Time to Let the Cat Out of the Bag

It has been noticed by more than one person that I have been quiet since getting back from Colorado… Well, I have embarked on a new adventure and the time has finally come to make it public knowledge. I have registered the LLC, filed D.B.A paperwork, went through several drafts for boiler plate contracts, done market research, created a business plan, got drunk with my father while discussing the business plan, started a business bank account, secured the correct types of insurance, had a website built by SaltGlow Media, secured all of the social media handles, all while working as a third party contractor for another company…

So, without further ado, I am pleased to announce that DeLong Rigging Solutions (DRS) is a thing. We are offering both on-site and off-site consulting, rigging inspections, training, designing/problem solving, and third party crew supervision.

What the hell does all of that mean? I have spent most of the last 2 months figuring out exactly what DRS is. The entire premise is that there is a lack of qualified riggers out there answering questions and doing inspections without trying to sell you something. The priority at DRS is making sure our clients understand exactly what is going on with their systems. It doesn’t matter if you are just trying to figure out what the new sound is you hear when you’re bringing in your LX baton, or if you are doing an entire renovation of a theatre and rigging is Greek to you, we are here to help you.

DRS also does both level 1 and level 2 inspections in accordance with ANSI Standard E1.47-20. There are literally thousands of small theatres out there that either don’t know, or do know and think they can’t afford to have the required yearly level 1 inspection. We are going to reach out to these venues and not only offer our services, but educate them on the ANSI/ESTA standards so they are empowered to keep everyone in their facility safe.

As part of this commitment we offer custom training sessions at DRS. That’s right, we aren’t going to just give you a cut and paste training. We are going to train people on their systems in their venues. it doesn’t matter if they just need a refresher or if they have had a complete turn over and trained from scratch, DRS is ready to facilitate.

DRS is also ready for your hard to solve problems. Are conventional rigging methods failing you? Let us put our vast knowledge, collective 50+ years of experience on 5 continents, and love of “out of the box” thinking to work on it. Solutions is in our name because we are committed to collaboratively finding one with you.

Speaking of collaboration, DRS also offers third party supervision. Do you need oversight of and coordination for an install contractor, coordination/scheduling between a general contractor and a theatrical rigging subcontractor and/or direct supervision of local labor during either of these scenarios.  We have you covered. Have you ever had a moment when you realized that your team needed some outside support. It doesn’t matter if it’s a complex load in for a road show or a permanent installation that is more than it first seemed… We are more than happy to bring our experience running crews all over the world to your project and collaboratively guide your team to a successful completion of the project.

And now that you have all suffered through my informal sales pitch, here is the other reason I am so excited about this. I have partner in this endeavor. John DeLong, the man, the myth, the legend. The man who downplays his resume, and just happens to be my father, has agreed to come onboard. So now the company is run by not one, but two dual certified ETCP Riggers.

So, what are my next steps with this venture? Well the first thing is asking that all of you click at least one of the links above and check out the site. The more people who look at the site the easier it’ll be for search engines to find it. Once you’ve done that, go search for DeLong Rigging Solutions on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The final thing I’m asking people to do is make an introductions! I am about to hit the ground running on building up a client list, so if you know someone who runs a facility that has a theatre, send them my way. I am looking at schools, colleges, community theatres, regional theatres, road houses, if its a stage with some form of rigging, introduce them to me. I am also reaching out the various production companies in the region and making sure they know about our services. So I guess one could say my next step is to peddle my services and see where this goes.