Culture and Context:
Plugged in
By Susan Miller
Published on February 6, 2006 - 03:51 AM
The Wall Street Journal’s free feature for Monday, "Who Ya Gonna Call With Email Trouble From the Tour Bus?" describes the tech support staff who travel with rock stars. Most of the techies cited in the article work for Geek Squad, a chain of tech support offices now owned by Best Buy. As you might imagine, the pay is low, the work not very demanding (X-Box hook ups, email fixes, network connections), but the chance to run with the rich and famous makes it worthwhile for these geeks, at least for now.
The bottom of the WSJ article acknowledges that while the stars may not be up to speed with technology, the production crew certainly is.
David Lemmink, a computer engineer for Nocturne Productions in DeKalb, Ill., travels with Bon Jovi's "Have a Nice Day" world tour. His duties include getting Jon Bon Jovi and his crew high-speed wireless Internet while on the tour bus and in arenas and making sure the onstage video screens are working properly.
"Backstage used to be a party, but now it's a business," says Mr. Lemmink, who has also helped Paul McCartney, Don Henley and Stevie Nicks with their technology needs.
I don’t remember seeing much at all about tech support for the government superstars – the President and cabinet officers, but it’s got to be at least as demanding, even if the sets and lights are unimaginative and the costumes are, well, not. Nevertheless, but the schedule is just as grueling and the tech effects critical. It’s funny to think that GW Bush and Dick Cheney, not to mention all the Blackberry-toting feds and contractors, are more wired than Mick Jagger.
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