The fall is the most exciting time of the year — at least for me it is. I love the changing of the seasons, the vibrant colors in the Blue Ridge mountains. Football is back, the pennant race has begun, the crispness in the air. It’s a wonderful time of year. Most importantly, two of our industry’s biggest trade shows happen. I consider this time of year important for our industry. Call it our Super Bowl, if you will. Two times during the fall, we come together to learn, explore and celebrate.
I am talking about PLASA and LDI. I look forward to these shows every year. It offers us a chance to learn new aspects of our industry, grow our understanding of standards and methodology and see new products up close and personal. The after parties and awards ceremonies are an added bonus!
The time we spend at these trade shows offers us so much more than information. It brings everyone together. It is not often that everyone in our industry is in one place. For some, PLASA and LDI are the only times that we get to see our peers from across the country and around the world.
It’s a time were we get to catch up, see what everyone has been up to and to remember the good old days and trade horror stories. It is also a time when we get to meet new people and expand our network. It never fails; I always come home with a stack of new contacts and friends that I have met. (Note to self, time to update the Rolodex!)
PLASA has already come and gone. It was a first for me. Not only the PLASA Show itself, but visiting London. With all of the English friends I have made over the years, they made it felt like home. I always had a recommendation for dinner or something I had to check out in my copious amounts of free time while abroad.
I shared many a pint with old and new friends during and after the show. In talking with these people, the same topic always came up. What an industry we “work” in, “can you believe we are paid to light people up?” It’s mind-blowing when you start to think about it. Someone is paying us to do what we love. If you love what you are doing can it be considered work? And if not, my advice would be to do anything you can to change things so you can do what you love. You’ll be busier, happier and, inevitably, more successful.
Sure, the beginning of anyone’s career in this industry is a tough one. I still remember the days of pushing road cases and climbing ladders to focus. It was a rough and dirty job. Thinking about it now, I begin to miss those days. I was still learning back then. I am still learning today! But if it was a humbling beginning, it helped me get to where I am today.
It takes time and sweat equity to be a professional in the industry. Like many aspiring young designers, I want to transcend the norm and be a working professional out of college. Then reality sunk in. It takes more than talent to make it. In takes contacts, a reputation and knowledge. College certainly helped with the knowledge aspect to a point. It is after college that the real world experience happens. Working gigs, attending trade shows and expanding the contact network.
I have always considered myself fortunate for being a part of this industry. It can be a tough life, living on the road, working well past midnight and into the early morning. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I am spending more time behind a keyboard then a console or drafting desk these days, gaining a whole new perspective on what we all love to do.
Thinking back now, in my early years of high school, I wanted to be a professional soccer player. What a life, I use to think — getting paid to play a sport that I love. Traveling the world, being internationally known, what a life! Reality sunk in again. I wasn’t as good as I thought. The dream was gone, but a new one began with my first gig working the spring musical in high school. I wanted to make magic happen on stage.
To this day, I still get nervous as the curtain goes up on opening night of the latest show I worked on. It’s thrilling to capture an audience’s attention and open a new world to them on stage. It is what drives me forward and makes me want to do better than I ever have before. I may have been doing this for sometime now, but it never gets old, I never stop learning, I never lose the passion. Work is what you make of it. If you love what you are doing, is it really work?
