A weblog about theatrical drapery and stage curtains for Production Managers, Set Designers, Custom Drapery Resellers, and local/school/church Productions
Megan Duckett, President of Sew What? and Rent What?, was honored recently to be asked to speak on a panel of Inc 5000 small business owners. If you aren’t familier with Inc 500 / 5000, it is a list of the top 500 and top 5,000 fastest growing small businesses in the United States, and Sew What? has been named to the list for each of the last several years.
At the event, Megan joined with several other small business owners to talk about how we have not only survived the current economic client, but actually continued to grow. Not only did Megan enjoy the opportunity to participate, but she found it enlighting to listen to her fellow speakers and pick up ideas from them as well.
Want to learn more about Inc 500 / 5000? Click here.
I recently designed the new backdrop for Michelle Branch for her 2011/2012 tour. I was approached by her creative team with the idea of putting together an eclectic stack of vintage amplifiers. The first task was to acquire images of vintage amps so that I could create a believable piece of art. As luck would have it, a music store that carries vintage amps was just ten miles away (Back Stage Music, Lake Orion) and they were willing to let me come a shoot all the pictures I needed.
The backdrop turned out fantastic. Michelle liked it so much she invited me to her show, when they came through town, just to meet me and thank me for my work. No higher praise in my book.
Not long ago I wrote about finding inspiration. This morning I was greeted with an email Megan forwarded to me that I found to be very inspirational.
A young lady named Leah (11 years old) sent us an illustration that she was inspired to create after becoming aware of Megan’s band, Without Warning.
I dont know Leah but I can tell you she is extremely talented. The illustration is well done in both detail and composition. You inspire me Leah. Thank you for sending this. It reminds me of when I was a kid and filled the walls of my room with illustrations of KISS and other bands. Making art for the passion of making art… It’s a beautiful thing.
As you probably already know, the co-owner and president of Sew What? and Rent What? is Megan Duckett, who is a woman of many skills and talents. One of them is her unbelievably-rockin’ band Without Warning. We had a treat last week and were able to go see her band perform live at a wonderful little concert hall in Redondo Beach. Not only was it great for all of us to get together outside of work and help celebrate our boss’s amazing talents as a singer and most of all as a *ROCKER!*, but it was so much fun to be able to hang out with one another outside of the work environment!
Without Warning members Megan Dawn, Doug, DC, David, and Hughes
Even better was bringing several companies that we work so closely with on a day to day basis to come join in the festivities. We here at Sew What? and Rent What? really are a “family”, and a lot of these other companies are like family to us too. One business in particular has been a huge sponsor of Without Warning, and has also been an incredible company for Rent What? to have worked with for years. This company is All Access, who, with the help of Bob Hughes, encouraged Megan to audition for the band earlier this year, and has been indispensable with the band’s swiftly growing popularity ever since.
There’s nothing like “Rock and Roll Camaraderie” to bring everyone together on a Saturday night, and not have to worry about which black poly silk drapes are going where, what solenoid delivery needs to be made that next week, or the huge Austrian drape order that is next on the horizon. By spending some fun quality time with one another, we get to really get to know one another on a more personal level, and that grows into a richer admiration and respect for each other that we might not otherwise have.
This makes us stronger as a company, and that translates into better customer service and quality of product for our clients. Who knew that getting together to enjoy a little rock and roll could have such far reaching benefits for everyone?
We come to you today with a heavy heart, due to the recent tragedy at the Indiana State Fair in August, 2011. It was an unbelievably terrible thing that occurred, and the repercussions are going to linger long and wide for those affected by the collapse of the main stage at the fair’s concert series. They need our support and prayers now more than ever.
First and foremost, we wanted to pass along some information regarding help that is desperately needed for the family of one of the victims, Nathan Byrd. He was the Spot Op who lost his life when the stage collapsed. He was a single dad of two kids, aged 13 and 15. The family is struggling to find money for the funeral, school supplies and clothes for the kids, etc. If you could spare even a few dollars, we know it would help his family tremendously.
Please send donations to:
IATSE LOCAL 30
ATTN: NATHAN BYRD FAMILY
1407 EAST RIVERSIDE DRIVE
INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46202-2037
Let us also not forget the other four people who lost their lives that terrible day:
Tammy Vandam, 42, of Wanatah, Indiana; Glenn Goodrich, 49, of Indianapolis; Alina Bigjohny, 23, of Fort Wayne, and Christina Santiago, 29, of Chicago.
We wanted to mention that there is another donation organization that has been set up to help those families of the people killed or hurt badly from the stage collapse:
Central Indiana Community Foundation
615 N. Alabama Street, Suite 119
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317-634-2423
An easy way to make a donation to CICF is to text “Fair” to 27722 and a $10 donation will appear on your next cell phone bill.
The families and friends of all of those killed or gravely injured in this tragedy will continue to need our love and support long after the repairs are done to the fairgrounds.
I have posted about the wide variety of specialty drapery collections that Rent What? has available for rent, from “Rockin’ Red” to “Industrial Textures” to “Delightfully White” and beyond. At Rent What? we have tried to think “outside the box” to continually re-imagine soft goods and stage decor to create interesting and beautiful new drapery options for our clients.
Today, I want to give you a sneak preview of our newest specialty collection, the “Swanky Collection.” We have just added the first piece in the collection, and it is definitely something different. Rather than a traditional custom stage curtain made of fabric, instead this piece is actually a series of individual linear pieces composed of mirrored plates suspended on invisible threads.
Each thread of mirrored plates is separate and distinct – different heights, different placement of mirrored plates – allowing a completely customizable dazzling linear mobile. By attaching each thread to a different location on the stage truss, you can create a unique mobile “drape” for every show.
I am so excited about this new piece. I hope you like it as much as I do. Stand by as we add more “Swanky” pieces to the collection – I’ll keep you posted.
Creating mood and taking a crowd to another place at a show is the ultimate goal of designing a concert experience. People often only think of stage lights in terms of the trusses that hang over the stage to create color and sometime patterns.
One thing you might want to consider in the planing stages is the use of lights through cutouts in your printed backdrop. We can print directly to opaque and see through mesh materials. Integrating both materials buy cutting out either structured shapes (windows, doors) or more random free form shapes (abstract patterns, eyes?) and then bringing the entire piece together to create awesome effects, glows and ambience. Be it a sunset effect, lights in the windows of a building or glowing eyes, etc… its up to your imagination.
Recently, Rent What? had the honor to be selected by Dell Computers to be featured in an online video on America’s Favorite Small Business. It was a great opportunity for Megan and Marce and all the folks at Rent What? to discuss the committment that the company has to provide high quality, innovative custom stage curtains and hardware for rental.
I think the folks at Dell did a great job in capturing what it is like to run a small business, ensuring that your business is well run and your customers are provided the highest quality product along with the best customer service possible. As the Rent What? motto goes, “Ultimate Rentals. Extreme Service.”
Recently I was asked to create a custom wood texture and wood beams for a Kid Rock’s Born Free tour stage. The end product is a full blown Kid Rock Saloon set complete with branded, burned in Jim Beam(tm) logos and so on. This set looks like a real wood, old time western saloon. The effect is killer. The best part about this set is all the wood is actually printed fire proofed fabric. Every stair case, riser and even the bar itself is all covered in fabric that looks like thick, heavy wood beams.
For those of you that are reading this that deal with the logistics of moving a show from town to town, set up and tear down, you understand what a time saver, labor saver and money saver this is. What would normally take four men and thirty minutes to do now takes two men a few minutes because they’re not disassembling huge ridged panels. Not to mention less weight/ less fuel costs and so on. Something to think about. We can digitally create Wood, stone, Brick and Block or whatever you need and give you an awesome looking stage.
