#033 The CAD Guy

Map Cows & Ultra Says Goodbye to 2021

Today's read ... 

6️⃣

minutes

Headliner Jimmie, your friendly Rock and Roll CAD guy, has the crew listening to "Turmoil & Tinfoil by Billy Strings.

Congress agrees to relief funding for event venues, Ultra Music Fest cancelled, St. Louis to open a brand new, 3,000-person venue, Jimmie Rose explains why you see cows on some festival maps, and a list of the 25 most anticipated venues opening this year might include some near you.

St. Louis just got a new 3,000-capacity venue that features stage level load-in and four loading docks. The Factory will open its doors later this year with industry professionals Dan Merker as its Exclusive Talent Buyer and Brian Corp as its Chief Operating Officer.

Despite the current uncertainty surrounding the return of events, organizers of the Ryder Cup golf tournament in Wisconsin plan to have full attendance of more than 40,000 visitors per day at this September’s event.

The show must go on, according to Darryl Worley, Bryan White, and Wade Hayes. The trio kicked off their Country Rewind Tour in Florida last weekend with 13 additional stops scheduled through April.

After a successful summer of socially-distanced deck chairs, safety protocols, and more than 50,000 tickets sold, the Strandkorb Open Air concerts series will be returning to Germany this spring.

The Dutch government has officially decided to join Switzerland, Austria, and Germany in providing large-scale events insurance relief so producers can plan with less financial risk. Their cancellation fund will begin July 1 and includes €300 million in pandemic relief.

Complications from Brexit are leaving British musicians frustrated as they struggle to maneuver work permits and cargo restrictions among various countries while touring.

After months of lobbying, music industry advocates including NIVA and the Recording Academy have successfully negotiated relief funding to be included in the latest pandemic relief bill, including billions in aid for music venues.

A new study from Germany suggests the inclusion of fresh, outdoor air into ventilation systems could lead to full-capacity events in the near future -- but only if everyone wears a mask.

If you’re planning a 2021 event, make sure you check out the most anticipated new event venues for the year.

ICYMI: You can now rewatch performances from Lady Gaga, Garth Brooks, John Legend, and others who participated in President Biden’s star-studded Inauguration. 

Falling Into Place

Organizers for some of the nation's best-known events are looking at dates in September and October  in hopes of avoiding complete cancellations.

Planning For The Return

We are all anxiously waiting for the return of major live events in the US. Catherine Martin from Ireland is look for a way to celebrate the return. She is proposing an Europe-wide series of concerts to celebrate events' return. This series of gatherings will be possible with an aggressive vaccination schedule, with 50% of Ireland's population on track to be vaccinated by June. The concert series is likely to resemble the Live-Aid concerts, a 1998 concert series that attracted 1.5 billion TV viewers. This proposed idea seems like a great place to start celebrating a much-anticipated return.

2022 Will Be Special

Britain’s Glastonbury Festival, a 210,000 person event, announced the cancellation of their 2021 event. The pandemic uncertainties made it hard to convince insurers to take on the risk of such a large-scale event. Even with on-site COVID testing, the government remained concerned about the spread of the virus. The team at Glastonbury is optimistic for 2022, claiming that they will be making it a special year. The demand for events of this size is significant.

Fans are itching to return to the norms of live music. Several other European officials are nervous about planning future events while cases are rising and shutdowns are occurring. 

Jimmie Rose is a CAD designer who has been specializing in music festivals and concert tours for the past 20+ years. His craft has allowed him to work with so many of the best and brightest folks in the business along with touching countless festivals and tours. He has made a ton of friends along the way. Many of whom he's never met. This week he shares a piece of his world with Back of House.

Hi there, I’m Jimmmmie from Mountains Shadow LLC and Brungardt Enterprises LLC and I have the best job in the industry.  The artists themselves may have a good argument against me, but I have it pretty darned good.

If you don’t know me, you have probably seen my work.  I’m your friendly Rock and Roll CAD guy.  I get to play a significant role in well over 100 festivals and tours every year, and I get to spend most of my time at my Colorado home in the shadow of the beautiful Rocky Mountains with my loved ones close by.

I’m the behind-the-scenes guy who makes the festival maps. These maps or documents are seen by a lot of people and used for many things.  The promoter may use it to show an artist that the crowd size will be large enough to suit them.  It will show the fire marshal there is enough exit space to be safe.  The site ops and production directors will use it as their bible to build the show. The city and county officials will use it to issue permits. 

Building a festival is a dynamic, ever-changing, almost living endeavor. 

On some of the larger, more complex events, we start planning for next year’s event during load out.  There are so many moving parts to pull one of these things off, it’s mind-boggling.  I could not have more respect for the folks who make it all work.  My job is to make their lives easier.

I get to work with creative minds who want to see if what they have in their head will work on paper and in the field. I work with lifelong veterans who’ve literally grown up with muddy shoes and seen it all.  Like I said, I have the best job in the business!

So how did I get here? 

Pick your battle:or 

▶️ The US Golf Association is looking for someone to be their new Director of Championship Ticketing and Experiences in Liberty Corner, NJ.▶️ Output is looking for someone who loves music to join their team remotely as a Marketing Project Manager.▶️ Superfly has a contracted position available in New York, NY as a Project Based Copywriter.▶️Digiday is looking for an Event Programming Coordinator to work with the wider events team to refresh and creatively reimagine their events.

▶️ Looking to create a more sustainable office space?  Greenlist can help through fun and inspiring internal practices that drive change in a way that feels natural with in-company competitions.▶️ In a time of dislocation from each other, making connections to others is important for our wellbeing.  Check out these non obvious ways to have deeper conversations.▶️ Learn more about the tensions and synergies that come with integrating publishing into your profession with Nick deWilde’s guide to integrating online writing with your day job.

January 26: Entering its 42nd year, INTIX has been a remarkable stage for ticketing industry innovations, bringing our global community together to champion visionary ideas. INTIX 2021 will continue as a place to share successes, launch new products, engage with top vendors, and directly influence and shape the future of ticketing.

January 27: The Digilogue and Coa, a gym focused on emotional fitness, are collaborating on January 27th to speak to the music industry about the importance of mental health. ​January 27: Explore how the museum sector is enabling positive visitor engagement in an uncertain world, as well as the lessons learned.

February 8: The Sustainable Events Forum is back! Get motivated by new ideas to take action on environmental and sustainable initiatives for events.

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