As a kid, I always loved the theatre, but mostly because of all the cool “tech” that powered a performance. I would always be looking away from the stage, trying to see how the lights were set up, or what speakers were where. When I got to college and heard that we had a student-run event production company, I was hooked.
In the Fall of 2019, I was hired to Binghamton Sound Stage and Lighting (BSSL) as a Lighting Engineer. I would help set up and breakdown for events, and eventually (after some training), run the board and do live busking for events.
After a year at the company, I was elected as the Lighting Shop Tech. Given my time in a metal shop in high school, I was handy around tools and a soldering iron, so I was tasked with maintenance and troubleshooting our equipment. Even though events were few and far between in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, I did a full audit of our equipment, re-organized our shop, and consulted and help set up our newest lighting system (we very much look forward to using it this year!)
As Assistant Manager, my primary goal was to re-stabilize the company following COVID-19 restrictions, which had lead to a 2 year loss of generational company knowledge and decimated our employee count given our yearly graduation turnover. Simultaneously a re-vitalization of campus meant unprecedented demand for our services. In order to help balance the dueling forces I created SLUGS, a custom software solution to help manage our employees and events (come find out more about that).
That year I also helped consult/work Moefest, WHRW’s annual music festival. I was responsible for extra-organizational communication, helped set up our equipment for the gig, and ran lighting and sound throughout the gig.
As a result of my now intimate knowledge of large-scale event planning, I was handed the reins of Technical Director (TD) the next year at the company. I spent my time as TD looking for ways for us to improve our workflows, expand our offerings, and improve our image outside the bounds of our campus community in working with local businesses and organizations. With the help of the board we mended relationships, took on new yearly events, and worked to set the company on a long term trajectory of stability.
