Sennheiser has launched a roadie competition – the Sennheiser StageMeister Contest at www.sennheiser-stagemeister.com – which offers entrants the opportunity to accompany a touring band as a roadie.
The competition is supported by Sennheiser subsidiaries and partners around the globe, who will provide practical training for the winners.
The competition, launched at the 2009 Winter NAMM show, first searches for a roadie from the USA and Canada before focusing on entrants from Europe during the second round in April.
The band that the North American roadie winner will accompany for a week during the 2009 summer festival season will be Simple Plan from Canada.
“We are delighted that Simple Plan finds this competition just as fascinating as we do,” said Susanne Seidel, president global marketing at Sennheiser. “For many, and especially for young people, being a roadie is their dream, and it’s great that we can give the winners the opportunity to gain some first-hand experience in this area after some intensive training.”
Entrants’ online applications, with a video or a photo, will have to convince the judges – made up of Sennheiser experts and Simple Plan’s production manager – why they would be the ideal candidate for the job of “part-time roadie.” The competition closes on March 31, after which date the jury will select the two most suitable candidates and invite them to a telephone interview that will decide the winner.
A two-day training session at Sennheiser in Canada or the USA will prepare the winner for the job with Simple Plan. The training program will include an introduction to RF technology, micing techniques, touring and production equipment, and a brief insight into “roadie lingo.”
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The future roadies will also be provided with a camera and a laptop so that they will be able to report on their experiences in a daily blog at www.sennheiser-stagemeister.com
Noted Jeff Stinco from Simple Plan: “This contest gives you the chance to test your newly-acquired skills on the road, with us and our technical crew. If you win, our techs will guide you through your work and show you how things really happen backstage. There’s a lot of magic that goes on behind the scenes of a good rock show. Don’t think you’re going on a holiday here; you have a lot of work ahead of you. We wouldn’t be able to play for thousands of fans year after year if we didn’t have such a great team supporting us thinking about every detail that makes a Simple Plan show happen. Good luck and we hope to see you backstage at one of our shows very soon.”
