Oddly Specific Skills Gained From Working the Events Industry

TL;DR:

• We asked our followers what skill they've gained from working in production. Over 750 people answered across Facebook and Instagram.
• The top response? "I'm really good at standing by." (938 likes.) 
• We compiled the most-liked responses, grouped them into themes, and turned it all into this article for our posterity to understand us better.

A few weeks ago we posted a reel asking a simple question: What's an oddly specific skill you've gained from working in the live events industry?

We expected a decent response to the question. Maybe some cable-wrapping flexes. A gaff tape joke or three.

Instead, over 750 comments flooded in across Facebook and Instagram. You all had a lot to say. And honestly? The responses paint a weirdly beautiful portrait of what this industry does to people, in good and bad ways.

So we did what any self-respecting data nerd would do (see my top rented items of 4Wall post for a look at why I love data): we pulled every comment, ranked them by likes, categorized them into themes, and turned the whole thing into this article. Let's get into it.

THE TOP 10 RESPONSES BY LIKES

Combined likes from Facebook & Instagram

The Top Comment: "Standing by" 🏆

With 938 likes, the single most-agreed-upon skill in our entire industry is... waiting.

"I'm really good at standing by."

That's it. That's the whole comment. No explanation needed. Nearly a thousand people looked at those six words and thought, yep, that's my entire career distilled into one sentence.

Runner Up Comment: "Stress management"

The second most-liked response came in at 912 likes and is a skill that will serve us all well throughout our personal and professional lives.

"The ability to handle massive amounts of stress with little to no time to accomplish the task at hand with little to no knowledge of what's actually happening. It's like a superpower in the real world."

That one clearly struck a nerve because the stress-and-composure theme was everywhere. 173 likes went to "Pretending everything is ok while everything is NOT ok!" and 101 likes to the blunt and real "scheduled crying." One person summed up the emotional lifecycle of a gig day with three words: "hurrying up and waiting" (77 likes).

The takeaway? This industry doesn't just build shows, it builds people who can handle chaos with the best of them.

Rounding out the top 3: "The curse of seeing everything."

At 775 likes, the third-place response nailed something every single one of us deals with the second we walk into any venue, event, theatre, etc. for the rest of our lives:

"Watching the rig and not the actual show."

We all know we can't just go to a concert anymore, shut off our analytical brains, and simply enjoy the show. One commenter with 133 likes admitted to "always noticing when restaurants have mismatched color temperature or low CRI lights." A lighting director said if the intensity or tone of a light in a room changes even slightly, they can feel it (27 likes). And one person claimed they can tell when someone's calling them from a bathroom... based on the room acoustics (15 likes).

'Physical Abilities' responses

In our transient industry, gym memberships are a bit of a waste, and yet pulling cable, averaging 25K+ steps, and lifting equipment expend a lot of energy. The physical skill flexes were some of the funniest responses:

"CrossFit with Socapex." - 294 likes. I started my career at 4Wall, and within this industry, in the cable department. If you know, you know. 

"How to move extremely fast through crowds." - 287 likes. Simple truth.

"The ability to stay functional for like 40 hours straight. Without drugs." - 191 likes. The important clarification at the end made me chuckle.

"Getting 4hr of sleep." - 276 likes. This one makes me sad, but I've talked with enough people in our industry to know this is true.

One person described sleeping in a hammock under the stage during a show and then "springing to life for the load out" (29 likes). Another claimed they can sleep standing up with their eyes open (15 likes). 

'Cable' responses

Cable will always have a soft spot in my heart. I haven't used one of 4Wall's cable rolling machines for over a decade, but I still have dreams where I'm rolling cable.. 

"Over under over under over under" - 121 likes. I think 4Wall needs to make this into a t-shirt.

"Wrapping cables the RIGHT way" - 82 likes. What IS the 'RIGHT' way? I kid, I kid. Please don't yell.

"I can over-under coil a cable better than most" - 28 likes. Love the confidence.

One person went full artisan: "I can wind audio cables like a serial killer. Perfect 8 inch loop, with 1.75 rolls of cheap white insulating tape" (16 likes). I don't know whether to be impressed or concerned.

'Gaff Tape' responses

Ah gaff tape. It would be interesting to see responses to 'How have you seen gaff tape used on a gig?'.

"Using gaff to fix literally ANYTHING" - 304 likes. Fourth overall. 

"Tearing e-tape without stretching it" - 22 likes. Harder than it sounds.

One commenter proudly stated they can "tape an insanely straight line of gaff with an XLR cable perfectly centered under it. Like a machine did it" (15 likes).

'Catering' responses

Keep the crew well fed.. Everything will go 100X better if you do.

"Finding the catering area" - 278 likes. Seventh most-liked overall. Finding food ranked higher than most actual production skills, which makes complete sense.

"Pack your own meals... until you know that catering is on-site and for the crew" - 105 likes. Good words of advice.

One commenter made me actually laugh out loud: "I can tune into the exact frequency of a hotel's ice machine hum to find it quickly to fill up my cooler of Red Bull for the show" - 57 likes.

'People skills' responses

Working with new people every single day in high-stress environments apparently develops a "very specific set of skills":

"The subtle art of who not to listen to" - 223 likes. Someone needs to write this book as the title itself would sell copies.

"To ignore people with big mouths who think they know everything better" - 128 likes.

 "Learning how to work with new people every single day. Applies to everything" - 88 likes

"The ability to hear someone talking without taking in anything of what they are saying" - 47 likes. Also known as "the nod".

And one person dropped what might be the wisest thing in the entire thread at 96 likes: "The most important thing is attitude, the second most important is skill, the third is equipment, all three are needed to get anywhere. Equipment can be sourced last minute. Skill can be taught in a month if they are eager. Attitude takes years to correct, if it ever does."

Category rankings

When we grouped all 750+ responses into themes, here's how the total likes stacked up:

Themes categorized from 750+ responses • Combined FB & IG likes

Honorable mentions

These didn't fit neatly into a category, but they were too good to leave out:

"The ability to read a book while a concert is going on" - 71 likes. 

"Being pissed off at very minute things" - 104 likes.

"Remembering stagehand names" - 50 likes. 

"I can name any airport code" - 25 likes. 

"Being able to accurately estimate the weight of anything between 10 and 45 pounds based on how it feels compared to a Leko (or 2)" - 25 likes.

"The ability to lose track of what day it is but always know when Roadie Friday is" - 23 likes. 

Thanks for making this industry the incredible, sleep-deprived, caffeine-dependant, gaff-tape-held-together beauty that it is.

LL