We manage game day productions for teams, stadiums and arenas that choose to outsource their production to a trusted vendor.
MANAGEMENT PROJECTS – JOSHUA ECHO-HAWK
2001-2006 – ACTION SPORTS MEDIA, Creative Director (17 Div1A properties, including Texas, Texas A&M, Alabama football, Tennessee football, Lady Vols basketball, Oklahoma State, Kentucky/Rupp Arena, Oklahoma State, University of Washington, Oregon State University, Vanderbilt)
2007-2012 – UNIVERSITY OF OREGON (all venues)
2007-2012 – OREGON SPORTS NETWORK, Executive Producer (400+ productions)
2012-2013 – STANFORD UNIVERSITY (videoboard content)
2012-2016 – ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY (all venues)
2013 – BOEING 787-9 FIRST FLIGHT BROADCAST
2013-2015 – BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY (content for new displays in football stadium)
2014 – PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, Valhalla (all on-course screens)
2014-Present – WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY (all venues)
2014 – Present – MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER ALL STAR GAME CONCERT SERIES
2015 – SUPER BOWL XLIX, Super Bowl Central + Pepsi Halftime Stage / Fan Central (GoVision)
2014-2017 – LOS ANGELES DODGERS / CHICAGO WHITE SOX Spring Training, Camelback Ranch
2016 – PGA RYDER CUP (all on-course screens + media center)
2017 – SUPER BOWL LI – (all video displays on property, GoVision)
2017 – PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, Quail Hollow (all on-course screens + media center)
2017 – MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER ALL STAR GAME SKILL CHALLENGE
2018 – WINTRUST ARENA, Chicago (DePaul Basketball, WNBA Sky)
2018 – Cal Ripken Baseball, Aberdeen Ironbirds, Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium
OUR PROCESS:
We HELP YOU HIRE A MANAGER – We provide hiring “headhunting” services to find the right on-site manager, and then support that manager with my team, resources, and OEM/equipment contacts. We have a very deep network of resources, built over 20+ years of experience in the video industry
THEN WE SUPPORT THAT MANAGER WITH MY TEAM –We also support that manager with my content team. A video manager can spend a majority of their time creating content, formatting ads, fixing client-provided-videos, making headshots, etc. WE support those efforts, keeping your video manager focused on departmental duties.
MY TEAM IS THE FIRST CALL WHEN PROBLEMS ARISE – When technical/production issues surface, most of the time it’s not something management should handle. We are there when problems arise, and support your video manager. That means the video manager will call ME first. It’s our job to support the position, provide expertise, staffing, knowledge-base, and labor resources to fix problems. Most of the time, our team can handle issues without needing to impact team management.
CONTROL BUDGETS WITH AGREEMENTS – Our involvement in a venue is typically a 2-4 year contract. Our job is to control costs, handle labor decisions with long-term objectives, and support the video services needed on mutually agreed budgets.
There are several advantages for a venue to outsource production and video services:
MINIMIZE ANNUAL STAFFING COSTS – no need to carry the annual expense of a permanent video staff year-round; spend during the season and minimize costs in off-season
PRODUCTION HIRING IS HIT AND MISS – Oftentimes there is a “hope we made a good hire” when an athletic department needs to hire a video position to manage operations. It’s extremely difficult for “civilians” to write a proper job description that properly encapsulates the video duties and skills needed —most team managers do not really “speak” video very well.
Additionally, it’s difficult to properly interview a potential video candidate. It’s a very technical field, and the typical video position is tough to fill with just a resume. Most candidates can “talk a good talk” about projects they have done —but it takes a seasoned “video geek” to know what actual skills and expertise a candidate really has.
IT’S TOUGH TO GET OUT OF A BAD HIRE – A permanent hire is tough to get out of if the candidate doesn’t work out. Oftentimes it is MUCH easier to make a change with contractors. I have hired many many video positions over the years, and I’ve always felt strongly that the continued incentive to-keep-your-position is a big help to getting optimal performance out of the hire.
BRING IN STARTUP HELP – – Many times a venue needs help “start-up help” when purchasing new videoboards, but that’s just for a short-term burst, then things settle down and operations become business-as-usual. My team helps with this burst —it’s a HUGE push to install new video systems, get everything working, and tie it all together. Many times, the entire inventory of video graphics, animations and elements need to be updated to the new format.
My team does this on a regular basis. We can help with the push, and then provide your staff with files, training, and ongoing support as needed. We frequently work ourselves out of a job after the first season –if we do our job right, we turn the keys over to your staff once things are working well.
GET SCALEABLE EXPERTISE – New equipment usually comes with a steep learning curve. My team of experts are used to the “startup”. If there are particular devices, equipment, or video techniques that your staff needs help with, let me find you a specialist.
SPECIAL PROJECTS – Often, a sponsor will have a specific idea about an activation, video, animation or special display that they want. If you need some out-of-the-box solutions to help with special projects, my team can help.
OUTSOURCE SPONSORSHIP – A larger venue can have many different sized formats with multiple screens, fascia ribbon boards, etc. The creation of elements can be time-consuming, and put a lot of hours on your video manager. We frequently knock out inventory for clients that just need a little help making the “stuff”. I think it’s important to keep your guy working on the big stuff, and let my team handle the repetitive and time-consuming production work.
Challenges When Deciding To Outsource Video Operations:
TRUST – At some point, an Athletic Director or team GM needs to trust someone. The video operations manager is a difficult position to fill. We can help —but it requires trust. My “Secret sauce” has been to work hard, communicate well, and tell the truth. This has led to 20+ years in the business, overwhelmingly positive relationships, long-term good standing in the industry, and genuine desire to help.
DEPARTMENT HEAD TURNOVER CREATES CHAOS – It requires teamwork between my team and your staff to find efficiencies and streamline the production process. We have had very positive work environments change when department heads leave, and are replaced by a new person with different styles, methods, and objectives. It’s important to our team that we “fit” well with our clients, and changes at the top can have a negative impact on the momentum.
PERCEIVED “LOSS OF CONTROL” – We have had major university athletic departments tell me they do not want to “lose control” of their operations by using vendors/contractors. Some vendors can have poor response time, lack of urgency, lackluster communication, and “surprises” in the billing. We do not operate like this —however, we frequently see owners and athletic departments have a skeptical attitude towards trusting a vendor.
BUDGET & REPORTING – We managed a major Div1A property for a well-known University for many years. Each year we would take on more scope in my agreement —including procuring TV trucks, staffing, rental equipment to support lack of University-owned-infrastructure. When the University decided not to build an $800,000 control room, we then agreed to provide a fully loaded TV truck each week, AND crew the whole show.
After a few years, we were told “We were expensive” because the client didn’t ever break down how much these individual services cost –they just saw one big bill from me.
We provided a very clear and detailed reporting system of every expense AND gave the University options on where we could cut back. It’s critical that we work together to determine what budgets should be, and where the money goes.
URGENTLY NEEDED CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS WHEN EQUIPMENT IS BECOMING OUTDATED – The absolute most common, NUMBER ONE way that a vendor relationship can become strained is when equipment is failing.
There are no guarantees on how long video gear will hold up —and when it starts to fail, the finger-pointing can be frustrating on both sides. Owners will say “there is no money for new equipment” while video managers complain that “they can’t do their job on old gear”.
Our job is to be in the middle, and sort it out.
Oftentimes, there are production methods to “get by” until capital budgets can be ready. There are stop-gap methods to renting equipment to hold over capabilities. No matter what happens, sponsors need to have their inventory on the boards —it needs to get handled.
That’s OUR job.