American Music Awards

[Johnnotestine]

Do yourself a favour, don't get caught up in these schools. They are pretty much the joke of the industry... paying $40,000 a year to become a professional roadie. It's comical. The truly sad thing is that you can always tell when you've got someone on a tour who has gone to one of these places; they are arrogant, think they are better than everyone else and know very little other than how to push buttons. You ask them to pack a truck and they look at you like a deer in headlights. The good people, the people who are dependable and who you want on your tour are the ones who worked up the ladder starting out as local hands and learned on the job, made contacts, and eventually got on tour.

I can't think of a single name of a person I would want on a tour with me who went to one of these schools. I can however think of about 20 off the top of my head that if I ever saw them on a tour, I would immediately leave and contract with someone else. Less headaches in the long run.

I hope this is not the general consensus about all high school career training.

My experience, teaching at a Career Academy, has been that students are more prepared for their future careers, however; we don't teach Tech Theatre Production.

[ampnation]

I hope this is not the general consensus about all high school career training.

My experience, teaching at a Career Academy, has been that students are more prepared for their future careers, however; we don't teach Tech Theatre Production.

Can't speak for him, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't talking about high school programs. Rather, probably post high school education like Full Sail.

[Mystic]

Ampnation is correct, I'm talking about university, not highschool courses (unless of course the kids taking these courses have to pay a substantial amount to go, then they are getting ripped off).

[DJ M&M]

Like you mystic I laugh at people who have taken college/university programs for lighting/sound and think there the shit because they went to school there. I had a guy in such a program from mycampus I was at come in saying he knew more about lighting then me and he was a better LD then me during a concert setup. (the school has the students in the program help out with concerts so they can get experience). So since I was working with the production company as the main LD, I thought I'd be nice and let him work unguided and unsupervised and treated him like the 2nd LD, sure enough as soon as he started coiling a cable the wrong way, I advised him that he was doing it wrong and he needs to do it this way. But he said that I didnt know what I was talking about and because I wasn't in the program I was wrong. So I had him kicked off set, my boss said next time dont be so nice lol. Moral of the story is that majority of the people who start off from the bottom and work up, rather then do a program are much more knowledgeable in the trade. And that you should master the basics, before trying to be the king