# Will ETC Tech Support stay open in the freeze?



## SteveB (Jan 28, 2019)

Don't be surprised if the legendary ETC tech support is off-line or slow on Tues. and Wed.

Tues. AM low of -27F.

Wed. low temperature expected of -31F. 

Those are actual temp's, not the BS "real feel".

I'm thinking a lot of folks won't get their cars started.


----------



## techieman33 (Jan 28, 2019)

SteveB said:


> Don't be surprised if the legendary ETC tech support is off-line or slow on Tues. and Wed.
> 
> Tues. AM low of -27F.
> 
> ...



I imagine they could just forward the calls to cell phones and work from home if they had to. They could even remote into their work computers if they're setup for that.


----------



## Amiers (Jan 28, 2019)

If they wanted to they could forward all phone calls to their cellphones. 

Or

Rent Tesla’s to their support techs for those two days. 

I feel this very unacceptable


----------



## dvsDave (Jan 28, 2019)

SteveB said:


> Don't be surprised if the legendary ETC tech support is off-line or slow on Tues. and Wed.
> 
> Tues. AM low of -27F.
> 
> ...



Yikes! That's unreal. No thank you.


----------



## Amiers (Jan 28, 2019)

Ironically Tues Weds will be our nices days this week. Lawls


----------



## Butch! (Jan 28, 2019)

Hmmm. They're kind of clever, maybe they'll send the calls to the UK office and we can get to talk to people with great British accents. Or to Florida where they'll complain about it being in the mid 60's.


----------



## NateTheRiddler (Jan 28, 2019)

SteveB said:


> Tues. AM low of -27F.
> 
> Wed. low temperature expected of -31F.



We were talking about this very thing this morning in my Weather for Aircrew class in college (yes I'm in college for Aviation which is totally unrelated to theatre, it's weird, I know xD ). The professor brought up an observation chart detailing conditions across the US and when we got to the temperature gradient most of us spewed our coffee looking at the northern and northeastern US.

May ETC survive the post-apocalyptic winter. Godspede.


----------



## MNicolai (Jan 29, 2019)

This is on top of the snowstorms this week. My parents about an hour west of MKE were using a bird bath 10’ away from their patio window as a gauge of how much snow had fallen. By noon yesterday my mom texted that they had a minor flaw in their plan and that they could no longer see the bird bath whatsoever.

Meanwhile, it’s been a little brisk in the mid and 60’s down here in Florida and I’m outside walking around in shorts and a t-shirt. All of my neighbors are asking if I’m cold and “Are you okay?” like I’m overdue for a trip to the funny farm.


----------



## gafftapegreenia (Jan 29, 2019)

Chicago is currently 2 with a feel of -18. I remember from my college days in Milwaukee a week of -30 windchill was not unheard of.


----------



## BillConnerFASTC (Jan 29, 2019)

Much ado about nothing. After a year near the Arctic Circle, 40 below through all of January, this is just a momentary chill.


----------



## RonHebbard (Jan 29, 2019)

BillConnerFASTC said:


> Much ado about nothing. *After a year near the Arctic Circle*, 40 below through all of January, this is just a momentary chill.


 *@BillConnerFASTC* I'm conjuring visions of you touching up design features with a hose within a performing space within an igloo. Are the frozen structure workers unionized and are there any specific sections of the IBC especially important within frozen structures? I'll avoid the obvious comments regarding all your efforts going down the drain come spring thaw. 
Imagine providing blocks of ice stacked on the loading floors with separators between them ready to be added to your single purchase arbors. 
Imagine how much ati-freeze you'd need to keep on hand for your deluge proscenium curtain. 
Posting from north of Donald's wall but far south of the Arctic Circle. 
Toodleoo! 
Ron Hebbard


----------



## starksk (Jan 29, 2019)

Greetings from chilly Madison!

ETC's office is fully open today and so far we haven't received any word about closing tomorrow. Regardless of whether we're in the office, our 24/7 support will be available. If we're not in the office, it will act as if it is after our normal business hours where you'll have the opportunity to leave a message for response within 15 minutes or a message for response in the next business day.

We post alerts about our status on Facebook so if you're curious about tomorrow's planned -16 _High_ temperature and how that affects the office, watch that space.

Thanks!


----------



## Van (Jan 29, 2019)

starksk said:


> Greetings from chilly Madison!
> 
> ETC's office is fully open today and so far we haven't received any word about closing tomorrow. Regardless of whether we're in the office, our 24/7 support will be available. If we're not in the office, it will act as if it is after our normal business hours where you'll have the opportunity to leave a message for response within 15 minutes or a message for response in the next business day.
> 
> ...


Thanks Kirk! 
As always, ETC Rocks.


----------



## gafftaper (Jan 29, 2019)

starksk said:


> Greetings from chilly Madison!
> 
> ETC's office is fully open today and so far we haven't received any word about closing tomorrow. Regardless of whether we're in the office, our 24/7 support will be available. If we're not in the office, it will act as if it is after our normal business hours where you'll have the opportunity to leave a message for response within 15 minutes or a message for response in the next business day.
> 
> ...



Thanks Kirk! I suggest that you assign a pack of interns to keep Fred surrounded with warm blankets at all times.


----------



## tjrobb (Jan 29, 2019)

Found a use for all those old resistance dimmers! Hook 'em up and use them for heat.


----------



## derekleffew (Jan 29, 2019)

Like ETC has a bunch of dimmer, resistance laying around. I bet they're sorry they never made any 2K Fresnels though.

icewolf08 said:


> It is hard to tell in the photo but those are old 2K fresnels. The heat has been off in the theatre for two days (and won't be back on til sunday at the earliest but the outlook is tuesday) so we are doing everything we can to warm the place up. 16 2k Fresnels seem to heat the place up pretty well along with a few other space heaters. We managed to get the temp in the house up to 70˚ from around 50˚. We plan to do it all again tomorrow morning as we have a two show day tomorrow! It was an odd request, but hey, it worked!
> View attachment 2161


----------



## techieman33 (Jan 29, 2019)

derekleffew said:


> Like ETC has a bunch of dimmer, resistance laying around. I bet they're sorry they never made any 2K Fresnels though.



Don't they have a museum full of old gear? It also wouldn't surprise me if they had some kind of setup for testing purposes.


----------



## Crisp image (Jan 30, 2019)

We have just had a day at 114f here in OZ but now it i a bit cooler. I missed that day because we were visiting the USA in the winter. CA was a nice 25deg C 
Back home now and the temp is 37deg c


----------



## starksk (Jan 30, 2019)

Update: It is currently -26F here in Madison. ETC has a delayed start today (9A) and, because of the cold dipping back down to -30F tonight, will close at 3P CST. Before 9 and after 3, our phone system will act as if it is after our normal business hours where you'll have the opportunity to leave a message for response within 15 minutes or a message for response in the next business day.


----------



## dvsDave (Jan 30, 2019)

starksk said:


> Update: It is currently -26F here in Madison. ETC has a delayed start today (9A) and, because of the cold dipping back down to -30F tonight, will close at 3P CST. Before 9 and after 3, our phone system will act as if it is after our normal business hours where you'll have the opportunity to leave a message for response within 15 minutes or a message for response in the next business day.



I heard even the bars were closing up there because it was too cold. Wow. 

Props to you and your team! Stay safe. And if you encounter a wampa... just run.


----------



## BillConnerFASTC (Jan 30, 2019)

dvsDave said:


> I heard even the bars were closing up there because it was too cold. Wow.



Fake news.


----------



## derekleffew (Jan 31, 2019)




----------



## Van (Jan 31, 2019)

Was on the phone with ETC Wisconsin yesterday. My terrific Technical Support Specialist had to let me know that some fixtures wouldn't be shipping because UPS and Fedex had called their trucks off. I was on the phone with my project Manager from Staging Concepts Minneapolis who told me that in addition to Fedex and UPS being called off the USPS had announced that it was not running. He told me he was manning calls from home. He had the furnace on all night at 75° and when he got out of bed it was 59° in his house. We're going to get a touch of this in the PNW early next week, but just a touch.


----------

