Today we’d like to introduce you to Bruce Smith.
Hi Bruce, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Bruce Smith, and I grew up in Northeastern Ohio. After High School, I wasn’t decided about college, so I waited a year and decided to go to The Art Institute of Pittsburgh. After having a tough time landing anything in the illustration field I studied in Cleveland, I sold all my belongings and moved to Los Angeles in 1989. Once there, I was told I went to the wrong coast, and I should be looking in New York.
That wasn’t an option, so I worked a multitude of full-time, part-time, and freelance jobs until I happened upon a couple of opportunities that had a large effect on my life.
One was as a set painter on 2 movies, 1 tv pilot, and several car commercials. I also happened upon an opportunity helping construct (as general labor) a brand-new rehearsal studio in North Hollywood run by two former Roadies who travelled with the Eagles mainly but others as well. I ended up staying on as part of the staff doing mostly maintenance, cleaning, and a runner. I became a studio technician, running microphones and helping set up musical equipment and audio equipment for major famous musical acts who came to the studio, as well as working for one of the owners in his other business, delivering and setting up major musicians’ equipment in their homes, studios, venues, and places like the Arsenio Hall show and the Tonight show. It was an incredible opportunity and experience, and though it was a short two years I spent in LA, it really set a tone for the rest of my life.
I returned to Cleveland at the very end of 1990 to catch my breath after barely surviving on meager wages in a very expensive city. I had the intention to go back but wanted to build up my skills to be better handled to afford to live there. I went to check out a new Cuyahoga Community College class for recording that was being held in the Agora studio and ended up getting a scholarship to attend; and got an internship through calling around (unpaid) and worked a bit for Rock Capital Sound, who did local concerts. After a while, though, I needed to actually make some income and got referred to a concert lighting company called Electrastage. These experiences were not necessary long, but further put me on the future path I would follow.
After meeting a beautiful girl randomly in the middle of this in Pittsburgh, I decided to move back to Pittsburgh and suddenly was married, with twin girls on the way. I had worked on concert setups there for large and medium size bands for local concert promoter and also worked freelance steadily at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, building exhibits until two weeks before the twins were born. The economy was in bad shape, I was laid off from exhibit work, and concerts were not enough to make any rent. A couple months after the twins were born, the newspaper went on strike, and we didn’t have the internet we know and love today to look for more jobs, side jobs, anything.
I ended up moving back to Ohio and worked for a food warehouse because the pay was decent, and with children, it would include benefits, etc. After 3 years, however practical it was, I still had those great experiences behind me, and I looked for something close to those. I answered an ad for an audio-visual tech, not even knowing what it was, figuring I had a little audio experience and visual; well I had an Associate’s degree in Visual communications, so close enough.
Colortone Staging & Rentals hired me, and over the 7 years there, I was a tech, senior tech, and then special projects manager, some sales and account management, worked on event renderings and ads for the company in local magazines. It was a great experience, from doing shows and events all over the country with very talented people.
My wife and I also had our third daughter, and the need for different circumstances was readily apparent.
I came across an opportunity with less travel and more pay where a new state-of-the-art conference center with built-in AV was opening at the Cleveland Clinic, applied, got the job, was unfortunately outsourced 7 months later, and had to apply for my job with a new company – PSAV. I stayed on for another 4 1/2 years as Director of Operations there for PSAV and never left my seat in the transition.
I freelanced for maybe a month or two, and ended up back at Colortone Staging & Rentals as an event producer, and stayed on for 8 more years. At this time, my wife now had grown a business and was also travelling, and I once again wanted less travel for a bit.
I ended up working for PSAV again in 2016, this time as a Project Manager, a very similar role as what I was doing at Colortone at that time. I was there for the opening of the Hilton Downtown Cleveland, and the RNC held in Cleveland, and over time moved to the Cleveland Convention Center. Right before Covid hit, a change was made internally to pull the Project Managers out of the venues and use them wherever needed due to sheer demand. They also changed their name to Encore around that time. Now I worked at home and went wherever they wanted to send me. Then Covid hit, and was laid off for a time, but started freelancing pretty regularly for Encore as a virtual meeting project manager.
In 2021, my wife was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and roughly six months after, I was called back to active work and went back to work, both out of town and locally. This was pretty tough to manage, but family and friends really helped out. She passed away in April of this year, and 5 months later, I am just keeping busy with work at this point and a bit unsure of my future direction.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Not all smooth; in the beginning, low pay was always an issue forcing me to continually look for side work whenever possible, doing whatever I could find to survive. In addition, it was always a work/life balance issue, and the long hours and unpredictable schedule has always been very tough to manage while raising a family.
I did what I had to do to keep the bills paid and make sure I was gainfully employed. But it did come at a cost. I would fall asleep watching movies with the kids, miss many important school events, etc. Fortunately, my wife was a great mother, and I am proud of the adults they have become. But I can’t go back and get that special time back with them.
In 2003, my wife and I sold our house and bought an 1838 century+ farmhouse with the idea of restoring it. The small issue was that they had lifted the house and put in a brand-new basement but cut the electric and plumbing to do so, and it had not been fixed. So, we bought an ancient house we could not yet live in and needed a ton of work. Fortunately, the house also came with a small cottage on the property, 1.5 bedrooms, and we all lived there for 5 years, 2 adults, 3 kids, and 2 dogs. It was tight until we got far enough along to live in what we called ” the big house.” 19 years later, I am still working on fixing up the house.
For a long time, my wife didn’t actually drive, so at home, I was also the chauffer to almost everything from grocery shopping to driving her to clients for her business she was building, anywhere the kids needed to go, etc. So, I was extra tired! But then she finally decided to drive, and suddenly was everywhere. Her business also skyrocketed, and things were going very well.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My job title at the moment is Project Manager Production. I take the initial specifications of an event and bring it to life. From going through the order to ensure all the right equipment is on the order, sub-renting as necessary, communication with the client throughout the process, ensuring the right people are hired for the right job, ensuring we take the client’s vision and also stay within budgets, I work out travel arrangements, and once on site, lead the crew to setup everything properly and make everything look great.
I would like to think I am known for my easy demeanor, my steady calm during challenges, and my customer service skills. I also crack a lot of bad jokes to try to keep it light.
Because of my art and scenic background, I am also known for building 16′ guitars for a stage or designing stage looks that play to the crowd. I really try to ensure the clients get 110% bang for their buck. My goal is to be the only person they call for their next event.
I think I am most proud of seeing people around me succeed, and I hope that some of my efforts to assist are responsible.
I think the thing that might set me apart is that it’s not just a job or an event; I see it as part of a body of work, and I try to be diligent in maintaining the same level no matter how big or small an event might be. Some people look at the numbers and dismiss a lower potential profit as not worth their time, but I see it as a way to help the client grow to a higher level.
It’s the same with people, some don’t see a benefit to them for assisting people that might not be crucial to their own personal success, but you really don’t know if someone may be your own boss someday. It has happened to me throughout the years already. It really boils down to just be cool to everyone.
Contact Info:
- Website: 1-bruce-smith.pixels.com
- Instagram: @bruce.patrick.smith
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucesmith
