After two years, minus a couple of brief gigs late last Summer before Omicron, I finally returned to the road in March. It was amazing, a bit terrifying, and mostly fabulous. Had I planned better, I would have sent postcards. Instead, I have compiled this travelogue of photos and commentary. I dialed down the whiplash I repeatedly experienced, but you may wish to have a physical therapist nearby just in case.
USITT, Baltimore Convention Center, March 2-4
My first stop was Baltimore for the twice-rescheduled annual conference of the U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology. More than 3,500 people showed up at the Baltimore Convention Center. The public health guidance in the States at that point was very much in flux. USITT finally caught a break, but many attendees still wore face coverings. When I took the stage for my session, I made a big show of removing my KN-95 for the first time in public in two years. It was scary for a moment, then instinct kicked in and I felt fine. It doubtless helped that I was on a stage, albeit a small one, so I could maintain plenty of distance from the nearest person. Just about everyone in my room remained covered the entire time.
During the rest of the conference, I hugged old friends, shook hands as if I hadn’t recently learned far too much about personal hygiene, and fell happily into old habits. It was a relief to let my guard down, confident that the mandatory health and safety protocol of USITT and the Baltimore City health department set a reasonably high standard for vaccination and testing.
My confidence was rewarded when I returned home with nary a sniffle. During the Event Safety Podcast we recorded a few days later with USITT Executive Director David Grindle, he confirmed that they had zero reported infections. I counted my first stop a big success in terms of education, socialization, and health and safety.
ILEA Northern California Chapter, San Francisco Exploratorium, March 15
Photo by Cage and Aquarium (@cageandaquarium)
Two weeks later, I flew to San Francisco, where I presented to the Northern California Chapter of the International Live Events Association. My session was never postponed, but the Chapter’s January event got cancelled and the chair got COVID along the way, so it was touch and go around me.
The United States is a big country with significant regional differences. I left Arizona, where the state motto could be “What pandemic?” under a picture of Alfred E. Neuman, and landed in San Francisco, where mask requirements were just winding down that week. At the Exploratorium, their really cool science center, they were squarely mid-transition. In our event space, face coverings were optional, but when we ventured into the rest of the venue, we had to mask up.
The room was bright and airy, and I paced closer to the attendees than I had in Baltimore. As much as I appreciate that Zoom meetings make it possible to maintain relationships with faraway friends and colleagues, only in person does a wave of laughter build as people get a joke.
Event Safety Summit, Rock Lititz, Lititz, PA, March 22-24
As enjoyable as it was to present to other organizations, I was really looking forward to returning to the Event Safety Alliance’s de facto clubhouse, Lititz, PA. By this time, our leadership group knew the infection numbers were trending our way and that our vaccination requirement for all attendees would pay off.
It had to. Construction on the ever-expanding Rock Lititz campus caused us to hold our event in their new black box theater – relatively close confines, no windows to open during the day, and no outdoor receptions in the chilly night air.
Enrollment followed the pattern David Grindle described for USITT. Decent early enrollment, a worrisome lull, then a big push of late purchasers. At the eleventh hour, we reconfigured tables to create more space, and we still turned some people away.
For in-person attendees, we tried to emphasize experiences and audience participation. Smart UK friends Emma Parkinson, Eric Stuart, and I had fun leading a series of exercises to get people on their feet and working together to solve crowd-related problems, such as my NIOSH House of Horror. It turns out that one can stimulate a lot of creative group thinking by loading random back of house objects into a roadcase, hanging a hazmat balloon from pipes, and setting a clock.
By the end of the Event Safety Summit’s second day, I had forgotten all about face coverings, other than that I occasionally felt the one I still carried in my pocket, unused. I felt completely at ease around other people for the first time in just over two years. This was important as I prepared for my own big performance, a presentation that began as February’s Adelman on Venues that I edited and polished through several live presentations. I value every audience and try to deliver my best show each time, but there is a big adreneline rush playing to a full house of my peers. To me, only true friends will both cheer our successes and tell us when we need to do better.
My plan was to challenge the idea that adults learn best by learning experientially. I created a series of stories nested inside each other, which, if I provided a clear through line as well as enough twists and turns to keep the crowd engaged, would lead to an emotional wallop at the end.
I find false modesty to be an emotionally needy person’s way of asking for praise, so I won’t do that to you. I was on fire! You can watch the full video here – and you should.
New York, March 25-27
After a lot of goodbye hugs and plans that involved castles, cheese, and Premier League football, I headed up to New York to spend a few days with my parents. As it turned out, I also had to make a small business trip – to a show.
Among the many things I like about being a sports and entertainment lawyer is that my clients invite me to their events. (Get the hint, dear reader??) There was a legitimate professional reason for me to visit the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, but I won’t deny that seeing the Tedesci Trucks Band was pretty great too.
Coda: Why We Do Our Jobs
Shortly after we returned home, a security provider client sent me this email. I removed the names to protect everyone’s privacy, and so you can imagine receiving this sort of message yourself. Especially when the daily news cycle can be so negative, it’s good to be reminded how positively we can affect people when they attend our events.
Hi- I have been to the venue many times (it’s my favorite club) and was really looking forward to seeing my favorite band on Friday night.
Unfortunately, I had an “accident” in the lobby just before the show started, passed out and had to be taken to the hospital. After a really scary 24 hours, I’m ok and I hope to be back at the club soon.
I wanted to let you know that the staff at the club were wonderful, alert, professional and compassionate. They literally may have saved my life as it turns out it was discovered at the hospital that I have a heart condition. We didn’t know that before. It was a really scary situation and they were able to put me (and the friends I was with) at ease. My wife (who was not there) and I can’t thank you all enough.
I have no idea who they were. I wish there was some way I could say thank you to them and the guys at the Fire Dept. If there’s any way to point me in the right direction, I’d greatly appreciate it. If not, just want to let you know how appreciative I am for the wonderful staff and community at the club and I hope to be back soon.
Forever Grateful