Perry shares behind-the-scenes look at event management

Evan Perry, Chief Operating Officer at Advanced Production and Design (AP&D), an event management company, spoke to the students at Park View Middle School's Career Day about his job as a technical event coordinator. Perry explored how he arrived at the career he has chosen from his days as a middle school student when he initially thought he wanted to be a contractor who built houses. "When you walk into a room, 90 percent of people don't notice the technical things in the room, like the lighting," Perry said. "Ten percent notice those types of things. I notice those types of things. I like asking about those details." At Cranston High School West, Perry began running the technical portion of the theater shows while in his junior year, including working lighting and sound. He told the students about a theater rental for which he remembers setting up during his high school years for a hospital that was using the high school auditorium to show a video for business purposes.

"I set it up for them because I was part of the technical crew," he said. "Now they are clients of ours. I love that side of the business."

As Perry's high school years continued, he continued to love what he was doing in the technical theater world.

"I loved it more and more," he said. "I had this epiphany that I could use my building skills in the theater world. It became a passion for me. Music and sound had always been a passion for me. Now I employ 60 people in this company and music gets me through the day."

He described his day for the students.

"It's a 12 -to 24-hour day, about 90 hours a week," he said. "The people who work for me don't have those hours, but I work those types of hours so that they don't have to."

Perry attended college, but said that many of the people who work for him do not have a degree, but might have experiences needed to do the job.

"I learned theories in college, and I learned hands-on, on the job, by being there," he said. "We do the hands-on for what you've read about, and we need to read a lot to learn a lot. Going into college I already had a big knowledge base, which is almost better in this industry."

Perry's company does large-scale group events from weddings, to concerts, to college and corporate events, including work that takes place out on Nantucket.

"One of our jobs involved shutting down the road in downtown Providence, putting a stage in, managing a concert in the afternoon, working until 1:00 a.m., taking the stage down by 5:00 a.m. in a downpour, and doing it all within 24 hours," he said. "We had a crews of 40- 60 people in that time, all throughout the day."

He spoke about the importance of learning from one's mistakes.

"Every day we learn from our mistakes," he said. "For example, for our Nantucket shows, it's a three-hour truck ride to get to the boat, a three-hour boat ride and then 20 minutes to get there when we get off the boat. So if I forget something, that's a big problem. One time, I sent the guys to Nantucket without the keys. We have to learn from those kinds of mistakes. That was the $300 mistake that it cost me to send something that I forgot. Some mistakes are creative, and we can work with them."

At the end of the day, Perry loves his job.

"It's so rewarding when a client tells you that you have literally made their day, whether it's a bride or another kind of client," he said. "I love sitting behind the console, running the music for an event and watching it all taking place. So many people don't realize the work that goes into it, loading and unloading trucks, pushing boxes and putting things up and down, but I love every minute of it."

For more information about AP&D, visit their website: www.apadonline.com.