Unraveling the Intricacies of Live Events with Caleb Nealey

Ever wondered how a vast, live event goes off without a hitch? Caleb Neely, director of production for Conquest, is here to pull back the curtains on the world of live production. He didn't just fall into his current role, it was a journey that began with his first job as a camera operator at the tender age of eight. Now, with years of experience and countless events under his belt, Caleb is ready to share his insights. From the nuts and bolts of running an all-in-one 'fly pack' used for events, to the nuanced role of effective communication in orchestrating a successful show, Caleb's story will have you riveted.

Caleb's rise from a young camera operator to director of production offers a fascinating look into how training and experiences shape the way we approach tasks, especially in creative fields. Get ready to explore the intricacies of managing live events, warts and all. Caleb opens up about the challenges he's faced along the way and how he has refined his approach over the years. With a special nod to his father's adept command of cues and timing, we understand the importance of a well-coordinated team in live production. No matter where you're at in your career, whether a seasoned pro or just dipping your toes in, this conversation with Caleb Neely offers invaluable insights and fresh perspectives. So come along for this enlightening journey into the endlessly dynamic world of live production.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, welcome back everyone here to the Vision
Maker podcast.
So this week we're going totake a deep dive into the world
of live production, and I amhere with a production director,
Caleb.
Caleb, would you like tointroduce yourself to the
audience?

Speaker 2 (00:15):
What's going on, guys ?
My name is Caleb Neely.
I'm the director of productionfor a live event production
company called Conquest.
Got some gear on right here.
So, yeah, happy to be here andhappy to talk about production.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
That's awesome man.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
My pleasure.
It's been a pleasure actuallybeing able to work with you in
the past couple of events, justalongside Conquest, as we done,
like our event reels and eventhighlights For just the same
events that you guys are doingthe full production, and I've

(00:48):
seen you guys go all out, bigand small, so so it's definitely
really cool stuff and I'mexcited to talk about that.
But I guess I want to start offreally first.
It's like how did you get inthis world, how did you come up
to really gravitating towardsthe video side of it especially?

Speaker 2 (01:05):
So I'm a little spoiled.
My dad owns the productioncompany.
So I got a start at a veryyoung age.
I was a camera operator Ibelieve it was in Indianapolis
at eight years old, so it was ashow for about, I think, 5,000
people.
I was on a riser with aPanasonic and just following.
So, eight years old, I got mystart and didn't really look

(01:27):
back since then.
So been doing summers workingfor my dad and then once I kind
of got 16, 17 traveling and kindof missing some school doing
some productions and then, onceI graduated, traveling all over
the place probably doing 20, 25events a year, all in different
cities.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
So now that's nonstop Dude.
That's a dream.
It's like eight year old, so itwas like love at first sight.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Yeah, you could call it that.
Yeah, it was nice because as aneight year old, I didn't do
much other than run the camera.
So I showed up at a differentcity, got to enjoy the city with
my family, go to pools, a lotof stuff, and then, hey, run
this camera.
Now it's a little bit moredetailed and we'll get your
hands dirty.
You've gone up a couple levels.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
There's levels, yeah, yeah.
No, I mean Anna, so coolbecause like right now, when I
see you, you're really in thatdirector mode.
You're not camera hopping toomuch, unless it's like the late
night or like slow time, youknow, but like you're in video
village and man, you just seethe setup.
You got back there all in thatit's intricate man.

(02:32):
That all in one build?
Can you actually?
Can you just dive into thatbuild, the latest brand you have
?

Speaker 2 (02:40):
We call it the fly pack.
It's just all in one.
It's a well oiled machine there.
So with our clients we do a lotof kind of one man shows.
Either it's just me runningeverything video in the video
village or I have a V2 whoeither runs PTZ for me or kind
of checks on streaming, thatkind of things Just right hand

(03:01):
man, not necessarily callingcameras or everything, because
it is all built in there.
It's kind of hard to delegatethose kind of jobs because it's
all right there on top of me,but yeah, so all our shows are
kind of the same.
We got PowerPoint, we got videoroles, we have live camera
shoots.
So I'm switching with the blackmagic just in between

(03:21):
PowerPoint back to live or thespeaker ends.
We do video role logo.
So it's basically just a welloiled machine that all of those
cues and moves are at myfingertips.

Speaker 1 (03:33):
I love it and I think one point.
I think that I think somepeople under value sometimes,
especially when it comes toproduction and like what they
see, like you know, you guysrunning around and I have my own
prediction prediction Wow,that's a word no experience.
And on the audio side, becauseI've worked a lot of audio for

(03:54):
live events.
Yeah, and as an audio engineer,that's what I actually used to
do before going to video.
I was an audio engineer forlike 10 years.
But yeah, communication, Ithink, is so huge and I hear you
guys on the comms sometimes andhow like, how valuable

(04:15):
effective communication betweenthe team can be.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
I'd rather over communicate than under
communicate for sure.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
Yeah, can you just talk about that dynamic and how
you guys kind of tackle that andlike really instill proper
communication in your team?

Speaker 2 (04:29):
Yeah, so, like we've talked before, I'm a freelance
guy as well.
I don't I'm a full time withconquest, but when conquest
doesn't have shows back to backor anything, I'll pick up jobs
doing other things as well.
So I've worked with a lot oftechnical directors that worked
with a lot of show callers andI'm not being biased, but my
dad's the best one there is.
I mean, he is so intricate, he.

(04:50):
He knows a walk in song at thesecond so he brings it to that
second.
He lets the A1 know that allright, get ready for audio cue,
go audio cue.
He lets lighting director knowget ready and go roll video.
So everything is just and wedon't.
There's a lot of big, bigcompanies that give you a script
Basically you can read alongwith the whole two hour program.

(05:12):
We don't get those.
So it's kind of just kind ofoff the cuff and feel it and he
calls every, every move andmakes our jobs a lot easier.
But yeah, we definitelycommunicate a lot.
I communicate with camera ops.
Let them know what I need orwhat to go to next, and it's.
It's definitely a big perk tocommunicate, because then you're

(05:33):
kind of we're all winging it alittle bit.
That's just how a lot of eventsare, but it's better to wing it
with a plan in place.

Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah, at least a framework, some form of like
structure to the building.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yep, because if we're all just winging it on our own
winging terms, however you wantto describe that, it gets messy
and it can go south in a hurry.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
You start to realize how different people actually
think from each other.

Speaker 2 (05:57):
Oh yeah, real quickly .
Everybody's got a different,different thought process going
on.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
Isn't that crazy to it, like in our field especially
.
I feel it's the same in audio,it's the same in video and
technical fields like this,creative fields.
There are so many ways toaccomplish the same task.
It could be so vastly different.
I've I'm like, yeah, I've done10 years of audio, but I'll walk
up to a sandbar and it'sconfigured so different.
I was about to say that.

Speaker 2 (06:24):
I was about to say that because video you can, you
can kind of put stuff indifferent areas, but if you're
switching you got all yourinputs.
I kind of I can sit atsomebody's switcher and get
around.
Yeah, it's audio, man, audioand lighting.
It depends on how that dudecreated the show, created the
mix, the matrix, all that kindof stuff.
You can get lost and you can bea pro, but you can get lost

(06:46):
real quick.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
Yeah, real quick, because sometimes they learn
that one thing that they maywork or just want to do they
work or just works for them,that you never came across, it's
just a funky little thing.
No, that's true.
Yeah, with like videos, atleast you have that little bit
of grace.
That's more for more or less.
You're sticking with the samesame quality.

Speaker 2 (07:05):
We need all our feeds , all our inputs and it's going.
Now, if you have certain kindof things with different
switchers, if you have onescreen doing one thing and other
doing, that's when you can kindof get a little hairy.
But for basic video setups wehave output inputs.
What's going out?
There you go.

Speaker 1 (07:21):
Yeah, punch them Exactly.
One thing I'm interested inhere and so it's like someone
who now has a punch forexperience calling out cameras,
and I know it's like between youand your dad you kind of go
back and forth with the decisionmaking, but I know right now
you're a big part of that andthen you kind of collab back and

(07:41):
forth what's kind of like nowthe mindset, especially because
you guys do a lot of speakingengagements and stuff, so it's
pretty much just one subject foralmost an hour and he's just
standing there or walking aroundor maybe he just set the podium
the entire time.
Yeah, and you have to makecalls and it's like so I know

(08:01):
some people they develop arhythm or they look for certain
cues or different things likethat.
Like for you, what's yourmindset when you're calling
cameras or those types of things, or you're just picking the
switches at those types of times?

Speaker 2 (08:15):
It really depends on type of show, type of energy.
All that kind of thing Idefinitely like to.
High energy stuff I like toswitch.
But for me there's definitely apoint that you overcut, you
don't let shots develop, youdon't let kind of the shot build
and you just cut, cut, cut andthen when people are looking at
screens it gets a little messy.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
Yeah.
Especially if it's a low energytype of guy.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah.
So I definitely like to switchit up, kind of keep the crowd
engaged with different shots.
But then again if a speaker isup there for an hour just
talking at the podium, I meanyou kind of you gotta live in
that shot.
That's the main shot.
Camera one is that head totorso or the torso head to waist

(09:00):
.
That's the moneymaker there.
That's the best shot you got.
So you don't want to mess withit too much, but you still kind
of got to have get that happymedium of still switching it up,
but not just like, oh my gosh,man, he's standing right there.
Why are we looking at differentangles every five seconds?

Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yeah, yeah, you're right.
I mean, I guess it's energylevel.
That's a good way to look at it, definitely, and then.
But you're also balancingviewer fatigue, because they can
.

Speaker 2 (09:28):
Those eyes can get tired, man.

Speaker 1 (09:30):
Yeah, so you need like something to like spark
life back into them, but ofcourse you can't overdo it if
it's not matching the energy.

Speaker 2 (09:37):
Yeah, cause I've seen like a lot of jib shots, yeah,
a lot of like track cams andstuff like that, and you let,
you let the jib shot last for asecond.
It's like then it just lookslike a stationary camera way up
there.
They're not letting the jib dowhat it's meant to do.

Speaker 1 (09:52):
Yeah, let it breathe, as I've heard.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
That's a good way to put it.

Speaker 1 (09:57):
Yeah, you know what's funny, we kind of came into the
same question.
I feel like in the live senseit reflects a lot like the
studio and sometimes in the editroom when you're doing like,
you know, video production, thatsense where I found myself.
We did a concert last nightactually, oh yeah, and I found
myself with the with thequestion of like, as I'm like I

(10:20):
was on the tracking cam and wewere getting like the different
moments and I found myselfalways, like constantly, kind of
like trying to feel out theenergy, saying like am I holding
this shot too long, or is this,or should I be, or am I missing
something?
I should just move.
I just got to this shot, soit's like is like 10 seconds
enough, or should I be like herefor like, get the whole.

Speaker 2 (10:41):
Then you start overthinking it and you're like,
oh man, just get a shot.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
Yeah, so it's just like you know, as I'm thinking,
I'm like I'm holding this shotfor now until I figure out, you
know.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
But Until I make up my mind, then I'll move.

Speaker 1 (10:53):
Exactly.
I guess you feel like thatsometimes too right.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yeah, I mean, especially when I, especially
when I run camera too, there arethoughts that go through your
head like that, where it's likebut then again, for me at least,
I'm a people pleaser.
I like to, I like to try my ownthing, but I don't.
I don't get too crazy when Ihave a camera call or telling me
what to do.
Oh, yeah.
So it's like you try and doother things, but it's like you
don't want to be called out leftand right Like, okay, just stay

(11:17):
on this shot Cause it's likenow you kind of call it out.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (11:21):
So yeah, you try and get a little.
I've done a couple musicfestivals as a camera up years
ago.
Oh, nice.
It's fun to get different shotslike that, especially when
you're on a seven, eight camerashoot where it's like I'm just
having fun and that's the cameracaller and the camera
director's job, just to see whathe likes, yeah, but yeah, you
definitely.
You can have a thousand ofthose thoughts in a day.

(11:42):
Just run the camera man.

Speaker 1 (11:45):
Yeah, another thing that I'll actually do.
You have any particular event,gig or like experience, that
particular six on your mindthat's pretty memorable for
being exciting or just a crazystory in that aspect.

Speaker 2 (12:04):
I got a lot of ones.
It's exciting, it's fun.
It's just different types.
I mean, I've worked to fan festfor Xbox, which we were running
all the graphics, all thetrivia that everyone was
watching on their phones orlaptops.
We were running that fromCharlotte, north Carolina, but
they're doing it in Californiaand that's a T-Mobile arena, I

(12:25):
believe it was.

Speaker 1 (12:26):
Oh, wow.

Speaker 2 (12:27):
So it's like we're doing all that, we're getting
all the feeds from a V-Mix rig,bayer, and we're shooting it out
online.
So it was just.
It was so intricate and it wasvery fun, but man done some
that's pretty and sorts it's.
Yeah, it was crazy man, it was.
It was a lot going on.
We were talking on unity so wecould talk to people basically

(12:48):
clear calm across the country.

Speaker 1 (12:50):
So you know yes.

Speaker 2 (12:52):
Yeah, yeah, so you can talk on your phone.
You could talk on your laptop,ipad.
So I had a couple laptops setup.
I have my iPad there, I justpress the button and talking my
headphones, airpods and Clearcalm to someone in Los Angeles.
So it was crazy man that was.
That was definitely probablythe most intricate one I've done
, where a little above my paygrade.

(13:12):
I'm happy that other peoplewere there to kind of talk me
through it, because I had neverdone anything like that.
I'm a live event guy.
We're all right.
We're getting all these screensup, we're getting all the feeds
out to different rooms andwe're doing wireless this, all
this kind of stuff.
Yeah now you're talking aboutall right, we're commuting to a
different V mix rig across thecountry and then shooting this V

(13:34):
mix rig out to all the onlinesubscribers whatever you want to
describe them as viewers andOnce they they do a trivia
question.
All right, and hit that graphicto pop up the correct answer.
And it was getting live pollsin and then Building the slide
for it to put it out.
It was it was crazy man.

Speaker 1 (13:55):
It was days and days of rehearsals and long nights it
was so it was fun butdefinitely stressful and so it's
so many of those, it's just sointeresting that they would go
through that much effort to justDo it across the country.
You know like.

Speaker 2 (14:14):
I can't do it in-house at that point.
I have so many questions likewhy the heck did they not just
like hire a company out there?

Speaker 1 (14:21):
Yeah, just like someone can like you're already
doing a V mix rig.
Yeah, just to send it like a Vmix rig out.

Speaker 2 (14:30):
That was your remix right, yeah, we flew it out.
They had it there.
We had a tech there tobasically make sure all
everything was good on his endfor what we're sending them.

Speaker 1 (14:40):
Yeah and and they didn't want to just fly the rest
of you.

Speaker 2 (14:45):
That's a lot of gear to fly out, that's true.
Well, yeah, it was crazy man itwas.
It was definitely a little bitof overkill, but it was cool.
It was cool to be a part of,that's for sure.

Speaker 1 (14:54):
Yeah, okay, cool, cool, cool, Cool, any.
Oh, here's a good one.
I always like to hear any oneof those like those stories
where it's like, it's kind oflike because it happens in live
production all the time, whereit's like, oh, everything's
about to fall apart and you'relike, you're like and you have
to come up with like thecraziest work around.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (15:15):
I call that having to put out fires, and I am I am a
little bit of a firefightersometimes on on Events
definitely got to put out firesa lot of the one that always
gets me, and it's kind of a jokethat I have with my career as
well.
It's it's reseeding cables orpower cycling where you can't
quite Understand why somethinglost feed but all you had to do

(15:38):
is unplug it and re plug it inand bam, you got it.
And that's sometimes whatclients don't understand that
that happens in live events.
There's some stuff that's justunexplainable.
I've lost a projector and butlooking at my feeds,
everything's good.
I still got the green light onmy converter, or I saw the light
, the LED light on my converter.
Unplug it, lose the light, plugit back in same light and I

(16:01):
have feed now.
So it's like there's somethings that it makes us look bad
, because if you lose aprojector for a second but it's
it's those mind boggling oneswhere it's like why the heck did
that happen?

Speaker 1 (16:14):
Yeah, I call it the ghost in the machine.
Yep, because I Think it happensto all of us.
If you're around long enough,not even a little bit.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
Yeah, you could be around for six months.
It's happened several timesalready.

Speaker 1 (16:27):
Yeah, because it's like yeah, and you're right,
sometimes it's just a powercycle and then it's back to
normal.
There's zero explanation, allthe parts are good and sometimes
you just have to bypasssomething.
That's like yeah, this thing'sjust not working, I don't know
why.
Let's just figure out a wayaround it and try to Try the
finagle it later and see what'swrong with it, and then, of
course, later you go to look atit and it's just working

(16:47):
perfectly fine, yeah like Idon't have Another thing I don't
have much problems with blackmagic converters, yeah, until
until they run into an HP.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
They don't, hp doesn't like.
So then I got a pop in adecimator on those.
That's something that I nowhave living with those monitors,
but it's like first time doingthat.
It's like okay, let me, is itthe cable?

Speaker 1 (17:09):
No, it's not the cable.

Speaker 2 (17:10):
It's just.
It's weird things like that, Imean, where it works on
everything.
Yeah but doesn't like the HP.
So then you're loading in andnow you're trying to think about
it.
I'm like, okay, let me getanother converter.
We have a thousand black magicconverters.
So when we get another one andthen cross converter all that
stuff, it's like, alright, nevermind, let me do a decimator,
clean feed.
So it's just those littlethings that I don't know the

(17:33):
specifics on.
I don't know the technicalityof what's in that mechanism that
doesn't want to communicate.
But Everybody's got a story.

Speaker 1 (17:41):
Oh yeah, I mean, one of my most memorable ones, I
think, if I mentioned this onebefore was, um, I did a live
sound event for a band and I wasrunning their system and they
just bought a crossover fortheir, for their, for their
mains, right, and so, okay, Iplug it in a wire it all up, and

(18:03):
then, halfway through thehalfway through the night, and I
know where I lost my mains.
Well, they're just gone and I'mjust like what is happening?
The crossover seems fine,Everything seems fine, the
signal still there.
They're still playing their midsong.
Thankfully, their modern mix isso blaring loud that their
crowd was still dancing.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
Yeah, and I was like, no, I noticed it.
That's a good thing.

Speaker 1 (18:24):
Yeah, I was like, where did all my top end go?
I was like, and I go up on myseat.
I was like, yeah, the speakersare, they're just not.
There's no sound coming.
So I was like, I tried, Ipushed a couple buttons, I
checked my connections.
That didn't work.
So I was like, okay, I'mbypassing this crossover, which
means I have to reroute this sothat it's a daisy chain feed
instead of a crossover Wiring.
If you're familiar, if you know, you know.

(18:46):
And so I just ran into that.
I just remember the singer.
I took one of their monitors, Ipointed it towards the crowd
and I just remember the singersinging, looking at me.
I'm like this.
I'm like give me a minute, it'sgood, it's good he sees me
turning off all the sweat, liketurning off all the mains.
I'm trying to get around drunkpeople and I'm and, and, and.

(19:06):
Then boom, boom turning back onbefore the end of the song,
bring down my mains, bring himslowly back up and we were back
off the races.
But sometimes it's like, yeah,like like you said, it's like
they don't know, they don'tunderstand that things sometimes
just Don't want to work and yougot trouble.

Speaker 2 (19:22):
Shooting is a thing for a reason and everybody's got
to do it.
There's something's gonnahappen that you got a
troubleshoot.

Speaker 1 (19:28):
It's one of the biggest things, I think, for Our
production in general, bothlive and not as just.
Can you troubleshoot?

Speaker 2 (19:36):
You know how quickly can you and it's hard to learn
to trouble troubleshoot unlessyou've been through it.
There's not stuff that like youjust sit down and there's a
crash course on troubleshooting.
It's until you really encounterit that you figure out.
All right, this is the.

Speaker 1 (19:49):
This is the thing that's the fix for unfortunately
Now you know, but yeah, I feellike there's two parts to
troubleshooting it's experience,because that's how you know
these weird things, and thensecond thing is just really
having an understanding ofsignal flow, if you can yeah,
that's definitely a big part ofit.
Yeah, if you understand whereall the points of failure is

(20:12):
possibly and you know how toquickly think through them, and
Then that really helps you kindof, now that at least where the
problem is.

Speaker 2 (20:19):
Yeah, it can kind of help you pinpoint it.

Speaker 1 (20:21):
Yeah but.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
But you got to go through it to be able to do it.

Speaker 1 (20:26):
That's, that's the biggest thing about getting
experience and just getting yourfeet wet, you know.

Speaker 2 (20:32):
It's definitely a hands-on Job, like you.
It's not just something thatyou can just yeah, I've watched
a lot of YouTube videos.
I mean you can learn a lotthrough YouTube and through kind
of people telling you how to doit or how what they do, all
that kind of stuff.
But you don't know until youyou get your hands in there and
figure out what the problem wasnice?

Speaker 1 (20:54):
No, 100%.
Here's a Another thing you guys, since now that you guys, you
know you have your team and I'veseen different guys work with
you and this and that and youpretty much help lead the team,
with your father Now being inthat position because, like you
said, you've been a part of theteam for such a while but now

(21:14):
that you guys really manage theteam together and direct more
your philosophies, I'm bringingon new people into this
environment.
You know, and Like, maybe somelike just point is that you
would give people, or just likehow, how do you feel about, like
when you're bringing onDelicating tasks and how you
kind of judge that?

(21:34):
Because I know some people arevery micromanagey, some people
are like they're not very goodleaving off the reins, but some
people also like Not great, thatlike every show we have, we
bring in a bunch of stage hands.

Speaker 2 (21:49):
And I'm not great at delegating yeah, because I hate
not dogging out stage hands.
I've met great Sanchez.
I've met not great stage handsyeah, but it's.
It's very hard to Troubleshoot,to track back what went wrong
when you had other people do it,because it's not fresh in your
mind on how it was ran orBecause I mean you know live

(22:11):
events.
You got cables everywhere, man,so now I got a track.

Speaker 1 (22:14):
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 (22:14):
Just got to keep walking 150 foot SDI cable to
figure out where he ran it.
Yeah, it's just there's.
There's stuff that I got trustissues on, but I think we all do
, oh, yeah.
It's.
It's basically I let them, Ilet my people kind of place,
place the stuff, I let them putup screens and then I basically

(22:36):
do all the technical stuff.
I do set up the whole flat pack.
I run all my cables.
I'll have my v2 run cablesometimes Because I trust him.
Yeah knows, and a lot of times Ican kind of get a feel of a
stage and if they know, yeah,sometimes if it's just kind of a
green stage here where they'rejust hey, I'm here, they gave me

(22:57):
the call, I'm pretty new.
It's like all right, go go helpwith pipe and drape.
I'll have.
I'll call you in a minute, yeah, so, but basically for your
question with the team, it'slike like we talked about early
communications key.
I mean, you got to overcommunicate.
You got to make the person notjust dive into the deep end

(23:18):
Because again, it's live events,it can get messy in a second.
Yeah, if you miss cues, as anaudio guy, that's a show killer
man.
I mean a split second of deadair feels like a minute and a
half to everybody on the staffbecause you know, yeah, like you
missed your cue, that's thatseemed like an eternity of
silence.
Oh yeah, you definitely got toover communicate, got to let

(23:38):
them know when, when the endsare, when the outs are, make
them feel comfortable.
We joke around a lot, man, welike to like to joke around,
kind of pick on people, that'sjust it's.
It's just fun being a part ofthe crew traveling.
It's.
We go out to dinner, we hangout, but also not to take stuff

(24:00):
personal, it's live events.
You kind of get in the heat ofthe moment, get amped when
something doesn't go wrong orGotta, let that brush it off and
we're all good.
We just got to be better.
So there's some people who don'tlike that and there's some
people who handle that prettywell.
I Handled it pretty well.
I get it internally.
It's my dad, so he can yell atme, me and my dad.

(24:20):
Well, we'll get like that, butwe're good.
It's, it's part.
It's part of the thing it's.
There's some people who kind ofwant to bite back but it's like
, hey, if Tim's telling you acue and you're missing it, you
got just roll with it.
Get better next time.

Speaker 1 (24:33):
It's yeah, they'll take it on a personal attack.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
It's a yeah, we are trying to get a job done, you
know we got to make this thebest thing it can be, so let's
just get better.
Brush it off your shoulder anddon't miss the next cue.
Easy as that and we're allhappy.

Speaker 1 (24:49):
Yeah, it's funny, it's um.
So my drum teacher used to saya lot was that?
Um, it's not about making amistake yeah, you may miss a
note or this or that.
It's about how long did thatmistake last.
Because you get in your ownhead and it's like what you do
well, at least with playingdrums.
What you don't realize is thatwhen you get in your own head

(25:10):
from missing that one beat,every single beat after that,
the longer you stay in your head, you're getting more and more
thrown off.
It's like, oh, I missed thatone, but I'm on the next one,
I'm good, that's it and it'ssame in life.
Because it's like the liveproduction, like music, is it's
going, it's not waiting for you,yeah, because if you don't have
a clear mind, you're gonna makesome more mistakes.

Speaker 2 (25:29):
Just clear your mind and keep rolling, because I've
done that before.
I've had, because the way we doit as well, we have the speaker
timer in our in our inputs sothe multi view for production
monitors can see how much time'sleft.
Yeah, I've been guilty.
I hit that a hotkey to switchthe cameras real quick and Hit

(25:50):
that on accident and had toswitch out real quick and I hate
that and it pisses me off.
Yeah, and I take it with me fora couple minutes, but man, it's
over, it's.
Hopefully they didn't recognizeit.
If they did that sucks, butit's not a show killer.
Right there, when you'repunching real quick, you can
watch TV and you can see a miss,miss punch.

(26:11):
Oh yeah it happens, it happensto the best of them, so you just
got to brush it off and rollwith it.
Man, it's make sure it doesn'thappen often and try not to let
it happen again, but you can'tkill yourself on a mistake.

Speaker 1 (26:22):
No, a hundred percent , and I think that's so
important, especially in life,because it's like you said,
people get emotional, people getheated, and I've heard it
myself.
I've been on the receiving end,you know, and it's like you
said, it's just, it's learningto understand.
It's not a personal thing.
No one's personally attacking.
Everyone's just trying to get ajob done.
Sometimes people have morecolorful language than others.

Speaker 2 (26:46):
Yeah, and that's the thing you got to be aware of as
well.
I was sick because you don'tknow what people, how people
take things.
So if a person doesn't dropF-bombs all the time and you're
just dropping F-bombs on becauseyou say it like a verb, that's
gonna hit someone differentlythan it is for you, because it's

(27:06):
just another word for you.
If someone that has a lot ofweight to that word, that can
piss some people off for, kindof, they're done with you at
that point or they don't want towork with you anymore.
Where it's like we just got tokeep it professional, you can
get heated, keep it clean, justkind of get what you want to say
off your chest, but still keepit respectful.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
No, 100%.
I think that that comes withself-awareness.
I don't think there's ever aplace to go past that
disrespectful point.
You know, and I like one thing,I think.
I always think about it.
If you have to question it,just don't say it.

Speaker 2 (27:40):
Yeah, that's the problem, though.
Sometimes it just leaves, itjust goes.
Yeah, you don't even questionit, it doesn't even hit the
filter, it just leaves you rightaway.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
Yeah, but it's always good too.
After it's like hey, bro, mybad, I got a little heated.

Speaker 2 (27:53):
Yeah, you always got to do that.
You kind of got to reconvene,especially if you let yourself
go, just like.

Speaker 1 (27:58):
hey, you know I'd away the rest of the night.
It was great.

Speaker 2 (28:02):
Yeah, it was a great show.
My fault on that one part, butwe did good.
Yeah you just kind of got tohave reassurance that amen.
Nothing personal was meant byit, my fault, but just this is
how I like to do things.
It wasn't done like that,shouldn't have reacted like that
, but we're good, nice, and thenyou're good.

Speaker 1 (28:22):
Yeah, 100%, 100%.
Now, how do you?
How do you?
So we were talking a little bitbefore about it, but like your
view, because you said you'vedone a few studio things too.
And then you, but your world isreally live and the live
production sense, and doingthese big conferences, thousands

(28:43):
of thousands of people, andsmall ones too, of a couple
hundred and everything inbetween, but, like you said,
you've done the studio stuff.
How do you feel about both andmore.
So?
Why do you like live moreversus the studio?

Speaker 2 (28:59):
I like live more, I guess because I'm more
comfortable with it.
Been doing it forever.
I really liked studio work.
It was.
It was pretty simple Basically.
You build out all your stuff.
You can dress like this andjust kind of hang out in the
studio, because I worked with acompany who was kind of laid
back.
I mean, we, we didn't have todress in all blacks, there was

(29:21):
no client there, there was no,no Zoom calls.
We were just kind of hangingout like this and just do your
job.
So it was definitely fun to do.
But live is you're in it andlike it's nonstop.
It's go, go, go and you couldfeel the energy of the crowds.
You can you feed off thatenergy a little bit.

(29:42):
It's fun to switch when a DJ ison stage.
It's fun to do that kind ofstuff because that's what.
That's what I I love corporate.
I don't like concerts much.
The tempo and the attitude ismuch different in my experience.
Corporate's more laid backattitude, wise, it's still go,
go, go because it's a live event, but it's not dropping f-bombs

(30:03):
left and right and callingsomebody out and yelling at
people.
I've had.
I've heard there's great crewsto work with musically.
I have heard that.
But the four or five that I'veworked, it's it's just been like
man.
There's just too much drama,we're just working, we got a job
to do.
There's no need for bumpingchests and like yelling at each

(30:25):
other.
And I've gotten in a couple.
I haven't, but I've gotten acouple of those things.
But I'm looking at dudes andone guy says something wrong to
another guy.
He takes it and now they'reyapping back and forth where
it's like man, I'm just, I'mhere to work and it doesn't have
to be that complicated.
Yeah, so I definitely likecorporate stuff.
I like when corporate stuffbrings energy.

(30:47):
It's just, it's a differentcrowd, it's still fun, high
energy and you feed off that andthe weekends go by quicker when
it's higher energy.

Speaker 1 (30:56):
Oh, yeah, yeah, especially if you got some good
lineup of speakers and this andthat 100%.

Speaker 2 (31:02):
That's why I love corporate that's bang, bang bang
.
They're quick and, excuse me,it's not an hour and a half
keynote and sometimes keynotesare great Like they can be an
hour and a half and they'regreat speakers.
Sometimes keynotes where it'slike yeah this is a long hour
and a half.

Speaker 1 (31:20):
Yeah, somehow some people can have this ability to
stretch time.
Oh yeah, more they speaksomehow.

Speaker 2 (31:27):
It's gotta be an hour .
It's only been 15 minutes Okay,but yeah, it's fun to have
stuff, have a variety.
It keeps you on your toes.
It's what I always say is Ilove what I do because it's the
same thing but it's differentevery time I do live events.
We have the same gear, go outon shows, but it's a different

(31:50):
group, it's a differentattendance, it's a different
stage setup, it's a differentcamera positions.
It's still something differentthat you're not learning every
time out, but you'reexperiencing new things and
keeping on your toes, so it'sfun, man.

Speaker 1 (32:08):
No, yeah, no, 100% agreed.
No, that's great.
Now, one thing I'll beinteresting to hear is, like I'm
kind of like on your beliefs,on like maybe if you're talking
to a client, let's say, orsomeone who's asking about like
live streaming, but like at that, at the level that you guys do,

(32:29):
you know it's like what aresome like key essentials that
you guys almost require to haveto make you know, just promise a
good live stream event.
You know that people might notbe thinking about.

Speaker 2 (32:45):
Now you mean, like for our live events, if they
want to stream it as well.
Okay, yeah, it's funny, man, alot of times people don't
understand that you need a hardline.
It's crazy because it's just,it's common knowledge for us.
But it's also crazy how much ahotel or convention center
charges for that hard line sothat can kind of deter people

(33:06):
from live streaming as well.
Yeah, you don't want to.
Not, you don't want to livestream without a hard line.
It's you better just not livestream at all, rather than doing
it off volunteer or complimentor your Wi-Fi or getting a Wi-Fi
login from the event which isstill going to cost you an arm
and a leg.
It's like there's definitelyall all convention centers or

(33:30):
ballrooms.
If you have a cat five dropthat it's going to be high
enough speed so you don't reallyhave to worry about that.
But it's just, you got to knowthat you need one and that's got
to be budgeted properly.
Other than that, I mean, it'spretty much.
What do you want if it's just aclean feed of what the screens
seeing, that's easy.

(33:51):
Yeah, let me pop out of myswitcher and go into a capture
card and send it out.

Speaker 1 (33:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (33:58):
But yeah, that's.
That's basically the extent wedo is just live feed whenever
someone's at home, or we've donea stream for the nursing
mother's room, so way too longaway for a cable run, so we just
do a stream.

Speaker 1 (34:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (34:14):
And that's good there , because it's just showing what
everyone else is seeing, butremotely.
So, yeah, it's just it's crazyto think that people don't know
that you need a cat five.
That's.
That's one thing that I'venoticed a lot.

Speaker 1 (34:28):
Yeah, we've been.
We've been starting to noticethat too, because we do a lot of
more small-scaled live streamsfor, you know, like museum
events and different things likethat, and it's the same
conversation about like a, isthere a hard line?
And then they're like no, butwe got great Wi-Fi.
Incorrect, do not pass, go, donot collect $200.

(34:52):
No, yeah, exactly, and it'ssuch a.
It's a small thing, but it'sreally like it's a make or break
because that's a DIY thing.
Wi-Fi is so unpredictable, andespecially once you put a room
full of people even then andeveryone's trying to get on the
Wi-Fi, especially if it's likethat's the only Wi-Fi available.

Speaker 2 (35:11):
Oh man game over.

Speaker 1 (35:14):
Yeah, not possible, but yeah, no, and it's
interesting.
I mean it's, it makes totalsense, but it's interesting
finding out that like hotels areso like tight with giving out a
hard line and everything, butit's because they know you need
it and they know you will payfor it if you want it.

Speaker 2 (35:33):
Yeah, if you need the live stream.
Yeah, you're gonna pay themwhat they require.
So yeah there's.
There's not many deals givenout by convention centers or
ballrooms never.

Speaker 1 (35:46):
They see it coming.
That's the thing, yep, you guys.
I'm curious because, since youguys are in the live event space
and when you've been in it foryears, at this point, like you
said, you got started at eightyears old.

Speaker 2 (36:02):
Yeah, conquest started in 93.

Speaker 1 (36:05):
Wow, that's the year I was born.
Hey, there you go, there we go.
So, as long as I've been alive,got it.
I was gonna say what did youguys?
So how did?
How did you guys treat COVID?
Did you guys make a pivot?
Just take a break, like like,how did you guys?
You guys ended up going.

Speaker 2 (36:23):
I was wondering if that question was gonna come up.

Speaker 1 (36:25):
Just because of the live events.
I know what it did for me whenI because I was primarily live
events before COVID, so I'mcurious to see what the story
was like for you guys.

Speaker 2 (36:36):
I mean full transparency.
Conquest basically went out ofbusiness during COVID.
None of our, none of our clock.
We didn't really have studiowork.
We don't have clients thatreally did virtual stuff.
We did some.
I won't say what business wedid about.
We had one client that did twostreaming things where they had

(37:00):
a couple people in a big roomand we still did the kind of wow
factor of that.
But I mean, we went from doing25 shows a year to, I think, in
2020 we did two.
Damn, actually that's a lot.
2020 is before it all went,went downhill.
We were we were doing shows andthen what?

(37:22):
It went downhill like March.

Speaker 1 (37:24):
Yeah, I think 2020.

Speaker 2 (37:25):
So yeah, did this we had a busy January and Then we
had like two events in Marchwhen everything started shutting
down.
And then we had like two eventsin March cancel.
And then like okay, what'sgoing on?
Like work, work, cancel becauseof this.
And then we have made it's abig month, april, that's a huge

(37:46):
month.
So it's like stuff startedgetting cancelled.
Well, we're just gonna postponeit.
It's gonna be a couple months,but it's like okay.
And then one month, two went by, one month, three went by four
or five.
It's like okay, what is goingon here?
Yeah, so I was basically justunemployed for five months
because I was kind of Hanging onhope that it's coming back,
it's, it's all good.
This is just a little littlebump in the road.

(38:07):
It sucks.

Speaker 1 (38:08):
But we'll be back.

Speaker 2 (38:10):
Two weeks, slow the curve and we'll be back.
But yeah, we didn't do anything.
Dude, my dad, my dad wouldn't,wouldn't work somewhere else.
I wouldn't work somewhere elsebecause there's only so long
that you can kind of just, yeah,of course, go off what you have
.
Not.
Not many people can go a yearjust not working.

Speaker 1 (38:27):
It's no, no, of course.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
It's a little tough.
So, yeah, we did other things,man, and then once, what?
2020, end of 2021?
We started basically gettingback to back to business and
like nothing happened really.
So, okay, 2022 was busy and2023 is probably the busiest
we've ever been.
So Amazing.

(38:50):
Yeah, because now everyone'slike okay, we're trying to get
some events, done man, I thinkwe need to catch up.
Yeah, I mean, they didn't havebutts and seats for two years.
They got to start gettingpeople back in the seats.

Speaker 1 (39:01):
Yeah, I mean it's, it's the same, I think, in all
event industries.
I mean that's kind of like whathappened with weddings, because
everybody had weddings thoseyears and they reschedule them
all, so it's like Triplequadruple the amount coming back
.

Speaker 2 (39:15):
Oh, yeah, you know.
So it's a nice influx ofbusiness, but it's like you know
what you went through to getthis influx business it was.
It was tough man.

Speaker 1 (39:24):
Yeah, so you guys really?
Uh, it sounds like you guys.
You guys hunkered down To um,so things picked right back up.

Speaker 2 (39:32):
Yeah, we had, I had.
I actually worked in lifeinsurance man during a COVID.
So, okay, massed up sellingpeople life insurance and Loved
it do what you gotta do once oneproduct, once production came
back, I was like I'm in.
So yeah it's, we've.
We've been getting busier andbusier, and thank God for it,

(39:54):
because that year and a half itwas tough for a lot of people.

Speaker 1 (39:57):
Oh no, a hundred percent.
A hundred percent for a lot ofus it was a bizarre time period,
oh yeah, something that willdefinitely tell our grandkids
about one day.

Speaker 2 (40:08):
What in the heck was 2020?

Speaker 1 (40:11):
Yeah, yeah, that's, that's definitely a title.
Oh yeah, oh man, what was it,wasn't that?
No, I was like, and theythought 2012 was gonna be the
weird year.

Speaker 2 (40:22):
Oh yeah, it's like why 2k all that stuff's like
nothing tops 2020.

Speaker 1 (40:27):
Yeah, no, a hundred percent.
I mean, um, oh.
So now that you guys are comingback and everything, what's
kind of like some of the, thedirection you feel like you,
you're personally want to go in,like what's your admissions for
the future?
It's kind of like the end goal,you see.

Speaker 2 (40:44):
I mean, I want to take over conquest one day.
I kind of I love this, thiswork, so I definitely want to
have my own hands on it, and IMean my dad's gonna be around
for a while, so it's whenever hedoesn't want to do it anymore.
I got my hands out and I'mblessed to be in that situation.

Speaker 1 (41:02):
Family business right there.

Speaker 2 (41:03):
Yep, I love it.
But basically our kind ofshort-term goals right now is
we're looking to tap into thelocal market, kind of getting
some more easy gigs for for slowmonths and Small, the smaller
little, because all our stuff,man.
It's it's a packed pack truckand going to different cities,
it's.
It'd be nice a little change ofpace just to kind of pop it in

(41:26):
the van, go to a ballroom and dosomething small or something
for a couple hundred people hereand there locally.
Yeah, easier work and not hugecrews and drive a different city
.
So that's our, that's myshort-term goal, trying to get
some more clients locally andaround the Round the eat.
We do a lot of stuff east coast, but around north and South

(41:46):
Carolina, virginia, just stuffclose by.

Speaker 1 (41:50):
Okay, nice, nice, yeah.
That's it's interesting to hearyou know, because it's like
usually people are thinking likewe want to go bigger.
Well, you guys are.
You guys are pretty much,you're pretty big with the
events.
You guys do, you know a couplethousand or tens of thousands of
people and so it's like you'reon the yeah a lot of just what
we've had this year so far waseight thousand.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
So I mean that's, that's a pretty big gig, yeah.
I just like to fill in somegaps, because, hey, man, if you
got a lot of small fish, that's,that's equals a big fish.
So there's, there's a lot ofcompanies that I know that kind
of toss those people to the sidebecause they're not huge,
paying gigs, you're all it'slike, man, you still got love on
those clients though there's.

(42:31):
There's so clients of yours.
They put the trust in you.
Yeah, do all that.
Just you gotta.

Speaker 1 (42:36):
It's easy admit to your fillers.
You know we all need a littlefillers on that, and I think we
all do it to an extent indifferent industries.
You know so you find yourselfnow way more hands-on in the
business side too.

Speaker 2 (42:52):
Yeah, definitely getting there.
Yeah, kind of logistics, thatkind of thing, definitely more
in the shop now, qc and stuff,just kind of getting my own
hands on it and making sureeverything's updated, work, it
properly Packed properly, easyfor for loading the truck and
unloading the truck and all thatkind of stuff.

(43:14):
So All the trucking kind offalls on me, all that kind of
stuff.
So yeah, we're growing.
It's it's growing pains, butit's good pains to have because
you're growing.

Speaker 1 (43:26):
So no, that's good.
That's good.
You guys probably have your ownwarehouse and everything too
right.

Speaker 2 (43:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (43:32):
So no, yeah, because I've seen it, like I said, I've
seen, sir, a couple differentsize rigs between the different
events.
Women like yeah, but those,those combined conferences are
much longer than some of theindependent conferences.
And you know, and it's like Idon't think we're also like
realized, it's like with yourcompany, you guys do everything,

(43:54):
you guys have the full sound,the full lighting package and
video village everything andthen the and the new ptsz.
That's how you guys got thebeautiful man.
No, yeah they.
They were so Crisp compared tothe older ptsz.
It blew me away how much thereyou're, crisper than your then
your full-fledged Panesoticsthat you had for camera one.

Speaker 2 (44:16):
It's, it's crazy, man , because it's, it's, it gets a
little hairy.
I don't like ptsz, necessarilymax, not the zoom, yeah, digital
zoom, so you lose quality.
So I basically place those 4kwhere they're at optimum.
It's, it's always zoomed out,it's got perfect framing.
I'll zoom in just a hair orwhatever, just a reframe, but

(44:37):
it's.
It's not working on thatdigital zoom where it gets
little, little out of focus or alittle pixelated, because you
start seeing those pixels ondigital zoom.
But, yeah, man, we get them ina good spot or they're beautiful
.
They are beautiful and they'reonly.
I think they're Four yearsnewer than the ptsz that we had
prior and it's just lightened,or night and day difference,

(44:59):
yeah, both.
Panesonics, but it's head andshoulders buff.

Speaker 1 (45:05):
Man, yeah, no, the technology is getting crazy,
especially even at the, like,the prosumer level and different
things like that.
Because it's like, like I'veset goals like a year, two years
ago, different things like that.
I was like, oh, this issomething we're gonna get saving
up for it.
It's like this much.
And then it's like now I'mseeing things coming out for
like a quarter of the price.

Speaker 2 (45:25):
I can't blow it away.
I'm like you look at 10 yearsago for switchers.
Now you can buy like a $900black magic ISO and record four
different cameras.
It's like come on for like 900bucks.

Speaker 1 (45:36):
It makes the Da Vinci project for you too.

Speaker 2 (45:38):
It's ridiculous man.
It's like like 10 years ago youhad a data video switcher that
you had for input.

Speaker 1 (45:44):
Since, like good Lord , thousands of dollars just for
$2500 for a cheap switcher.
The thing was like great one.

Speaker 2 (45:52):
The thing was like 40 pounds.
Yep, you had to have a big oldroad case or a ginormous pelican
that weighed a hundred pounds.
But then it's.
It's rapidly growing.
It's a good thing.

Speaker 1 (46:04):
Any piece of tech you're particularly excited for,
maybe upgrading to?

Speaker 2 (46:10):
I've been looking.
We're we're in a lighting phaseright now, so we're looking at
lighting.
I really like it's Not like asales pitch here like, but Chave
has grown.
That's a company that has grownexponentially in the past
decade.

Speaker 1 (46:28):
Yeah, you should be just kind of a steep lighting.

Speaker 2 (46:31):
Yeah, it used to be just kind of DJ gear and it kind
of was Not to be rude orknocked down.
I it used to be kind of a jokeif someone brought in a bunch of
Chave stuff like rock andChavez, really yeah.
But now I mean their battery uplights with the, the chargeable
road cases, all that kind ofstuff.
That's what I'm looking in for,especially if we tap into the

(46:53):
local market, just kind ofsimple Corporate gigs, kind of
making a package for that some.
I'm looking around for stufflike that.
But yeah, we just bought a lotof new movers.
So, yeah, we've, there's videos, good, I've.
I'd like to get some biggerscreens Just for some of the

(47:13):
8,000 people we do a delayscreen.
But Tech wise, I mean theswitcher that I rock was great.
It's couple like two years old.
That's just crazy about thetechnology, though.
It's rapidly, rapidly gettingbetter and better.
So it's almost like you boughtsomething three years ago and
it's not as good as what youcould get now.

(47:34):
But it's like that's just arevolving expense of always
upgrading your stuff when thisstill does the trick.
Yeah, so video is basicallybuilt out and I'm good for that
for the next couple of years forthe types of shows we do, for
sure, but basically justupgrading and Getting new sound.
We just bought a bunch of newsound and movers so, yeah, we're

(47:57):
definitely looking around, butnothing that I'm crazy excited
about video wise, because I'mbasically Stuck in my ways on my
flat pack now.

Speaker 1 (48:06):
Yeah, I know now, one thing I love is a little stream
deck.

Speaker 2 (48:11):
That is.
That's really nice to have forv mix.

Speaker 1 (48:13):
Yeah, I mean, I think and I know it works with so
many different programs andstuff and most things I can do
macros.
I Think that's something that'slike that's interesting, that I
don't think not maybe manypeople know, especially if
they're just getting into thisWorld and stuff is like if
you're switching and you're justusing the v mix and your

(48:33):
switchers or obs or whatever itmay be, it's like there's
learning, actually getting intoand learning macros and Working
with something like a streamdeck or one of those other
trigger type Hardware you add towhat you know and your little
bag of tricks and also helps youin the process, so it's a
win-win.

Speaker 2 (48:53):
Yeah, I mean switching, cuz I I don't use
midi, I don't use other playbacksoftware, I use v mix as my
playback software so I can loadall my videos in and basically
just switch with that rightthere, and again, it's.
It's something that I know andI'm comfortable with.
So I've worked with midi acouple times, but I'm not
comfortable enough to run a fullshow off that.

(49:15):
Yeah, I'm much more comfortable.
V mix is reliable.
It's.
It's Weeps and bounds betterthan what it was what five years
ago too.
So it's just getting better andbetter.
Used to be should be like achurch streaming software, and
now it's.
It's fantastic for live eventstoo and streaming while you do
it.
Yeah, I'm still learning aboutv mix.

(49:36):
It's got so many ins and outsto it that you Keep showing your
toes the whole time and it getslet you get more creative
because it has so many, so manythings that you can do with it.
So it's fun, and Stream Deckjust makes it more fun to build
the buttons and make make youhave all the little hotkeys
right there.

Speaker 1 (49:53):
Yeah, and you're pretty quick with it too.
At the last event, I saw your,because it's like you were
putting in those lower thirds,the ones that you know you will
repeatedly need, and different,different runs to like all
transitioned to this when Ineeded this and that, so because
it's tough to do that.

Speaker 2 (50:09):
Overlays too.
I thought what you guys have medoing last time I was it was.
It was a little stressfulbecause it was like, alright, I
haven't done this on a live showbefore, but then it was fun.
When I actually finally got todo it, it was just on a
different key there and just wasable to just input it there,
overlay it, key out, the blackis and it's again.

(50:30):
I had to do it quickly.
So now I know how to do it.
And you got to go through thatkind of stress and all that
stuff to To nail it in your mind, because if you're just hanging
out doing it, it's not the sameeffect.

Speaker 1 (50:42):
Isn't that amazing, though someone who's been in
basically live production yourentire life, we still get hit
with something like well, I'venever had to do that before.
Today I learned.
You think it's like at somepoint you just know everything.
It's like.

Speaker 2 (50:58):
Never, man.
It's a never-ending cycle oflearning new things, and
especially the way thetechnology, all that stuff's
growing and you have a differentclient, so something new is
gonna hit you then, a clientthat you've been working with
for a decade, this Every show isdifferent man, oh yeah, and and
I I will never be the type ofvideo tech that acts like he

(51:19):
knows everything because I knowfor a fact I don't, because I.
I work with a lot of video textsthat are Brainy axe band.
They know Everything and I tryand learn and get as much as I
can from them, but sometimesit's just I gotta know my mind
doesn't work like that.
Yeah, I got, I'm not thatTechnical of a guy that I know
all the ins and outs of thisswitcher can do this and this

(51:42):
and this is like that's not howmy mind works.
Yeah, so I'm never gonna bethat guy.
I'm always open to learn andyou're never gonna stop learning
.

Speaker 1 (51:50):
Yeah, I find it for me.
I always learn best when Iactually have to do it and
figure it out.
It's like I'll figure it outthe first time, but once I
actually like in it and do itonce, okay I'm good like you
said, like I'm good now hands-onexperience.

Speaker 2 (52:03):
Man, that's, that's how a lot of people are.
You can't.
You can do as many YouTube asyou want, but once you get
behind the wheel, so to speak,that's when you kind of you get
that different feeling and itlocks in your brain a lot easier
for me.

Speaker 1 (52:17):
Yeah, no, makes sense 100%.
So if someone's like looking toget started in live production,
let's say what would you advisethem like and how to get
started, and you know what to bethinking about.

Speaker 2 (52:36):
I Mean I know a lot of people who have gotten
started with church and that'sthat's kind of how they, how
they get there, their experience, kind of volunteering.
So that's how I would say rightthere, just because I know a lot
of people who have gotten astart learning so fast, because
it's tough to hop into anindustry where you're getting
paid to do something, yeah, andyou don't know how to do it.

(52:59):
So Stage hand work I've told acouple people kind of get in
there because you can kind ofyou're all around stage hand,
tell me what to do, I'll do it,and then you can kind of find
the, the lane that you want togo in.
If you either kind of gravitatetowards lighting, if you
gravitate towards audio orwhatever, stage hands is

(53:21):
definitely a good spot to dobecause you're going to be
getting work for anybody andeverybody.
But that's what I would say,man.
I would say if you canvolunteer for something like
that, that has hands-onexperience right there, that
you're not getting paid.
So you're, you're not gettingpaid as an unexperienced person

(53:44):
where you can kind of get calledout and Get a little
overwhelmed, but then if you'regetting paid for it, stage hands
is, they got consistent workand hands-on so.

Speaker 1 (53:54):
Yeah, and for people who, like, don't necessarily go
to church, because I got a lotof my experience, too, from
church yeah, for people don'tnecessarily go to church, you
can also think about events thatyou may be attending anyways,
you know, and sometimes they'lllook for helping hand.
Interns like hey, I just wantto volunteer, I want some
experience.

Speaker 2 (54:14):
It's like just tell you what you guys need, whatever
.
No one's gonna decline that.
I mean unless, unless you got awell-oiled machine, and you
don't really you got me too, yougot a backstage person.
You don't need them.
But I mean you guys have a guyto help it.
I mean a lot of you guys helpus.
We're never gonna turn downhelp shoot.
Yeah, I'm gonna step back thereand video village and ask me

(54:35):
questions, all stuff.
Feel free, man, I'm where theyare.
I'm not gonna turn you away,you know don't worry, I usually
do.
Oh yeah, you're back there.
You're checking out my gear.

Speaker 1 (54:45):
Yeah, no, no, 100%.
No, no, it's like you said, andI love your guys's workflow.
I think that's the thing.
It's like you guys have a realum, you care, you know, you care
about giving a good product,you know a good experience and
you're on it, I'm you're on it.
I mean I see it in sound and Isee it all of it.
When it's like, when it comesto live events, there's always

(55:07):
like two types of people.
There's a person who kind oflike set him forget.
It tones out for the wholething.

Speaker 2 (55:13):
We've worked with some people like that before.
It drives me nuts, man.
It's like we're here to do ajob, might as well.
Do it to the best of yourability, you know that's, that's
what I've grown up with.
You do it.
Whatever you do, you do it tothe best of your ability.
You do it with some care andthat's yeah, that's definitely
what we're all about.
We, we want to make this thebest show that They've seen, or

(55:34):
have a certain standard thatthey know they're gonna get from
us when we, when we load intheir event.

Speaker 1 (55:39):
Yeah and it's, it's great.
And I see you guys, just byyour example I mean every show,
I see you guys have the sameenergy level.
You're like, oh yeah, this isgonna be cool, we're gonna do
this, we're trying this out.
This is like you know.
It's like you're amped up.
I always see Tim's alwaystelling me about.
I was like, oh, check this out,I just got this, this lighting
set up.
Oh, so how did I look?

(55:59):
And he's like always asking meabout my videos.
It's like, oh yeah, I'm withthe without, how the stage looks
and everything.

Speaker 2 (56:07):
Because we got to make the stage look good for you
too.
You got to get all that b-rollstuff, man.

Speaker 1 (56:11):
Oh yeah, I'll know a hundred, you guys.
You guys make my job easy.
Slap on a little color and justpops in my there you go awesome
.

Speaker 2 (56:20):
But yeah, man, that's that's definitely what we care
about the most.
We.
I've worked with text that kindof as as, once he has his area
set up, you try and add stuffand he's not for it.
It's like I'm not for it butI'm gonna do it because, because
you guys want to done andthat's what, that's what you're
gonna remember us by that wemade it happen that if, hey, we

(56:41):
want to do this, that speakerswalking on stage right now, we
want to roll this video.
I might not get it right away,but I'm gonna get it in there
for you guys and we'll play itfor you, for the speaker.
So it's, it's still.
People don't know how.
If you give me a five minutelong video, it's gonna take time
to transfer.
Yeah, on a USB drive.
Give me something USB, seesomething?

(57:02):
Yeah, you three point oh, it'sgonna take a little time.
Yeah so it's, it's just kind ofletting them know like I'm gonna
get this done for you.
It's gonna take a little bit oftime, or if they give me 15
pictures and I gotta build aPowerPoint for it, or because
Now you got to change settingsin there, if you just do a
preview and Mac all that kind ofstuff.
So yeah, it's, we're gonna doour best to make it work.

(57:24):
But more time the better.
But if this is what we got,we're gonna make it work for you
, and that's that's definitelynot ideal for a lot of people,
but for us.
We want the client to be happy,so we'll do whatever we can
well bend over backwards to makeyou happy.

Speaker 1 (57:41):
Yeah, I mean that's great.
Honestly, the questionliterally was just about to ask
was how do you deal with clientscoming up with, you know, those
last second ridiculous requestsabout?

Speaker 2 (57:51):
like hey, like you can see the smoke coming out of
my ears, but I'm super calm, youknow.
Yeah, it's like, yeah,absolutely no problem.

Speaker 1 (57:58):
Well, inside your brain, all your little brain
cells are just freaking,lighting fires and just sirens
going off, I mean tables thetables nonstop.

Speaker 2 (58:07):
Yeah, but like, yeah, like I said it's, it's a little
frustrating, but it is what itis.
I mean, yeah, I'm not gonnatell them no, I'm not gonna say
that we're not gonna do that,that's You're.
You're paying me to be here, soI'm gonna do what, as long as
you're okay with the video beinglate.
Like, just let the speakersknow that they're not gonna get

(58:28):
it Right now because I'm gettingit right now.
So, as long as they're coolwith that, it is what it is, man
.
We roll with the punches.
It's a lot of event.
It's there's a curve ball thrownat you all the time, so we're
gonna try and hit out of theballpark.

Speaker 1 (58:41):
So yeah, and you know you, you, you deal with the
emotions, but you just get thejob done.
That's the thing.

Speaker 2 (58:47):
It's like you said you're here for a job and we're
gonna do the job to the best ofour ability, so that's it, and
you guys always do it with agreat attitude like Appreciate
that.
No we might have a little badattitude on clear calm, but we
don't let you guys see, you know.

Speaker 1 (59:02):
Oh no, I got you, I got you.
Well, that's what it is.
It's like, hey, between betweenus is like hey, we're the team,
you know well, we'll talk,we'll say what we need.
But, like the client, though,you need to be professional, you
know, that's that's how theyyou can never.

Speaker 2 (59:18):
You can never Talk bad of the client.
Nothing I mean.
They're not.
They're not doing it out ofjust.
They have hate in their heart.
No, to make your life a livinghell, like it's just.
It's stuff that people don'tthink about.

Speaker 1 (59:33):
They have no.
No in our industry.
No, I know what they're asking.

Speaker 2 (59:36):
You got to give them a little grace and and try and
make it work for them.

Speaker 1 (59:39):
Of course that doesn't excuse, like the ones in
a blue moon, you actually get areally Asphalt-ish client.
You, you put your boundaries up, but in, yeah, but 90 to 80
percent of the time they justhave no idea what they're asking
.
Yeah, and it can be a littlestraightforward with how they
ask it.

Speaker 2 (01:00:00):
Yeah, sometimes they like to think they know and they
don't but, again.
You're not gonna get into itwith a client.
You just got nods your head andall right, yeah, let's make it
work.

Speaker 1 (01:00:11):
I'll let you know when it's up.
That's it.
Um oh 100%, I think.
Um wow, time flew by.
I feel like oh yeah, geez.
Look at that, look at that.
But, um, one more thing I wouldlove to ask you, man, is Anyone

(01:00:31):
so like you?
You got started off prettyyoung but I would say, outside
of like you know how they getstarted and stuff, like just one
thing that you kind of wish youknew Earlier on in your career,
that you came to learn withexperience you know that you
feel like Definitely would havehelped, or something that you
know you think would definitelyhelp someone getting on.

(01:00:54):
You know, rather not learn thehard way.
You know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (01:01:01):
Yeah, I mean I wish, I wish I would have taken like a
Course, and I still can.
But it's just crazy becausebeing in it for what 17 years Is
that 18 years that I've been inthis industry it's you start
building habits and and in yourbrain where it's just kind of

(01:01:22):
locked in there.
Yeah, so I've learned a goodbit these past couple years out
of coven, working with othercompanies and and kind of
Getting out of my comfort zoneof our crew and our gear and all
that stuff.
But yeah, just that thetechnical, the technical Side of

(01:01:44):
everything, man, just of allthe specs on stuff.
It lets you, it makes it easieron your mind to to think
through how something could gowrong if you know all the all
the technical side of everything.
I mean you know 1080i versus1080p and all this, what could
be doing this, all that?
Because I didn't know thatuntil a couple of years ago, to

(01:02:05):
be honest with you, I was stilldoing camera work and I didn't
know progressive versusinterlaced and how that can
affect a camera, all that kindof stuff.
But you know once you get yourhands in on it.
And, like I've said before inthis podcast too, it's a
hands-on industry, but you canstill kind of get a little bit

(01:02:26):
of knowledge beforehand of kindof the ins and outs of the
technical side of it, so it cankind of make it easier on you
when you do get your hands on it.
So I would say that.
But, man, with what we do, I'vebeen blessed to be taught by my
dad, taught by a lot of goodtechs and have a lot of care for

(01:02:49):
the clients.
I care for their event justlike it's my own event, like I
was throwing a businessconference, anything like that,
because I wanted to, becausethat's a reflection of us, I
wanted to look great.
Every little thing, the rufflesand the drape, the gaps in the
drape, all that stuff it'ssomething that nobody out there

(01:03:09):
will notice, but I do.
So it's got to be fixed,because nobody is going to
notice it, because it's going tobe fixed.
So it's just.
It's having that just mindsetof it needs to be perfect.
A perfect mindset is toughbecause not everything is
perfect, especially in a lot ofevent.
But if you strive forperfection, if you fall short,

(01:03:32):
you're still going to be prettydown close for perfection.

Speaker 1 (01:03:34):
You're pretty good.

Speaker 2 (01:03:35):
If you're just out there, kind of whatever,
whatever.
If you drop the ball on thisand that and this and that, now
that's just a terrible show.
But if you're striving forperfection and you drop the ball
on one little thing, that'sstill a pretty darn good show,
man.

Speaker 1 (01:03:50):
Dude, I love that A hundred percent, love that we
believe in the same thing.
It's those little details thatno one will perceive, but people
feel it.
Yeah, people sense it.
You know, absolutely yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:04:05):
And even when I'm watching TV, I know when there's
a miscut, I know when somethinghappened and I can hear a mic
in the background.
I know all that.

Speaker 1 (01:04:13):
And you see it's funny enough.
Those little details are theones that go viral on the
Internet.
It's like, oh, they forgotsomething on the set all the way
in the back corner.
Is that a water bottle in the1500s?

Speaker 2 (01:04:25):
Dude, I was watching the interview and the girl's
brush trap was showing it's likehow does nobody notice that you
got to hold on, have whatevermakeup and come in there.
You can't have that.
It's a CBS interview and she'sgot a bright purple brush trap
showing.
It's just the attention todetail about everything.

(01:04:46):
You got to have eyes everywhereto make sure it's striving for
perfect.

Speaker 1 (01:04:50):
Yeah, no 100%, and especially if we're on the
recording end.
On that end it's like you wantto help the client with those
little details because theirheads are.

Speaker 2 (01:05:02):
Because they got so much going on.
Yeah, they got so much going on.
They're not thinking about that.

Speaker 1 (01:05:06):
Yeah, that's why they hired you.
Yep, that's our job 100%.
It's like things they would noaverage person I think would
think about.
It's like oh, let me go, I'mgoing to do an interview in an
all-white room.
I should wear my white sweater.

Speaker 2 (01:05:19):
Yeah, or just have a black backdrop and I'm just
going to wear a black suit witha black shirt.
It's like, if the light is notright, that just looks like a
floating head on stage.
Exactly, you got to have somebacklight, you got to have great
wash, all that kind of stuff,or else it looks real weird on
screens.

Speaker 1 (01:05:37):
Oh, 100% and just no, it's just, but that's part of
our expertise.
That's also the thing thatpeople don't realize that it's
part of the budget, it's part ofthe value when you get someone
who's actually professional inthis.
Absolutely, that knowledge isirreplaceable.

Speaker 2 (01:05:52):
Yeah, scenics and lights behind it isn't just for
the look of it, it's still forthe.
Actually, it is for the look ofit because it's going to look
good, but it's just for theoverall, everything's for the
look of it, yeah.
It's overall how the show isgoing to go and it's going to
look great.
If you don't have that, then itjust gets muddy and messy.

Speaker 1 (01:06:11):
Yeah, no, 100%.
I mean, it's those littledetails that really separate
Something that's memorable.
And it's like, yeah, I wantthis to be almost cinematic, I
want this to be this level ofhigh end.
But they also say, oh, but dowe need to have this much of
this or that?
I was like, do we need this?

(01:06:32):
Is like If you cut down onequipment, wouldn't it be a
cheaper package?
And then it's like but you'resaying you want this look.

Speaker 2 (01:06:39):
Yeah, it's like If you want this, we just did this
event for you guys.
If you want the same kind ofenergy and make it memorable, I
can't start just cutting allthat stuff out, because now it's
just a drastic drop.

Speaker 1 (01:06:51):
It looks like another company came in and did it 100%
, and it's hard for them to wraptheir heads around this
sometimes.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:06:58):
Because they see dollar signs and they see, well,
do we need this?
Do we need this?
Do we need this?
Just trust us, and you're goingto love what comes out of it.
Yeah, I mean Because we want tomake every event memorable.
People walk in that room andlike, oh my gosh, look at this
place.
That's what we're all about,man.

Speaker 1 (01:07:16):
When they're walking away from that event, being like
that was, I was on another,like I was on vacation, I was on
another planet for a weekend,absolutely no, and you guys do
it like it's a fantastic job.

Speaker 2 (01:07:27):
I appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (01:07:29):
So with that I mean I want to thank you so much for
carving out the time to be onhere with us and writing your
own home with your littlepodcast studio set up.
I love it.

Speaker 2 (01:07:42):
Yeah, this corner of the bedroom, it's a nice setup,
man it looks good man.

Speaker 1 (01:07:44):
Got the lights and camera.
You're looking good man.

Speaker 2 (01:07:47):
It works.
Thank you for having me, man.
I appreciate you.

Speaker 1 (01:07:50):
Yeah, no.
So where can the people findyou if they want to follow you
or follow?

Speaker 2 (01:07:55):
conquest Reach out to you guys.
Yeah, I mean, I got a bunch ofinfo.
We can just pop it on thescreens, whatever.
Yeah, yeah, easiest way isconquestsproductions on
Instagram.
We got conquestproductionscom.
That has our my Personal email,tim's Personal email and as

(01:08:17):
well as just the info atconquestproductionscom Any
general inquiries, all that kindof stuff.
My name again is Caleb Neely.
It's Caleb Neely on Instagram.
It's the easiest way to find us.
Man, instagram and the website,and you'll get us all from
there.

Speaker 1 (01:08:33):
Love it, love it and of course, like with me, you're
going to always follow us atVision Maker Podcast on
Instagram and TikTok and YouTubeand such, and then you can also
follow me, victorm under score,vision Maker and the company at
Vision Maker Productions.
So, thank you guys.
Thank you so much, caleb, andwe'll catch you around next time

(01:08:56):
.