Auckland Live Staff Spotlight: Bryce Gibson

Introduce yourself and your role at Auckland Live.
I am the Manager of the Sound and Vision Technical crew and events for Auckland Live. We deliver approximately 2,000 events each year that have sound or vision elements. These events can range from a small projector and a flipchart in a meeting room to a 1,000 people event with multiple projection screens and a band playing through a large (massive!) line array sound system.

 

What does your job entail? 
Our job entails delivering all Sound and Vision events to the highest standards. To do this we need skilled people, good systems, appropriate gear and relevant information; my job is to coordinate all of this. The aim is: on time, on quality and on budget but our overall ethos is ‘we deliver events’.

 

Paint a picture of a ‘day in the life’ in your role.
Weekdays I start before 8am. The day usually starts with a phone call and it often also ends with a phone call; it’s not unusual for there to be 50 or more in between. The calls are giving or seeking information, typically “I’ve just tested positive, so I won’t be in” or “Is there someone to give me a hand because the client has just changed their mind and the event starts in 20 minutes”.

Other times, I pop in when needed. My own technical skills are minimal but sometimes just being around helps. I spend time reviewing information about events and seek clarification when needed. Scheduling crew and gear is another large part of my job. In between phone calls, I also try to get around to see how the events are going.

 

What’s your favourite thing about what you do? 
The best part of my job is seeing people take ownership of “their” events and deliver them in a way that exceeds expectations.

 

What’s the hardest thing about what you do? 
The hardest thing to do is get the balance right. We deliver a lot of individual events, to the client, their event is the only one that matters.

To us it may be one of only many events that day, how do we balance the special versus mundane? How do we sequence things to keep crew load down and event margin up while exceeding the clients’ expectations? It’s all a balancing act.

 

What has been a highlight or special memory for you in your job at Auckland Live?
I’ve been here a very long time, there are many highlights. If I had to choose one it would be watching an accompanied screening of the Lon Chaney silent film “Phantom of the Opera” in The Civic from the prompt-side opera box as a guest of the NZ International Film Festival. Just fantastic.

As most people know, I’m an enthusiast for The Civic, any time I need to lift my spirits I pop over and the building cheers me up, what a grand space. I know it well, but I still notice new things. For example, did you know there’s a camel missing in the foyer?