Powering the Party: Behind the Scenes

John Thomas (00:28):
Welcome listeners. I'm John Thomas, your new host of the Power Bytes Podcast. And today we've got a fun one for this episode. We're going to be talking about what it takes to power major entertainment events: the logistics, the planning, the setup, the equipment, and the support to power events like headlining concerts and major sporting events.

John Thomas (00:48):
Let's see how many entertainment puns or phrases you can catch in this episode. First, I'm gonna pull back the curtain on this topic. We're joined by two guests from Yancey Brothers Cat®, our Cat dealership that supports customers in the beautiful state of Georgia. We’re going to start off today with some quick introductions. Our first guest is Mike Madej. Mike, you're currently the rental power sales manager at Yancey?

Mike Madej (01:11):
That's right. Thank you very much, John. I've been at Yancey Brothers now going on two years, but I do have 20 years’ experience all in power rental at Cat dealerships.

John Thomas (01:23):
And, for those folks that aren't familiar with what we mean when we say “rental power”?

Mike Madej (01:27):
Well, rental power is, basically, generating temporary mobile generators to power events and power all certain different aspects. Everybody needs power. You need power to put the lights on. You need power to run machinery. You need power to run factories. You need utility power. You need power for your house. We're providing that temporary power in case the utility drops off, or if you need more power than what that utility can provide.

Mike Madej (02:01):
Not only generators! We'll also provide industrial air compressors, and we'll also have temporary temperature control equipment.

John Thomas (02:12):
Awesome. I think that helps. I appreciate that. Thanks, Mike. And our second guest is Hank Price. Hank is the manager of Yancey's entertainment division. Tell us a little bit about what your entertainment division actually does.

Hank Price (02:26):
Great question. I get that all the time when I bring that up when I tell people I work for Caterpillar. But I tell them I'm in the entertainment space, and they assume that, "Oh, [he] just must go out and entertain clients…"

John Thomas (02:36):
(laughs) Right.

Hank Price (02:36):
"... with dinners and so forth." Which we do! Everybody thinks of dirt when they think of Caterpillar. Obviously, that's our core business. In the entertainment space, we focus on partnering with production companies and anybody that wants to put on an event – whether it be a large stadium show, to a smaller outdoor event, or a large festival or sporting event – and provide that temporary power, whether we're in a field where there is no power and we basically have to build a grid out. Everything from the stage, to sponsors, to merch, security – whatever that may be.

Hank Price (03:05):
Just providing that power for areas and spaces where there's no power there, for events and large festivals and sporting events and so forth.

John Thomas (03:13):
Awesome. Well, welcome guys! Again, I appreciate your time. Hank, I'm going to stick with you for a second. We may have heard a little rumor that you recently supported a major concert with Rental Power, and I'm hoping you can shine the spotlight on the planning process for that. How far in advance did that planning start? What goes into the planning?

Hank Price (03:31):
Definitely. We love [for] the advancement to be as early as possible. It doesn't always work out that way. But usually, it's months in advance. We typically get a schematic or a CAD of what the stage gonna be within the stadium and everything from the stage itself, to back of house, to catering, to security points, to delay towers out in front of house.

Hank Price (03:49):
But hopefully, we get that as soon as possible – with a few months ahead of time. The only constant thing in our world is change, so that is a moving target, as we say, the closer that we get to the show date. So really, a few months in advance would be great, but there are times where it could be weeks ahead that we get, in advance, what the final power needs are going to be, and we just adjust to that.

John Thomas (04:12):
And what are some of the key aspects of the planning? If you're doing this kind of thing months in advance (which is good) – but when you think about that planning process, what are some of the key processes that you do during that?

Hank Price (04:23):
Definitely. The most critical part of the show, obviously, is the stage power. And we scope that off of the amount of services needed at the stage. And then we'll scale the generator size based off of that. So really: just figure out where the generators are gonna live, what that cable run looks like to get to stage, and where we're gonna place our transformers. “Are these high traffic areas? Do we need ramps? Do we need ADA ramps (to cover the cable from the generators to stage)?”

Hank Price (04:46):
“Are there any front-of-house needs, like for delay towers or front of house itself?” And then we also look at the back-of-house needs for catering, security, check-in points, and so forth.

John Thomas (04:57):
Awesome. And I'm assuming – in some of these events that if you're talking about a major concert in the middle of a field or something where you're bringing all of that power in – you guys are probably working with the event planners to even calculate what the electrical loads are going to be for the whole thing, right?

Hank Price (05:13):
Definitely. Yeah. One of our main things that we want to focus on is what that power draw is going to be, services needed at the stage – obviously, we deal with amps, and it's usually typically broken down in either a 400- or a 200-amp service for stage and some of the other power needs around the stage itself. A lot of these stadiums that we work at had utility power, but these large tours that come in don't trust the grid.

Hank Price (05:37):
So they would much rather go on gen power and have a built-in redundancy, parallel a couple of gens up to where you have that backup, should something go wrong, instead of trusting the grid – if that makes sense.

John Thomas (05:46):
It does. It makes a lot of sense. I was gonna ask you about right sizing and capacity, but I think you covered that. You're doing the load analysis, you're looking at all the needs, and you're talking about “redundancy.” And that's a term we use a lot in the electric power business, right? But for those of our listeners who might not be familiar with that term, that's having backup power in case there's some form of failure.

John Thomas (06:07):
So that's really cool to know that you're getting that deep in the weeds with these customers and really understanding all of their needs. And some of us might not think about those things like back of the house or check-ins and catering. So that's pretty cool.

Mike Madej (06:19):
One thing I'd like to add to that: a very important part of the preparation is the logistics behind making sure we have enough equipment to handle projects like that, knowing well in advance [that] we only have a finite amount of units that we carry ourself. So, a lot of times, we'll need to lean on the Cat Power Rental network to work with us to provide the equipment needed in case we're running a sporting event and a concert and maybe a triathlon on the same day. There's a lot of prep work that goes on with the logistics behind providing that power also.

John Thomas (06:54):
Okay. Well, I'm a golfer (but I wouldn't consider myself a good golfer, and [if] one of my friends hear this, they're gonna laugh out loud at that comment), but [I’m] thinking of golfing as one of these potential events … that noise can be a big challenge, depending on the event. So, if noise is a showstopper for your customer, how do you take that into account when setting up power at the event? How does that impact what solutions you employ?

Mike Madej (07:17):
Excellent consideration when we're powering entertainment events. Specifically on a golf course, there's two main things that we really lean upon when it comes to the sound, and one is the technology of the equipment nowadays. Many times, we'll have a generator powering a small kiosk for concession or a leader scoreboard. And the commonfolk out there might not even know the equipment is on. So, the Caterpillar equipment is so well sound-attenuated that a lot of them are super silent and quiet.

Mike Madej (07:53):
Another consideration – or technique – we do in those situations is strategically place the equipment. If we're going to have a critical sound area, we'll look to maybe place the generator a little bit farther away from there and run a little bit more cable, just to take that into consideration.

John Thomas (08:15):
Are there other types of events, or customer interactions, outside of the golfing example where noise is a big concern?

Mike Madej (08:23):
Well, when you're looking to power concerts, it's important that the fan base or the people attending the event hear the concert. They don't want to hear the equipment! So, it's definitely something that we take in consideration, for sure.

John Thomas (08:40):
So, beyond managing noise, what are some of the major challenges that you face when supporting events of these types?

Mike Madej (08:47):
John, I could tell you, with my experience running all kinds of events, one thing we know for sure, we can have the greatest plan coming into the event, but something is always gonna change. And having that ability to adjust on the fly – almost anticipating, “Okay, instead of having the unit on this side of the street, we're gonna need it on this side of the street, and I needed it there 10 minutes ago!” So “having technicians that are anticipating changes and and handling them conveniently for the customer” is probably the most challenging thing that we [accomplish] on every entertainment event that we do.

John Thomas (09:31):
Yeah. When I think about our typical commercial industrial customers, if we're going out there and putting a power solution in place, generally we have a little time to get things right, and if there's an issue, we've got a little bit of flexibility. But with these live events, it's got to happen “right now.” So, I'm sure that those technicians on site are pretty key to making that happen. So, I'm assuming, Mike, that events don't always go as planned, and that can translate into something “going off script.” When that happens during an event, how do you handle that? How do you handle that change? How do you troubleshoot that during a live event that can't afford that downtime?

Mike Madej (10:05):
Initially, when we're talking to event planners about the opportunity helping them power their events, we do talk about that redundancy, and we try to find out from them how critical their loads are going to be. With that said, we like to tell them about Yancey's experience running these events, and I'm not going to say we run into every issue that'll ever happen, but we’ve run into most.

Mike Madej (10:33):
So it's a good thing to have that experience to almost anticipate, “If something goes wrong, it'll probably be ‘this,’” and then be organized and planned enough to have something that we're going to counter or make an adjustment on the fly if there is a critical issue with the primary load. Maybe we'll have generators on standby where we can switch over quickly. And many times, we'll be able to do that where the audience doesn't even know! It's a seamless transition.

John Thomas (11:07):
That makes a lot of sense. Hank, with your experience in the entertainment sector, tell us a little bit about what factors make this entertainment events industry different from the other markets that Yancey serves.

Hank Price (11:20):
Definitely. I would ultimately say it's the sense of urgency. A lot of the construction sites, it might be a two-, three-year build, that we might be helping out with powering – or other things that we work on the commercial and industrial side. A lot of these places, they get the stadium on “this date” at “this time,” and they expect to load in to start at that time. And then they have to be out by a certain date, which is typically a fairly quick turnaround.

Hank Price (11:45):
Once we get the production schedule, that's pretty much what we'd go by. But I would say the sense of urgency of, “There's no redo. You don't get a second chance.” You're only as good as your last event. And if you do end up having an issue in our space, it gets around fairly quick, not only to our customers, but to our competitors. So I would say that's one of the most important things that's somewhat different than the core side of the business, on that commercial and industrial side.

John Thomas (12:09):
Well, and you guys have alluded to it throughout our discussion today, but just the amount of coordination, right? It has to be significantly higher? So, whether you wanna call it “coordination,” whether you wanna call it “project management,” it's gotta be significantly higher than kind of the typical rental business (would be my expectation).

Hank Price (12:27):
A hundred percent. There's a lot more in-depth conversations that go into – if you're just in the middle of a field and trying to figure out how to lay out a grid, it's a little bit different than just dropping off a generator for a couple trailers or something like that on a construction site.

Hank Price (12:40):
There's a lot more planning that goes into it, a lot more crossing the T's, dotting the I's, making sure everybody's on the same page going into it. And then just sticking to that production schedule to make sure you make it to “doors” and make sure that the show goes well, and then as soon as that show's over, it's a fairly quick turnaround to get out of there.

John Thomas (12:58):
Hank, I'll start with you on this one, and, Mike, you chime in if you feel like you've got some additional content to add here. If our listeners are planning to put one of these types of events on in the future, what is your top recommendation for them, from a power planning aspect?

Hank Price (13:17):
Great question. Ultimately, I'd love to know exactly what we're powering. Tell me about the event; what are we getting into? What are we trying to make happen? How many people are we expecting? Are we providing power to stages? Are there multiple places that need to have power drops? Ultimately, do you have a drawing that we can look at and discuss where everything needs to be, or where you're hoping everything's gonna be landed, as far as all your tents and stages and so forth?

Hank Price (13:40):
Ideally, can we set up a time to go do a quick site walk and get a better idea of the layout and the space that we're looking to work in? And then, ultimately, what's your expectation? What's your goal? And how critical is your show? Do you feel like you need redundancy?

John Thomas (13:57):
So let me jump in there for a minute. When you say, "What is your goal?" Give us an example of what you mean by that.

Hank Price (14:03):
We do temperature control as well, not just power itself. “Do you have a desired temperature you want it set at? How many people are you expecting? Is this a no-fail kind of event?” That comes back to that criticality piece, the show itself. That helps me design a solution for each individual.

Hank Price (14:24):
So, really, I just want to get with that event planner (or production person that's in the lead) and find out what are their expectations, what the criticality of the show is, how many people are we expecting,  if we're doing a broadcast, is it live (straight to live or is it taped?). A lot of those questions just try to figure out – get as much of the scope as possible up front.

John Thomas (14:41):
Yeah. Mike, anything you want to add to that?

Mike Madej (14:43):
There are two things that pop into my head right away too are: let us know as soon as possible. The longer we have time to prepare and plan the event – it's very critical that we're involved early. And some people might think, "Oh, we'll just call the power the week of." Sometimes the equipment might not be available, sometimes we have to adjust to different-sized equipment in those situations. So let us be part of the planning process as soon as you start planning.

Mike Madej (15:14):
The other consideration that we would like to know right away also is, what kind of budget that they're working with. Is this something that they need to stay under X amount of dollars because, “I'm putting on this little event in my backyard?” Is this something that we can push the budget a little bit because the redundancy is more important?

John Thomas (15:34):
Yeah. Good points. You guys have shared some great information. You talked about this a minute ago, Hank – you could go to a local rental house and just pick up a gen and throw it in your backyard, but do you know enough to know if it's sized correctly? And is that going to deliver on those goals that you were talking about, Hank, on what you really are trying to achieve? And so hopefully [our listeners] see that there's a lot of value in dealing with some people that have some experience and some expertise in this space. All right. Closing question for the two of you! When you think about this entertainment industry, it sounds like it's probably a lot of fun – a lot of it can be stressful, I'm sure, but a lot of fun as well. What have you found to be the most enjoyable part for you as you're serving customers in this space?

Mike Madej (16:25):
To me, it's pretty rewarding to see thousands of people enjoying themselves and knowing that the power we provided was a small [part] of that enjoyment. So that makes it fun for me.

John Thomas (16:40):
Hank?

Hank Price (16:41):
No, I think that's a great point. Obviously, it's all the people you get to work with. There are a lot of events and shows that you get to experience that typically you wouldn't get to, which is awesome. It is very stressful. Like I said before, there's no room for error, at least on our end.

Hank Price (16:56):
That can add a lot of stress. But to Mike's point, once the show goes off and you see the smiles on all the patrons and a lot of the production teams as well, it's just another great event that's been done and delivered to the people, that's all the satisfaction right there.

John Thomas (17:12):
Yeah. I bet. For any of us that are listening, think about the last type of event that you went to, and just think about if in the middle of that event everything went dark. I just last weekend was in Las Vegas with my wife to see Zac Brown Band at the Sphere. And knowing that we were going to have this conversation, as I'm looking around at this incredible screen and venue, I thought, "What would happen if in the middle of this we lost power?"

John Thomas (17:38):
To give you a sense, as a listener, of the importance of this – you want to be invisible, right, to a certain extent – but if you were in the middle of one of those events and you lost power, just think about the reaction that you would have.

Mike Madej (17:50):
Just imagine if it was your generator that was powering it!

John Thomas (17:54):
Yeah. (laughs) Absolutely. You wouldn't want anybody to be turning and looking at you quickly, that's for sure.

John Thomas (18:00):
I don't know if you guys can do this. I didn't prep you for this, but I'll just give you an opportunity: I'm assuming you've had a chance – or you and your teams have had a chance – to meet some pretty famous folks or some influential folks in your time. Is there anybody – any name-dropping that you can do here? Or can you give us some secretive sense of some of the folks that you've had a chance to work with in the past?

Hank Price (18:21):
There's been some big artists. I won't throw out any names. I'm more of a sports guy. We've been fortunate to do a lot of sporting events. So I've been able to get fairly close to a lot of big names that I look up [to] in the sporting world, whether that's golf or other arenas. But sporting kind of “does it” for me. We've had some big artists that we've worked with as well.

John Thomas (18:40):
I bet. Mike, anybody you can name-drop, or no?

Mike Madej (18:43):
One of the things I can think of – it's kind of a funny situation. We were powering a country concert a few years ago, and one of the entertainer's managers came to our VIP tent where we were hosting several customers and asked, "Hey, is there anybody here that wants to go backstage to meet Bailey Zimmerman?"

Mike Madej (19:02):
And there were some customers that had younger kids there, and they were going crazy. One of them had a Bailey Zimmerman shirt on, and they went backstage with the customer and got to meet Bailey Zimmerman. So, when they got back to our tent, they were showing me photos of Bailey Zimmerman. And I'm like, "Oh, wait a minute. Bailey Zimmerman's a boy! It's not a girl." I didn't even know.

John Thomas (19:26):
(laughs)

Hank Price (19:26):
(laughs)

John Thomas (19:28):
Bailey, if you're watching this, or if you listen to this, please don't be offended. (laughs)

Hank Price (19:32):
(laughs)

Mike Madej (19:33):
That was so funny. But anyway, that's the first thing I thought of about that.

John Thomas (19:37):
Well, awesome. Well, I appreciate you guys sharing that with me. Well, to throw in one last entertainment pun: it's time for the “curtain call,” right? I want to thank you both for taking time to talk to us today. I greatly appreciate it. And for those of you listening, thanks for listening and we hope you hear us again soon.