Dedicated to those journalists in the Bahamas that work every day to be great.

~ejr~

It was June 1998. Jill Geisler was about to do the one of the most difficult things in her journalism career; say good-bye to her newsroom. Jill had worked at Milwaukee’s WITI-TV for 25 years. She had been news director since 1978. She had hired most of the people in her shop. Now she was leaving them to join The Poynter Institute. In saying good-bye to them, she wanted to leave them with a reminder of the values she tried to teach and the newsroom culture they shared. Her staff had often teased her about her concept of “teaching moments,” her term for mini-lessons in the newsroom or important points brought forward in news stories. Before her last day, she wrote a personal note to each of 100 employees. She also wrote and enclosed her tribute to them titled, “The Good Ones.”

They come to this craft for all the right reasons.

For the chance to do some good.

The good ones work wonders with words. They protect their power by keeping them simple and honest.

They “matchmake” words to pictures and sound, and celebrate the marriage. They are honored to be called “storytellers.”

No matter how many times I watch this I am still amazed. Even though I am in the production business and I have a fair understanding of how these things are done, I still love to see these things done so well.

We have recently had the misfortune to attend several local live events of various types; an awards presentation, dramatic stage production and a cocktail reception among them. In each of these cases, the substandard technical production severely detracted from the enjoyment and success of the event. It diminished the impact of the content and ultimately reduced the value of the event itself.

Unfortunately, it has become all too common for event organisers to choose technical production personnel who purport to be capable in the areas of sound engineering, lighting, video production and technical production. But, in reality, these marginally skilled (or, at least, misplaced) "techy types" are quickly seen to be out of their depth. In some cases. DJs are hired as sound reinforcement providers/audio engineers, "video producers" are granted the title because they own a video camera (not necessarily because they have demonstrable skill in the field!), and lighting providers are also qualified because they simply possess lighting equipment. These well-meaning but ill-prepared individuals can quickly ruin an otherwise excellent event because of their inability to deliver.

Of course, event organisers have constraints. Many of them simply cannot afford to hire the top-of-the-line technical producers, or rent high-end equipment, or pay top engineers to bring their skills to the production. These financial constraints are the very real limitations that can determine just how much can be budgeted for the technical aspects of a production.

But money is not the only factor. Ignorance (and here we mean, not knowing or understanding, which is not in any way a reflection on someone's intelligence) is another major reason why live productions can suffer from sub-standard technical production.