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Permanent School Holiday?
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First, before I get to this month's topic, let me extend my best holiday and New Years wishes to all my readers. For many of us 2009 will be a year that won't end soon enough thanks to economic upheaval, political frustration of one direction or another, and lots of, as they say around here, agida. However, early indications point to a dynamic 2010 for us in the theatrical and corporate entertainment business and at this point I'm rather optimistic about the business climate in the near term. 
Further to the point, with all the negativity associated with 2009, it's easy to forget the things we should appreciate such as; great clients who allow us to work on great projects, great people to work with here at Scharff Weisberg and awesome vendors, freelancers and manufacturers who provide the tools and support we need to get the job done. I salute you all and wish you the very best for 2010 and beyond.
This month's topic is EDUCATION as it relates to the entertainment technology market, but not the education topic that you normally read about in our trade press. That is, I'm not talking about graduate lighting design programs or Masters in Fine Arts curriculums or projection design master classes - not that those don't have an important place in our universe. My perspective this month is on education related directly to the technology we use and the people who will grow up to become intimate acquaintances with the technology - assuming they can find someone who will teach them.
The question I pose is: how are the future rack wiring specialists, media system programmers, wireless microphone tweakers, moving light techs, power management jockeys and other indispensible tech people going to learn their trade?
We now live in an age where technology, particularly media and theater technology, surrounds us to a greater extent than ever before. An age where a third-grade class is producing their own DVD's, complete with sound and video editing and posting them on line for family members to view. It's also a time when a lot of the sophisticated lighting gear we sell is being installed in public high schools to support their performing arts curriculum.
In other words, those of us who run businesses that rely on technologists should be having a field day selecting from a large group of tech-savvy grads who are totally prepared to enter the tech workforce, right?
Well, not exactly - although we have seen a slight upswing in the availability of precociously talented technology people due to the economic upheaval as well as the media intensive environment referenced above. Basically there are a couple of major gaps we need to fill that are not being addressed effectively in the professional work force or in academia and it would be beneficial for the industry as well as the community in general for this to be addressed.
The situation, as I see it, is that too many of the academic programs, both high school and higher-learning, are focused on the upper echelons of the population who are more likely to seek careers in design, high-level programming or other what I would call "soft" career paths. The "hard" career paths, such as video technician, electrician or sound engineer are most often followed outside of school, or more likely, the school of hard knocks, and that hasn't changed in the thirty years I've been in the business. The guys and gals who end up working with the nuts and bolts of our technology tend to fall into the business and learn as they go.
We are more likely to groom a young lighting or video technician with little if any practical experience than someone who actually studied the subject in school. We've adapted to that model and have a process where the newbie starts out in the shop coiling and fixing cable and then moves on to working with actual gear if they show the aptitude. After a few years, you may see them out in the field assuming they have the skills, both technological and social, to handle the show environment.
It works, but it's not ideal and with increasing numbers of young people confronted with a shrunken job market, it would be great to see more attention paid to the AV and entertainment industry as a career choice. With manufacturing no longer the generator of jobs that pay less-educated people a better-than-average wage, service industries such as ours are the logical alternative; and, if I'm correct about the resurgence of our industry in the coming years, we'll need those people.
Right now, in my limited survey of the entertainment technology school alternatives, I'm well aware of a program at Cal Arts that does a great job of putting students in a hands-on technology environment. In addition, there is the Entertainment Technology department at New York City College of Technology (of which I am on the board of advisors) that has been a great source of aspiring young technicians.
The for-profit technical schools seem to have multiplied exponentially over the past five years, no doubt buoyed by the availability of student loan programs. Despite the fact that I am a product of one of these schools (Institute of Audio Research, Class of 1977!), I have reservations about the quality of these programs, particularly as they relate to the practical world of entertainment technology. No, Virginia, not everyone is going to be a multi-platinum recording engineer, but maybe they can get a decent paying gig in the media/AV department of some Fortune 500 if they learn the basics of the technology as well as basic business communication skills.
The better-known institutions with applicable programs such as NYU Tisch School, UCLA, Yale School of Drama, Carnegie Mellon, etc, graduate a number of well-prepared, tech-savvy students. While we are fortunate to have a few of these folks in our corral, they are much more likely to be future clients of mine than future employees.
I'd like to explore this topic on an on-going basis and would like very much to hear from you and learn other perspectives. If you happen to be aware of entertainment technology education programs for high-school and college-age students please drop me a line and I'll list it in a future newsletter. In many instances these programs are in real need of support, whether financial, technological or career path, and I'd be happy to put them in touch with a shop like ours in their area and see if there's an opportunity for mutual benefit.
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