WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • APRIL 2020 25i INDUSTRY ISSUES
White Light’s head of business
development, Lee Dennison, points out
its suitability in the current crisis. “It’s
a clean environment with remote
galleries and easy drive-in and drive-out
access so that users can arrive safely and
commence a production. It offers a full
broadcast, enabling press conferences,
internal-external comms for corporate
clients, remote learning and even
entertainment shows and concerts for
live streaming. We have had interest from
orchestras looking for innovative ways to
link up their individual musicians, and
there are plans for comedy shows. Last
week, Reverend Tony Miles of Methodist
Central Hall Westminster live-streamed
their Sunday morning service directly
from the SmartStage to his entire global
congregation.”
Beyond this period, Dennison stresses,
such technology must take its place in
a blend of real and virtual experiences as
the market recovers. “The world will
change, and when we all go back to work,
it will be a very different place,” he says.
“What we have to be careful of is
deploying technology for technology’s
sake; we can never take away that live,
collaborative experience. Putting on a VR
headset does not give you that.
SmartStage is a tool, but it’s not
a replacement. It enhances the user
experience by giving the performer or
presenter the ability to see and react to
content around in an engaging and
natural way - including full interaction
with other people, on screen. However,
ordinary live streaming is only one-way;
you present outwards, but how do you
maximise engagement? How do you
know that anybody in your virtual
audience is paying any attention?”
Others have expressed their view of the
crisis at a more existential level. What
kind of world do we want to return to?
“We’ve got to remember the thousands of
people in the NHS and other services are
putting themselves in harm’s way to look
after everyone,” says Pearce Hire founder
Shaun Pearce, who’s company is in
lockdown but making its core temporary
power kit and expertise available to
emergency facilities. “This crisis will have
a cost at the end of it - both in financial
and emotional terms - and it’s everyone’s
duty to help minimise that. That means
taking tough decisions to close
workplaces and following government
advice on what we can do in our free
time. I firmly believe that the way we act
during the crisis will impact how well and
quickly we recover as a country.”He adds: “I feel this is a wake-up call to
the world and a stark example of what
could become the norm. The pace of life
has become too fast and we are missing
the basics: everyone wants everything
done yesterday; we’re rushing from one
country to another, not clearing up after
ourselves; all the while damaging the
environment. Everyone talks of sustained
growth when in reality we need to slow
down to a more even pace. Then we may
have more time to detect these diseases
at an earlier stage and deal with them.”DARK FADER
Phil Ward polls leading sound
engineers and designers on how the
pandemic has hit them...How has the coronavirus pandemic
affected you professionally so far?
Bobby Aitken: “All of my income and
prospects of income have stopped.
Planned projects have been cancelled or
‘postponed’ and existing shows providing
a royalty have stopped performing.”Justin Grealy: “Drastically. Everything
cancelled. No income. No prospect of
resuming house gigs in London until
September at the earliest.”Roger Lindsay: “In recent years, I’ve tried
to reduce my touring work accordingly,
but the coronavirus pandemic has not
only brought that to a complete halt for
most of us, but so far has also affected
the Premier League and international
soccer fixtures, which have become
a regular source of work for me. In the
coming months, I’m expecting Major
League Baseball in London to suffer the
same fate, along with my regular annual
fixtures with the NFL. With almost every
area of the industry now suffering, I’m
fortunate to be better prepared than
many as I’ve had longer to develop
strategies to survive when things get
tough, but what we’re facing now is so
much more frightening than anything
that’s gone before for all of us.”“What we have to be careful
of is deploying technology for
technology’s sake; we can never
take away that live, collaborative
experience... “
- Lee Dennison
BUSINESSES REACT TO
COVID-19 OUTBREAKManufacturers have had to adapt to the
challenging business environment brought
about by the COVID-19 pandemic and
stringent lockdown measures. Italy’s AEB
Industriale, DTS, K-Array and Powersoft, as
well as DAS Audio and Amate Audio of Spain,
have all reported suspending operations as
the two countries have extended their
lockdown conditions.In the UK, many companies have taken
measures to allow employees to work from
home where possible. In a response echoed
by many manufacturers throughout the
industry, Genelec’s Howard Jones told LSi:
“As a company, we’re following all the
recommended steps to protect our
employees and business partners, so all of
us that are able to work from home are doing
so, and all business travel and events have
been cancelled until further notice. Our
factory-based production and logistics
teams have been split into two separate
shifts to minimise the risk of virus
transmission, and all factory visits have been
cancelled. Within the factory environment we
have a strict regime of personal hygiene and
maintaining a safe working distance between
staff. We’re obviously advising any employee
who doesn’t feel well to stay at home, get
well, and avoid interacting with others.”With Void Acoustics having implemented
similar measures to protect its workers, the
company’s Mike Newman told LSi: “We are
placing great importance on keeping an open
and consistent communication channel
running with our customers around the world.
This allows us to help them shore up their
business where we can. We also want them
to know we are here and ready for when we
get to the other side of this crisis, and we will
support them in the inevitable re-building
process.”More business reaction will follow in a later
issue of LSi. For now, keep up-to-date with
the latest response via our dedicated
COVID-19 Resources webpage:P http://www.lsionline.com/covid-19-supportPhoto: CDC on Unsplash