The Official Bulletin: 2016 Q4 / NO. 654

help from Bill Gearns. He co-bargained our direct agreements
with PSAV, Freeman AV and GES, which are all specific to Las
Vegas.”
Gearns describes the tradeshow industry as totally unique.
“It’s highly organized,” he explains. “But what makes it different
than, say, stagecraft and motion picture, is those industries
haven’t had a history of competing unions. The exhibition
crafts have, historically, been carved out by different unions
– painters, pipe fitters, decorators, etc., so organizing opportunities
have always been more limited. The biggest openings
now are mainly in freight, like the new contracts we’ve secured
in Atlanta, Orlando and New Orleans, through area standard
agreements.”
New technology is coming to the trade show floor that
Gearns describes as “mind boggling.” He draws the comparison
to Local One stagehands in New York when digital light-boards
first arrived in legitimate theater. “They said: ‘who’s going to operate
them,” Gearns recounts.
“We are! And [Local One] started training their members
on that new technology and we kept it in the I.A. The International’s
work in co-bargaining these national agreements has
obviously been instrumental in opening up new markets for the
IATSE, particularly now in AV.”
Another goal for the International, Gearns concludes, is to
encourage Locals to create their own training programs. “That
shouldn’t be limited to apprenticeship work for newer members,”
he says. “Journeymen need to be updated on these new
technologies as well. [Stage] Locals in cities like Las Vegas, Philadelphia,
Chicago, San Francisco, and San Diego have all set up
their own comprehensive training programs designed to keep
their members ahead of the curve. In the nation’s largest market
[Las Vegas] Local 720 clearly understands the next frontier is IT
[information technology] and they’ve created training for that.
The sky’s the limit in this industry as far as growth potential.
For example, these huge shows are all going wireless; someone’s
going to push that content onto the show floor and it needs to
be [IATSE] members.”
Local 16 AV Training
“The sky’s the limit in this industry as far as growth potential. For example,
these huge shows are all going wireless; someone’s going to push that
content onto the show floor and it needs to be [IATSE] members.”
INTERNATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT AND
TRADESHOW DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR WILLIAM GEARNS, JR.
FOURTH QUARTER 2016 23