September Issue - PLSN.com

PLSN Voters Choose Best Companies in Their Region
Five “Hometown Heroes” honored
By Kevin M.Mitchell
For every 500-pound gorilla of a production
company, there are dozens and dozens of
smaller, regional guerillas. They make up the
bulk of the production industry, and manufacturers
couldn’t survive without them. They
are small- to mid-sized in stature, but they are
very big in the eyes of the people who rely on
them day in and day out. They support the
up-and-coming acts before they do national
stadium tours. They take care of the fairs, the
festivals and the hundreds of corporate events
that happen in every metropolitan area, year
in, year out. They are the backbone of the business.
And to us they are, well, heroes.
And the readers of PLSN have chosen to
honor six of them.
Despite the differences in their respective
regions, the different paths that have brought
them to where they are today, they have much
in common. Talent. Persistence. The skill to hire
and keep a great staff of people. Finally, but
not lastly, the ability to learn how to crunch the
numbers, make wise business-decisions and
keep it all moving onward and upward.
The readers of PLSN have honored these
“Hometown Heroes” by voting for them in our
secure poll, overseen by the Parnelli Award
Board of Directors (see www.parnelliawards.
com for more information). And while only one
will receive the Parnelli for Best Regional Light
company in October, every one of these guys
is a winner.
West
Smoother Smythe
Delicate Productions
Camarillo, CA
Founded in 1980 by touring-experienced
Smoother Smyth, Stephen Dabbs,
Spy Matthews and Gus Thomson, Delicate
was off to a hard-running start having already
served at the privilege of such acts as
Kiss, The Rolling Stones, Supertramp, Elton
Smoother Smythe
John, Fleetwood Mac and more. In fact, the
initial inventory that launched the company was bought used from Supertramp.
The company grew as primarily a sound company. In 1996, Matthews left, returning
to his native Australia, and Steve Gilbard stepped in. Gilbard was instrumental in further
expanding the company into the lighting and video marketplace. Delicate evolved from
just concerts to corporate, sporting, entertainment industry events and beyond.
“I would say diversification is a big reason for our success,” Symthe says. “That and
having a talented staff that works with us, not for us—that’s something we learned going
back to working with Supertramp in the late 1970s.”
Today the company has 20 full-time employees, but counting freelancers, averages
50-plus each pay period. They’ve worked with a broad range of talent today including
Counting Crowes, The Black Crowes, INXS, Yanni, Sting, Natalie Cole, premiere parties like
Pirates of the Caribbean, corporate clients like BMW, Audi and Lexus and awards shows like
ESPN.
“First of all, we always have to do what we’re doing a little bit better,” Smythe told FOH
magazine in a recent interview. “We have to get a little bit better of a relationship with our
clients and focus a little bit more on how things leave the shop. All is well there, but I want
to focus on just being better. Our goal is to enhance what we are doing already, become
our own billboard to the industry and hope that people will come to us based on what
they’ve seen or heard.”
Ad info: www.fohonline.com/rsc
Southwest
Rob McKinley
LD Systems
Houston, San Antonio, TX
Celebrating their 31st year, LD Systems provides
production and installation expertise and
equipment for national touring acts, annual festivals
and corporate meetings. They have also
evolved into having a systems integration department
for houses of worship, sports facilities
and even offshore oil platforms.
Rob McKinley
All a long way from 1973, which is when
Andy DiRaddo and John Larson began renting sound equipment out of a garage. In 1975,
Larson joined the armed services and Rob McKinley stepped in, an event that, for them,
marks the true beginning of the company.
“My interests were electronics and music and I was a trumpet player,” McKinley says.
“While we started as a sound company, we grew into lights. Then our clients pulled us into
different markets—that’s how we’ve grown over the years.”
Today they have around 80 people employed between the two offices, and have worked
with groups such as 3 Doors Down, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Nickleback, and corporate clients
such as Lexus, Mercedes and Shell Oil.
The delicate balance of new gear versus keeping money in the bank is an ongoing challenge.
“We’re being conservative with purchases and wanting to grow within our means. We
don’t want to grow too fast, because we want to be able to maintain a level of quality… So
you try to keep up with it all, but not go too far.” He laughs and adds: “After 31 years, we’ve
tried just about every possible strategy! And now we tend to grow more conservatively than
we have in earlier years.”
Not surprisingly, McKinley says the people that work for LD Systems are the reason for
their success. “You look for people who care about their work, are self-motivated… it’s a
team effort. Over 50% of our employees have been here for over 20 years. And we have clients
who are able to have the same staff work their event or show year after year.”
Ad info: www.fohonline.com/rsc
Southeast
David Milly • Theatrical Lighting Systems • Huntsville, AL
“The longer I’m in business, the more I learn that it’s not about me, it’s about my employees,”
says David Milly, President of Theatrical Lighting Systems (TLS).“They have different
reasons to come to work than me. I own the business.”
Milly began his career working for a company called Luna Tech, Inc. Then in 1981 the pyrotechnic-based
company split and he and his wife, Janet, took over the lighting and staging part of it. Last
year, TLS celebrated its silver anniversary. Capping it off was Milly receiving a Parnelli for regional
lighting company, 25 years to the day after he wrote TLS’ first invoice.
Today TLS has 42 people employed at the Huntsville location, seven at a Nashville
office and three at the Jacksonville office.
Currently they have long-time client Brad Paisley on tour, and recently finished the installation
duties at the Meridian, Miss. Opera House that he says was a $20 million dollar renovation. An especially
interesting project was the Retirement Systems of Alabama Battle House Tower in Mobile, Ala.
42 PLSN SEPTEMBER 2006
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