PLSN offers readers an essay penned by Bill Edwards of Tyler Truss.
June 2021…Summer is finally here. And events are starting to pack ‘em in! And like Roy “Lefty Wilbury,” Garth, the Stones, AC/DC, Skynyrd, Santana, Dylan, Aerosmith, Fogerty, Fleetwood Mac, and others, this is going to be a comeback for the ages!
We were fortunate at Tyler Truss. Our team’s health has always been our #1 priority. While we did have a few minor setbacks, all and all, no major issues. We continue to monitor and make our team’s health our top priority as business returns.
On several grocery runs; however, I did scare the hell out of a few shoppers. I’m not sure why, but I sweat and want to sneeze when I wear a mask. So, when I sneezed at the local Kroger or CVS, I witnessed many a “drop and roll” shopper scared senseless.
Anyway, the past few months seem to hold the promise of our industry’s comeback. And fortunately, Tyler Truss is back at it, inundated with requests for quotes, and orders starting to climb. Not near capacity just yet but heading the right direction. Which means many of you are experiencing the same. That’s great news!
It’s probably a dream, but like you, we hope that we all write enough business in the coming months to offset at least some of the huge losses most of us experienced in 2020/early 2021.
Depending on where you do most of your work, it has been as many as 12 to 15 months of frustration, fear, and anger over what was happening and what the near future might look like. All we kept hearing was… “it’s coming back.” Of course, that depended on where you lived, if you had churches as clients, if you earned some virtual business, got tapped to produce outdoor drive-in shows, etc.
Like many of you, Tyler Truss pivoted to manufacturing products to assist during the pandemic… e.g., sanitizer stands, virus shields. In fact, we formed a partner company, TTS Specialties, that also targeted the Accessibility and Marine verticals. It’s growing, thankfully. But we need(ed) entertainment/events to come back. Period.
The amazing miscommunication and back and forth of when entertainment/events would return…well, it was the longest case of heartburn and headaches I can remember…
- Would it be around Tax Day, April 15th, 2020? When our economic gurus and prognosticators would realize the economy would die if we didn’t open up the country’s businesses and schools…Nope!
- Memorial Day 2020? A time we honor the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. It would have been some sight across our amazing country. But no, it didn’t happen.
- August/September? Schools had to open right? Companies would open and with kids back at school, parents could work…Nope.
- October? Around Halloween? Ha! Nope. Tricks no treats.
- November…Thanksgiving? Had to be the month. With no summer vacations, people would be traveling to see relatives for sure. Businesses would open to kick off the Christmas season. The Early carolers would be leading the return of “live music.” Right? Not right. No ‘Fa la la la la la, la la la la.
- New Years? Ryan Seacrest counts down the ball on Times Square and is forced to sing Auld Lang Syne, triple-masked… and boom, we kick off 2021 with the announcement of a string of live concerts, companies open full scale, schools rockin’. Just a tease it was.
- January? February? Well, the phones and email got busi…er! Then came the promise of more recovery checks for millions of Americans. Money for businesses to kick start and for consumers to inject into the economy…Nope!
Early March 2021 it was…requests for quotes were massive at Tyler. Ok, not massive, but a lot of ‘em. Then “quiet” hit again. Uh-oh, slow down, days go by and virtually nothing! More Tums please! Do we have enough inventory when it does hit? Will new truss be in demand? Will tours shrink. Will corporations continue Zooming? Is a second strain of Covid really coming? How many masks am I supposed to wear?
Then April comes. A beautiful month it was. We were “showered” with quote requests. By mid-April, the tons of inventory we had manufactured could not go out the dock-door fast enough. Would April’s showers bring May flowers? Yes. We started coming close to our “new normal” objectives.
The comeback was starting, slow but sure. We even had a company cookout where the past year of stress seemed to blow to the east with the smoke from the grill.
So, what does summer, fall and winter hold? One-off shows, short tours, festivals, sports events with fans…yes, it’s happening. The steady stream of small to large quotes/orders appears to point toward ongoing growth. However, it’s safe to say, if we ever did…we will never take this business for granted again!
It is amazing that in this modern world, the experience of live entertainment was taken away. And how many livelihoods were affected. Regardless of why and if the reason(s) were justified, it happened. It’s going to be awhile before it’s full speed ahead. But you can feel it. Finally!
What does that mean? It means…yes…hundreds if not thousands of people haven’t and won’t return to this crazy, addictive, exhilarating business. Many companies, large and small, lost hope and closed. However, many are starting to rebuild one event at a time. New companies are sprouting up. The conversations are hopeful. There’s an energy you can now feel that had been completely lost.
Those of us who survived the longest year of our work lives, financially and psychologically, are pulling ourselves and as many of our team members back together. We are marching forward with a whole new rule book that has yet to even be written. But like we’ve done before, we’ll rewrite it again.
Heard a story some months back about a farmer-turned-entertainment producer, turned back to farmer, and is starting on the path of leaving his fields again. Guess you reap what you “show.”
