Dear Show Support Clients and Friends,
Green shoots are appearing through our industry-wide shut down announced on Friday 13th of March. There could be more, of course, but where there’s life, there’s hope. No doubt we’ve all missed the truck packs, 2am starts and lecky tape stuck to our shoes.
Show Support would like to take this opportunity to send well-wishes and thanks to all of our clients for their custom in the past and future. Our appreciation knows no bounds and we pledge to work tirelessly to serve our client’s needs. We’ve all been hit hard but, as always, SHS is behind our clients 100%.
JobKeeper
Show Support has maintained around 50 key personnel thanks to the Federal Government’s JobKeeper package, without which much of the talent built up over the past 15 years may have been lost. Fortunately, all of our main Showies have elected to stay within the industry they love, a testament to their steadfast nature.
In addition to the keepers, we have many Crew Members itching to return to the fray like greyhounds at the slips. Our core leadership team, comprising Operations (Ops), the SHS Joint Safety Committee, Section Managers, Field Managers, Crew Chiefs, Squad Leaders and Crew Members has been retained for the recovery now underway.
Show Support Nationwide
Show Support assists our clients in every state and territory of Australia with skilled and motivated teams of Covid-safe, licensed and inducted industry specialists, which is great news for those unable to travel interstate, yet in need of qualified events professionals to competently set up and run shows in their absence. For any interstate work, reach out to Ops to take your bookings and assign a Section Manager to oversee the account.
COVID-Safe
In all matters WHS, Show Support is vigilant. Covid-safety is no exception. Our mission is to excel at Covid-safety, a fact being drummed into all of our Crew Members with a culture of compliance with new rules. Our Showies are keen as mustard to get back to work and they know what it takes to get there.
Show Support crew have been working onsite in branded SHS face masks for several months now, a visible sign of dedication to our client’s safety. Showies are inducted in the SHS Infections Control Policy P045 (11 March) and have Certificates of Covid-safety in the Workplace. Now is not the time to risk engaging subcontractors non-compliant in Covid-safety.
Saints and Immortals
A new honour has been created to recognise the outstanding efforts of renowned Showies in 2020 – SHS Sainthood. Key personnel were canonized at a Covid-safe ceremony in April at the same time as this year’s procession of SHS Immortals was ordained.
Pictured above (L-R) St Wayne, Immortal May, Immortal Matty J, St David, St Augustine, St Benjamin, St Alexander and St Richard.
Squad Formation
The integrity of Show Support’s leadership structure has been maintained. Colour-coded SHS Squads assist our clients to manage their onsite operations. On larger shows, SHS Crew Chiefs are designated by a black-tipped SHS Safety Vest. Squad Leaders are conspicuous in blue-tipped safety vests, each leading a contingent of Crew Members wearing standard orange safety vests. For example: on a 16-person crew, Ops may assign 1 Crew Chief and 3 Squad Leaders each managing 5 Crew Members. This allows our clients to easily run teams at a glance and improves those team’s efficiency. Instead of picking out 5 ‘volunteers’ for a task, clients may simply enlist the aid of the nearest squad leader with Crew Members dutifully in tow, eager to complete any tasks required of them. SHS squad formations prevent experienced Crew members from forming a social group while juniors flounder leaderless. Squads provide a clear chain of communication with the most experienced crew leading their own squads under the direction of the Crew Chief / client.
Presentation and safety are core values of every SHS Crew Member. Having the uniformed presence of corporate SHS Crew in colour coded squads certainly sets our clients apart and reflects well on them with their end clients.
PPE and Tools
Regular Showies are provided with rigging safety helmets, 19:24 podgers and a belt frog, a shifter, multitools and branded Klever Kutters, all of which are for sale and immediate dispatch via the SHS merchandise store.
As has been the case for 15 years now, Showies present to work with their steel capped safety boots, vests, hard hats and their SHS Waist packs brimming with tools. There is nothing more frustrating than hearing a loader mumble about their tools being in their bag as they shuffle to the loading dock while a Showie diligently unbolts 15 sticks of truss in the meantime.
Our beloved SHS clients have been prepping gigs with great care, sometimes for months, even years. They don’t want to have to worry about small details such as whether their crew will have tools on their person. This is one of the reasons the best production companies in Australia use Show Support nationally. Each quality SHS Waist Pack costs around $35.00 wholesale, yet SHS provides them gratis to all regular Crew Members as a commitment to our client’s success.
Pictured above (in blue) – SHS NFM St Benjamin Albrecht
Labour Hire Licensed
Show Support is a licensed labour hire provider in all states currently requiring licenses.
Megacrew Budget Labour
Our sister company Megacrew is available for those occasions when crew on a budget is required. Fast quotes can be provided for projects of any size, with discounts offered for larger crews. Megacrew aims to beat any quote for entertainment labour hire and is also a licensed labour provider in all states that require such certifications. Covid-marshalls and deep cleaning staff can be sourced through Megacrew. Savvy clients can choose the cheapest industry-specific crew, or the best, or a combination of both.
Personnel Manager Employment Software
Please download the PM CLIENT App β Personnel Manager Client App β (formerly CrewGo App) which can be found on the App Store and Google Play to make bookings, view your upcoming shifts, observe the map location of your Showies, assign them tasks, share photos and rate them. Your feedback is vital in assisting us to assist you. The GPS location of staff provides clients with real time visibility and can be referenced in retrospect for contact tracing. Any company requiring a complete employment platform including a GPS solution for their staff and visitors, please contact Personnel Manager or Ops for a software demo. PM software has been around for 14 years and integrates with Rental Point, MYOB and XERO and has PM Client and PM Crew Apps now with push notification job offers and confirmations.
Safety Inductions
The Personnel Manager Day Sheet contains a digital timesheet that allows crew, Crew Chiefs and clients to edit and approve times and view Crew GPS. The Day Sheet also contains an automated Safety Induction with mobile responsive Toolbox Talk, Venue Details, reported safety issues, PPE required (per skill), multiple SWMS (per skill), WHS policies and procedures. SHS crew can access and accept their WHS responsibilities from within their Crew Portal with ease.
Crew Chiefs can perform group inductions and upload a photo straight into their mobile phones, simplifying the compliance process. A mobile responsive Site Inspection with pre-filled venue details ensures the safety of crew and provides a record of inspections. All users can report incidents and hazard alerts with dates, venue info, names and DOBs pre-filled. Because these safety features are built into the PM rostering system, all venue details and crew lists are pre-filled, meaning crew can spend more time working and less time entering data. Best of all, a reminder email is automatically sent 45 mins prior to the shift start time allowing users to authenticate directly into the Day Sheet and / or Venue Inspection with one click.
CrewGo Shopping and Delivery
Operations can also assist with any shopping or deliveries you may need via our partner agency CrewGo in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Imagine on call production runners, dedicated drivers ready to purchase and deliver anything you need (that can fit in their car) or transport packages more cheaply and faster than express couriers. If you are stuck operating a show and need someone to buy a power board or guitar plectrum or VB cord, or anything from retail stores, and deliver quickly, then use CrewGo’s Shopping form for a free quote or booking. Also if you need some microphones or an IEC cable or gripples, or similar, suddenly brought from your warehouse to site, then use the CrewGo Delivery form. Receipts, driver tracking and messaging / calls are all available in-app. CrewGo drivers have been delivering uniforms and supplies to Showies onsite.
Stay in Touch Anytime
Please call 1300973016 anytime of the day or night to discuss how Show Support can best assist you during the national road to recovery and beyond. Feel free to pick up the phone just for a friendly chat anytime and / or to make bookings by phone. Book SHS by email, Facebook, Insta or even carrier pigeon.
All artwork as usual is by artist extraordinaire, part time Showie and full time legend, Charlie Holmes.
Finally, SHS would like to warmly congratulate lifetime Showie, Immortal Dominik Feldsien and his lovely bride Mary on their recent marriage.
Kind Regards,
SHSMD St David Neil