I've now worked at 2 premier venues in LA. Nothing to boast about, but enough to say I've learned a ton about how venues in LA work. Many of them are very similar, because people skip around and work at different ones and carry the same approaches to running a venue to each one. If you've worked at two premier venues, you know people that work at just about every venue in LA. It's a tight-knit family, that most people don't realize. I'm good friends with people at The Key Club, The Avalon, The Whisky, The Coach House, The Canyon Club, and the list goes on. If you go along the daisy chain, every venue is connected some which way or another. I have dinner regularly with the events coordinator at Key Club and her sister who is the box office manager at the Avalon.
Anyway, since I've started working at Crash, I've taken on booking. But when budgets get tight, hours get cut, and people aren't around as much. So I got asked to take on other responsibilities. Even when it's a premier club, people are ALWAYS trying to cut budgets. Any LITTLE thing to save a buck will happen. This happened at Key Club and Crash.
So people get asked to multi-task. For me it's good. I've learned the Ticket Master system because we had to cut budgets in our box office. So I started learning about how to submit events on Ticket Master, how to print in-house tickets, how to return tickets, etc. They ask me to keep an in-house calendar for the staff, and make set-up sheets for each show. I'm also in charge of all the contracts for every show, and I'm the production contact for tour managers and agents(because I have a history in live sound. They wanted me to be the middle man between the tour managers and our production manager).
It's not all gravy, though. There are hard days. Sometimes pay checks don't get out on time. People get fired. Hours get cut. It's a reality. I've already seen 6 people get hired and let go at Crash. It's not always fired. I've seen 3 people get fired. The other 3 were let go, because they weren't doing enough, and they weren't worth it for the venue to keep them around. The most important things that the General Manager told me are:
1. Pull your own weight, and make life easier for everyone else. Get your work done. Do what YOU have to do, and do it well. People don't want to work with people that make life harder for them.
2. Have a good attitude even if things aren't going well. Things can get difficult and stressful, and the managers don't want to be around people that complain about stuff. You have to do your best to keep attitudes up, especially when everyone else is complaining. And being cheery isn't always the answer either. A lot of people think 'cheery' people are annoying and fake. I've found that good ol' midwestern sarcasm gets people smiling.
Those are the 2 most important things. Other things like punctuality are good, but not imperative. As long as you get ALL your work done and make life easier for your co-workers, it's not always crucial that you get to work on time. Seriously... at least in the club scene, that is.
Hope everyone's good in Minnesota. I hear the weather's getting better after a long, grueling winter. Be well, and if you see Debbie Sandridge in the halls at McNally...still, give her a hug from all of us out in LA.
All the best,
Conall Walsh
ps- If anyone has any questions about coming out here, or how things work out here, feel free to email me at conall@crashmansionla.com.
