# Organizing my area!



## Oobleck1441 (Aug 27, 2007)

Hello Everyone!
Schools starting up again and that means alot of things for me,
but only one maybe someone can help me with!
I'm am now officially the "House Manager" for the school Aud.
I have quite a few years under my belt, but now since the older guys are gone,
I want to make soem changes.
The guys before me didn't really like the idea of forms and plots, paperwork in general..
Any input on what I should start on?
Maybe a lighting plot of what we have hanging?
an inventory?
any ideas at all would be great! Thanks in advance for everthing!
Oobleck1441


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## Logos (Aug 27, 2007)

You don't have an inventory? Thats a good place to start. And a plot of what's up is a good place to start as well. Do both at the same time. I'm not kidding you really need them both.


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## Oobleck1441 (Aug 27, 2007)

Logos said:


> You don't have an inventory? Thats a good place to start. And a plot of what's up is a good place to start as well. Do both at the same time. I'm not kidding you really need them both.



Well, we have a plot of every dimmer and whats where..
We don't have a CAD drawing of our plot and we rarley move anything
and an inventory, that would have come in handy this summer when my department director was wondering what happened to certain these fixtures,
happens to be they went missing when our bond project was in full swing.
:neutral:
I'll have to get in there and get to work then.
Any other Ideas?


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## avkid (Aug 27, 2007)

Oobleck1441 said:


> Hello Everyone!
> Schools starting up again and that means alot of things for me,
> but only one maybe someone can help me with!
> I'm am now officially the "House Manager" for the school Aud.


Get yourself a fitting title first.
House Manager
Definition: The person who oversees all aspects of the audience. The House Manager oversees the ushers and is in contact with the Stage Manager to to let them know about any audience delays for starting the show or ending intermission.
Trust me, I do this all the time.


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## Oobleck1441 (Aug 27, 2007)

avkid said:


> Get yourself a fitting title first.
> House Manager
> Definition: The person who oversees all aspects of the audience. The House Manager oversees the ushers and is in contact with the Stage Manager to to let them know about any audience delays for starting the show or ending intermission.
> Trust me, I do this all the time.



Well sorry i jsut used the Title thats on my check,
I gues you could say:
House Manager / Stage Manager / Everything else possible
You get my point, I just need some input


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## Charc (Aug 27, 2007)

Oobleck1441 said:


> Well sorry i jsut used the Title thats on my check,
> I gues you could say:
> House Manager / Stage Manager / Everything else possible
> You get my point, I just need some input



Check? In high school... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. 'Nough said.


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## avkid (Aug 27, 2007)

Oobleck1441 said:


> Well sorry i jsut used the Title thats on my check,
> I gues you could say:
> House Manager / Stage Manager / Everything else possible
> You get my point, I just need some input


Get out, we don't like you anymore!!

Seriously though, my check says pay to the order of Philip LaDue $xx.xx
Mmm...fancy checks.


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## Oobleck1441 (Aug 28, 2007)

charcoaldabs said:


> Check? In high school... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. 'Nough said.



Yeah, stage crew members get paid by the hour when I'm on my time..
Im not going to complain though...


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## Oobleck1441 (Aug 28, 2007)

:neutral:

avkid said:


> Get out, we don't like you anymore!!
> 
> Seriously though, my check says pay to the order of Philip LaDue $xx.xx
> Mmm...fancy checks.



its not my check that says that, its a payorder
when I fill out my hours off my card, They ask:
Name, department, title
Never mind.. This is getting way of topic..
and making ymself look even dumber


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## Charc (Aug 28, 2007)

I want money too...


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## gafftaper (Aug 28, 2007)

charcoaldabs said:


> I want money too...



YOU CAN'T HAVE ANY NOW GET BACK TO WORK!


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## icewolf08 (Aug 28, 2007)

It seems people have touched on the important things. You should have an accurate inventory of equipment and a hanging plot of what is in the air. You might want to include serial numbers of gear that has SNs so that you can keep track if you ever need to send it out for repair and such.

You may also want to have a groundplan of the theatre that is as accurate as possible. A circuit plot is also a useful tool to have in the bag for when you are trying to figure out how to get power to all your lights.

Then you might want a system flow diagram for you sound system, this will be helpful any time someone tries to figure out how to get sound out of the system.

Make sure you have copies of the manuals for your gear. Weather you have them in print or in digital form may not matter, but they are useful when you run across that one thing that you always forget how to do, or never had to do before.

Those are the big ones that I can think of.


Oh, and Charc: just to annoy you more, when I was in high school I got paid something like 20hrs/week for working stage crew in my junior and senior years.


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## Charc (Aug 28, 2007)

icewolf08 said:


> Oh, and Charc: just to annoy you more, when I was in high school I got paid something like 20hrs/week for working stage crew in my junior and senior years.



I work multiple assemblies every week including setup for special guests/needs, every show, lectures, special events on campus, concerts, freshman/midlde/lower shows, things that have an audience, as well as maintenance and upkeep in and around the facilities... I've worked 35+ hours of tech in a week, on top of 30 hours of school (I didn't do homework though...), I'm student TD, and have yet to start my Junior year... what do I have to show for it?.... slipping grades... hehe. 
(Oh, and it's a private school, so I PAY to do all this...)
</***** 'n moan>


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## gafftaper (Aug 28, 2007)

I got paid when I was in High School for any outside rentals that used the space... $7 an hour in 1988 dollars. 

When I was teaching, my students got paid $10 an hour for any outside rental... that's late 90's dollars. 

School activites were always part of the job.


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## Charc (Aug 29, 2007)

gafftaper said:


> I got paid when I was in High School for any outside rentals that used the space... $7 an hour in 1988 dollars.
> When I was teaching, my students got paid $10 an hour for any outside rental... that's late 90's dollars.
> School activites were always part of the job.



Hmm, that is interesting. We don't rent our space out anymore, which is a pain. We used to, and I have a feeling I might have gotten paid for them. We still have special events and such, but when the school "hosts" them, it means no money for me... )


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## avkid (Aug 29, 2007)

gafftaper said:


> I got paid when I was in High School for any outside rentals that used the space... $7 an hour in 1988 dollars.


Double minimum wage.


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## thebikingtechie (Oct 28, 2007)

charcoaldabs said:


> I work multiple assemblies every week including setup for special guests/needs, every show, lectures, special events on campus, concerts, freshman/midlde/lower shows, things that have an audience, as well as maintenance and upkeep in and around the facilities... I've worked 35+ hours of tech in a week, on top of 30 hours of school (I didn't do homework though...), I'm student TD, and have yet to start my Junior year... what do I have to show for it?.... slipping grades... hehe.
> (Oh, and it's a private school, so I PAY to do all this...)
> </***** 'n moan>



Wow that about sums up what I did at my old school. In fact I had to double check that I hadn't written it and then forgot I posted. 

Anyway, currently I'm working community theatre with one of the best lighting designers/electricians in the province. I don't get paid but it's really good experience. Though hopefully I'll be able to start getting paid jobs at some point. I'm still a little pissed about the last show I worked on, the choreographer(who is my age) got $500 for it and I barely got thanked.


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## TupeloTechie (Oct 28, 2007)

thebikingtechie said:


> the choreographer(who is my age) got $500 for it and I barely got thanked.



sounds like my situation, the choreographer gets paid $700 a song and I'm left out of the program, and never thanked, not once.


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## avkid (Oct 28, 2007)

I would like to engage in this conversation, however terms of my employment prevent me from divulging certain details.

I hate the IRS.


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