Where does the electricity go?

One of the joys of teaching classes and workshops is watching the expressions on people's faces when they suddenly get it. That happened the other day when one of the attendees in a class pulled me aside during a break.

"I've always wondered," he said. "where the electricity goes. I thought it came back through the neutral and went into the ground."

He was pointing to an illustration I had drawn of a typical circuit, and he indicated that he thought the current literally flowed into the earth where it just magically...disappeared maybe?

Of course, that's not what happens at all. The current flows in a loop starting from the supply, then through the circuit, and back to the supply again. There is just enough energy to return the current to the supply, and then it starts over again.

The reason we earth our electrical systems by driving a ground rod (or using one of many other ways to connect the electrical system to the earth) is mainly for lightning protection and for a 0-volt reference, which stabilizes our voltage. If lightning strikes the building or the electrical system, the connection to the earth funnels the energy into the earth so it can be dissipated. But that connection has nothing to do with the normal path for current flow.

How Much Money Should I Ask For?

Every so often I get a couple of phone calls or emails that go something along the lines of...

"How much money should I be making as a (tech, programmer, electrician, lighting designer, fill-in-the-blank)?"

That's probably the hardest question to answer in the history of live event production. Information about what people earn in our industry is hard to come by. A lot of people don't like to disclose that information for whatever reason, and companies discourage employees from discussing it with other employees because if any two employees know what the other is making, chances are that one of them is going to be disappointed, hurt, or upset. This lack of information leaves us all at a disadvantage when we're negotiating compensation. Information is power.

There are companies out there that focus on collecting data about average salaries and compensation based on job titles. The idea is that you should be able to type in your job title or job description and get a good idea of your market value. And knowing what the going rate for your job description is key to making sure you're being fairly compensated.

I once read a blog post by best-selling author Bernard Marr, and he had a great suggestion for negotiating your salary or compensation. It's always uncomfortable when you have to decide how much to ask for a salary or pay rate. So rather than talk about how much you need to live or to support your lifestyle, it's much better to talk about the market rate for someone with your skills.

The problem is that there is very little (if any) data for the live event production industry. If we had a better idea of the average hourly rates, day rates, or salaries of techs, electricians, programmers, and designers based on geographic location, then it would be much easier to negotiate a fair compensation package. Instead, we're pretty much left to our own devices and often time we are negotiating in the dark. If only we had some light!

Shining some light on the subject would be easier if there was a central depository of information that was completely anonymous. Then no one would be self-conscious or fear retribution. But even with such a database, there are no guarantees that people wouldn't try to game the system by reporting higher compensation in hopes of pushing up the curve. What we really need is third party reporting. Until then, here are some ideas that might be helpful:

1. Think win-win. Your compensation is a two-way street. If you want a longterm relationship, then whoever is paying you needs to be fairly compensated in terms of benefits from your endeavors or cash money.

2. Think longterm. Not only do you need to earn enough money to live, but you will some day want to retire, so you should be tucking away about 15% of your income for that purpose.

3. Think overhead. In addition to paying yourself, you'll also need to pay expenses and overhead that could include self-employment taxes, office supplies, utilities (that portion of which is used exclusively for your job), and more.

4. Think about taxes. Uncle Sam (or the equivalent governmental entity if you live outside of the USA) will come calling every year and you have to be prepared to write a check to cover your taxes.

What am I missing?

Stay Ahead of the Storm

A couple of years ago, my daughter and I went to the X-Games in Austin for the third year in a row. We were under flash flood warnings so I was hyper-aware of the weather. The atmosphere was unstable and there were popup showers in the area. As we were watching the Skateboard Street competition, we could see a big bank of black clouds gathering in the distance. I was hoping it would go around us but I was monitoring it closely on my iPhone weather app, WeatherBug. My main concern was lightning. WeatherBug has a lightning app within the app called Spark. It uses real-time lightning data and your GPS, and it tells you how far away the closest lightning strike is to your location. Unfortunately, it didn't work when I needed it most. I knew there was lightning in the not-too-far distance but Spark just gave me a blank screen.

The X-Games is very good about monitoring the weather and making the right call. Just the day before, the entire park was evacuated to our cars while we waited out the weather. So I felt okay about staying to watch Skateboard Street even though I could see the gathering clouds. But when the announcement came over the PA to evacuate the grounds and retreat to our cars, all hell broke loose. In about less than one minute after the announcement, the skies opened up and large drops of rain pelted the scattering crowd. Everyone scrambled to gather their loved ones and their belongings and headed for the exits. Me, my daughter, and her two friends started running for the shelter of my car in the parking lot about half a mile away. Before we could go ten meters, the wind picked up and that's when I really started getting concerned.

I grew up on the Texas coast and I've lived through several hurricanes, so I feel like a have a pretty good grasp of the power of hurricane-force winds. That day at the X-Games, it felt like we experienced close to hurricane-force winds. At that point, my concern shifted from lightning to wind. There were so many tents, cranes, and structures that could be blown over that I kept my head on a swivel, trying to anticipate what would happen next. At the same time, I was trying to keep my eyes glued to my daughter and her two friends, coral them, and guide them to the car without getting lost or hurt. Once I made eye contact with them, we all ran towards the parking lot. About 10 meters into our mad dash, the three of them decided to stop and seek shelter under a small pop-up tent along with about 30 other people. I understand why they did that; large drops of rain were pelting them, soaking them to the skin, and everyone else seemed to be doing it. But I wheeled back around and urged them to keep running for the car. Reluctantly, they did.

We ran another 300 meters into the paddock where they house the EMTs and ambulances. Fortunately they had opened the gates to these normally off-limits premises. We were herded in there with dozens of other people, all of us soaked to the skin. I pulled my cell phone out of my soaking wet pants and pulled up the Sparks app. It finally worked. There was lightning within six miles.

I never felt like our lives were in danger, but I did feel like the situation could have turned as quickly as the rain and wind was unleashed upon us. While we were waiting for the all clear signal, I had time to reflect on what had just happened, and how we could have been better prepared. Lessoned learned:

1. Knowing the weather was unstable going into the event, I should have not waited until the announcement to evacuate; I should have gathered the troops and started moving towards the parking lot when the dark clouds were approaching.
2. By the time the bad weather hits, it's too late to make a plan. I should have prepared the girls for the possibility of evacuating before it started raining and gusting. When the weather hit, it was pandemonium. People were running in every direction and we could easily have been separated. In fact, I witnessed one mother desperately calling out for her child, from whom she had been separated during the event. I was torn between wanting to help her and feeling the tugging responsibility to the three girls. Not knowing what the child looked like, I decided that there was nothing I could do at the moment to help here. Later on, I saw her and her child in the paddock.
3. What I remember most vividly is how loud it was. The howling wind makes a surprisingly loud noise, making it almost impossible to give or follow instructions. If I had a do-over I would have told the girls that, in the event that we were separated, we would meet at a designated spot.