MENTORING THE NEXT GENERATION OF INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS
“Patch these cables into the front of this rack. Everything is color-coded, so it's pretty straightforward.”
The young lady smiled big, and her eyes lit up as I handed her some audio cables to accompany my instructions. In that instant, I could see all the emotions on her face; surprised that I had asked her to help me, excited for the opportunity to be involved, and a little nervous about being given the responsibility.
This exchange happened recently at a show I did in Glasgow. The venue had implemented a job shadowing program with the local audio school to give aspiring live sound engineers real-world experience. And I didn’t waste any time putting this person to work.
I love helping young people interested in a live production career; on-the-job training is the best education anyone will get. But budget limitations make it tough to bring anyone non-essential on tour, so I don't get to mentor as much as I would like. However, when the opportunity presents itself, I aim to offer the best learning experience possible.
It may take a tour’s worth of on-the-job training before someone feels confident enough to work independently. But any real-world experience is helpful, and the chance to visit a tour can be invaluable. On this particular day in Glasgow, I wanted to utilize the minimal window of time to showcase the world of touring audio to this young person.
You can quickly determine if someone is genuinely interested, and I do all I can to include people who are eager to learn. This young lady was enthusiastic, so, making sure to recheck her work before sound check, I let her patch some cables. I walked her through everything I did, explaining my approach to mixing and the audio signal flow. Most students are intimidated and shy in these situations, and no one likes to admit when they don’t know something. So, I offered lots of information without inquiring much about her current working knowledge of audio. She remained interested throughout the day, seemed grateful for the opportunity to be there, and even asked a few questions. It was great to see someone so attentive, and I was happy to offer insight.
Anytime someone asks if I'm willing to have a young person job shadow me, I always say yes. It doesn't add extra work to my day; if the person is eager to work, it may even reduce my workload. Helping someone during the critical early stages of their career is very rewarding, and mentoring is a great way to breathe new life into a career that has become routine and sometimes feels monotonous to me. I’m happy to help usher in the next generation of touring professionals whenever possible, and I hope to have more opportunities in the future.