable under the law, including under 18 USC 1001 and 3571 by imprisonment of not more than five years and/or a fine of up to $250,000; under 15 USC 645 by imprisonment of not more than two years and/or a fine of not more than $5,000; and, if submitted to a federally insured institution, under 18 USC 1014 by imprisonment of not more than thirty years and/or a fine of not more than $1,000,000.”
- But, if you got money and give it back by May 7, no harm, no foul.
- 4/25: Your loan was not approved because we couldn’t verify your payroll amounts from the information you provided (Quarterly Form 941 [PAYROLL] Reports from FY2019 and First Quarter of 2020). But, you can reapply if you’d like.
- 4/27: Your PPP Loan has been approved! We’ll deposit the funds in the next three business days.
- 4/29: We sent your application to the SBA. We’re working very closely with them. We’ll let you know as soon as the SBA makes a decision about your loan.
Since then, crickets. Nothing. Nada. Zip. However, they were kind enough to tell me in several of the above emails that “…branch and call center teams can’t answer any questions about the program or the status of your loan.” Therefore, I have to wait for them to email me or deposit the funds.
In. Three. Business. Days.
I went online to my bank last week (May 21 — eighteen business days since I received the notice that I’d been approved) and there was a link to a status update for PPP Loans, so Iclicked it. Here’s what it said:
Paycheck Protection Program loan
Status: Approved
Your Paycheck Protection Program loan request has been approved for $[AMOUNT].
[BANK] will deposit your loan funds into your oldest [BANK] Business Banking checking account within the next 3 business days.
Please keep in mind that our [BANK] Customer Service team will be unable to answer any questions about this loan product.
I figured, what the heck and I called Customer Service anyway. The lady was very nice. But the notice is correct. They don’t know anything about the status of the PPP loans. The only thing she could do was verify that I was, in fact, approved for a loan — just like it said on the link. She did suggest that my local branch might be able to help. I will be going to check in with them today.
Our industry was the First to get shut down and it will most likely be the Last to reopen. A  multi-billion dollar industry that provides hundreds of thousands of jobs and millions in tax revenue for federal, state, and local government. An industry that boosts the revenues of other businesses and the economies of the cities and towns where we host events.
Hotels, restaurants, taxi services, airlines, Event spaces, and others all rely on large events. We are their Black Friday in a way. For example, CES 2019 attendance numbers: “With more than 4,400 exhibiting companies and exhibit space of more than 2.9 million net square feet, CES 2019 attracted 307 of the 2018 Fortune Global 500 companies.
More than 175,000 industry professionals, including more than 61,000 from outside the U.S., convened in Las Vegas to drive the ever evolving global technology industry forward.”
https://www.ces.tech/About-CES/CES-by-the-Numbers.aspx
Those are the Attendance Numbers. For five days. Those numbers don’t include the thousands of show professionals who were there for many days before and after the show setting it up, running it, and taking it down.
Many production or creative marketing companies will not survive this shutdown. Many Technicians, Designers, Stage Hands, Producers, Production Managers, etc… (too many positions to list) may never recover from this and/or may have to leave the industry. Get an “essential’ job — grocery shopping for others or some such. And if that happens, the next event you attend may not be as grand as you’re used to.
So, please, please, please, spread the word. We’re not asking for a handout. We LIKE working. We just aren’t allowed to right now and we know it’s going to be a long time before we get to again. Please, shine the light on those who have shined it on others for so long. For those who’ve entertained you, wowed you, amazed you, made you gasp, given you goosebumps, made you scream (with joy or fear), or touched your heart without you ever knowing they were even in the room, do the one thing that we’ve begged you not to do for so many years: Notice us. #WeAreEvents!
You can find Tomm Gillies at
