{"id":806458,"date":"2020-04-16T12:36:50","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T18:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=984868"},"modified":"2020-04-16T12:36:50","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T18:36:50","slug":"how-100-live-events-companies-banded-together-to-become-pandemic-responders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/how-100-live-events-companies-banded-together-to-become-pandemic-responders\/","title":{"rendered":"How 100 Live Events Companies Banded Together to Become Pandemic Responders"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the COVID-19<\/a> pandemic first struck the live events industry and put all concerts, sports games, and other mass gatherings out of action, three production companies got together to figure out ways they could spend the downtime helping healthcare workers. Their efforts have quickly evolved into a nationwide coalition of thousands of event workers supplying essential supplies.<\/p>\n

Live for Life officially launched on Monday as a coalition of 90 participating companies<\/a>; by Thursday, that was up to 110. Before the pandemic began, all of the companies were helping prepare conferences and conventions, auto shows, music festivals and many other types of large-scale audience events \u2014 putting up tents, graphics and temporary structures. Now they\u2019re offering materials and manpower for 3D-printed medical devices, personal protection equipment parts, and building out larger infrastructure for temporary hospitals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we do on an everyday basis is plan and organize large scale events and experiences,\u201d George P. Johnson CEO Chris Meyer, one of the leaders of the coalition, tells Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cThat means using the tools, the processes, the training of our people \u2014 this is what we do. We just happen to do that at large-scale conferences or a festival or an auto show or sporting events. But the principles of planning and delivering and moving an event, all of that is transferrable to whatever the needs are.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Courtesy of Live for Life<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Planning began about three weeks ago. The coalition started with three live-event production companies \u2014 George P. Johnson, Exploring Inc., and Czarnowski \u2014 which specialize in production for large-scale events like music festivals, conference, and conventions and usually compete with one another. Seeking an outlet to keep employees working as their usual base of live events shut down, other companies were quick to sign on.<\/p>\n

Coalition members are already working on 40 to 50 projects across the country, organizers tell Rolling Stone<\/em>, including helping build the temporary hospital at the Javits Center in New York. Live For Life has frontline workers building out infrastructure where possible, and when that\u2019s not an option, it sends parts and engineering instructions to authorized workers like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The coalition has had preliminary discussions with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as FEMA for more national assistance, which could further down the line contribute toward more facilities like mass vaccination centers.<\/p>\n

The supplies these companies are producing now are a sharp departure from their day-to-day projects, but given how varied designs may be from one larger event to another, the shift is manageable. The most challenging shift for his team, says Czarnowski Vice President of Sales Nick Simonette, was designing PPEs like gowns and masks. Structures for temporary hospitals, he says, was more straightforward. \u201cWe use common materials in uncommon ways,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople are thinking creatively and critically, and that\u2019s fascinating to see.\u201d<\/p>\n