#WishIWasThere
Wish you were heading to a concert in the park in these waning days of summer? Or an all-day music festival on the waterfront? Or a baseball game? Or even your cousin’s stepson’s wedding?
So do the event planners, caterers, tour managers, stagehands, sound techs, lighting designers, drivers, ticket-takers, musicians, photographers, and thousands of other workers employed in the live events industry. So many skilled and talented people make the events we’re all missing possible. So many of them are now out of work.
The Live Events Coalition was formed in response to COVID-19 to help events professionals and gig workers band together, get the support they need to stay afloat while their livelihoods are shut down, and have a voice at the table in figuring out how to get—safely—reopened and back to work. Chapters have been springing up around the country to raise awareness. A colleague from my days doing communications and media relations at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is spearheading the LEC’s Philadelphia chapter, and I learned about it when she called and asked for help. They needed a press release, maybe a media advisory, and some press pitching to get coverage for a rally. Was I game? Oh, and by the way, the rally was set for the end of the week.
It’s hard to say no to a friend, especially one with a good cause, especially one who knows you’re not that busy. Normally this time of year we’d be interviewing artists and writing articles, blog posts, and other stories and copy to promote concerts and events in the performing arts world, but there’s no writing because there are no concerts or performances. Turns out we’re gig workers in the live events industry, too.
It should have been no surprise that a group of event professionals could plan and pull off a terrific event even with just days to do it, even during a pandemic when they haven’t seen each other, when they can’t get together to plan, when the event itself has to be safe, socially distanced.
“The live event industry was hit first, it was hit hardest, and will be the last to return.” –Michael Barnes, head of the Philadelphia chapter of the stagehands union (IATSE) and LEC member.
On Friday, July 24, instead of heading to their favorite venues, out-of-a-job event workers wearing masks and “show blacks” (the uniform of the behind-the-scenes industry), rolled their road cases to Center City and marched around City Hall, calling on elected officials to extend unemployment and other benefits until it’s safe for everyone to get back to work. You can read and hear the rest of the story in the news links below.
Similar rallies and protests have been held around the country in cities including Boston, Salt Lake City, and New York.
Meanwhile, with all large public events cancelled in Philadelphia through at least February 2021—and elsewhere for who knows how much longer—expect to hear more from these voices in the coming months. The LEC has launched a social media campaign, asking live events workers to post photos from favorite pre-COVID events with the hashtag #WishIWasThere.
For more information, visit the Live Events Coalition and the LEC Philadelphia Chapter.