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You must be a bass player

Beej

Beej

Supporting Member
Feb 10, 2007
14,269
28,556
Vancouver Island
#1
So I had a somewhat important presentation yesterday at work, and since it was not in our own building, and involved some local political players, I prepared a lot of things. The political players really only meant that there was oversight at a level where critical feedback on our presentation would shine a negative light on our organization, but there was still pressure to get it right.

I was confident in our content and knew the presentation itself would be fine, but I had no idea what the room setup would be, so I brought my laptop bag with cords, etc. Plus a 50' extension cord, portable flip-chart, portable projection screen and a box with sticky notes, paper, paper copies of the presentation (in case power was a no-go), markers, and pens so people could write in the break-out session.

I showed up 30 minutes early to set up, and laid my stuff on the table at the front. The room was actually pretty well set up and I didn't need about 80% of what I brought. One of our executives that I don't know very well came in early too and came over to visit and glad-hand me. He commented on how much stuff I had and I told him I didn't know the room so wanted to be prepared. He said "You must be a bass player!" with a big grin.

I told him I am in fact a bass player and he admitted he plays as well, but not currently in a band. We laughed about how you can tell a bass player by the over-preparedness for a 'gig'. Nice little bonding moment, and now I'm hoping I may have some hidden executive support for my programs... :D
 
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#3
Beej said:
So I had a somewhat important presentation yesterday at work, and since it was not in our own building, and involved some local political players, I prepared a lot of things. The political players really only meant that there was oversight at a level where critical feedback on our presentation would shine a negative light on our organization, but there was still pressure to get it right.

I was confident in our content and knew the presentation itself would be fine, but I had no idea what the room setup would be, so I brought my laptop bag with cords, etc. Plus a 50' extension cord, portable flip-chart, portable projection screen and a box with sticky notes, paper, paper copies of the presentation (in case power was a no-go), markers, and pens so people could write in the break-out session.

I showed up 30 minutes early to set up, and laid my stuff on the table at the front. The room was actually pretty well set up and I didn't need about 80% of what I brought. One of our executives that I don't know very well came in early too and came over to visit and glad-hand me. He commented on how much stuff I had and I told him I didn't know the room so wanted to be prepared. He said "You must be a bass player!" with a big grin.

I told him I am in fact a bass player and he admitted he plays as well, but not currently in a band. We laughed about how you can tell a bass player by the over-preparedness for a 'gig'. Nice little bonding moment, and now I'm hoping I may have some hidden executive support for my programs... :D
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That’s awesome - how random!
I guess us knuckleheads share more common traits than we know.
 
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#5
Beej said:
So I had a somewhat important presentation yesterday at work, and since it was not in our own building, and involved some local political players, I prepared a lot of things. The political players really only meant that there was oversight at a level where critical feedback on our presentation would shine a negative light on our organization, but there was still pressure to get it right.

I was confident in our content and knew the presentation itself would be fine, but I had no idea what the room setup would be, so I brought my laptop bag with cords, etc. Plus a 50' extension cord, portable flip-chart, portable projection screen and a box with sticky notes, paper, paper copies of the presentation (in case power was a no-go), markers, and pens so people could write in the break-out session.

I showed up 30 minutes early to set up, and laid my stuff on the table at the front. The room was actually pretty well set up and I didn't need about 80% of what I brought. One of our executives that I don't know very well came in early too and came over to visit and glad-hand me. He commented on how much stuff I had and I told him I didn't know the room so wanted to be prepared. He said "You must be a bass player!" with a big grin.

I told him I am in fact a bass player and he admitted he plays as well, but not currently in a band. We laughed about how you can tell a bass player by the over-preparedness for a 'gig'. Nice little bonding moment, and now I'm hoping I may have some hidden executive support for my programs... :D
Click to expand...

Great story! Please accept my expression of respect. Regardless of being a bass player, you are a PRO.

This is how I would approach the same situation, especially if I couldn't visit the room first, scout it for screen size and aspect ratio, AV equipment and power sources. Very few people would. But a true Pro does.

Salute!

large960_blur-2007b91f85ae4ffe9745f815d4fbe931.jpg
 
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#6
Pilgrim said:
Great story! Please accept my expression of respect. Regardless of being a bass player, you are a PRO.

This is how I would approach the same situation, especially if I couldn't visit the room first, scout it for screen size and aspect ratio, AV equipment and power sources. Very few people would. But a true Pro does.

Salute!

View attachment 3686379
Click to expand...
:D It only takes one time of being unprepared to motivate one to start preparing for the next one... :thumbsup:
 
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#7
We have a rep from a company that comes in about once every 6 weeks.... he's a nice guy and we talk about music and concerts we've been to / going to - he's very lucky because he knows someone who works for the local council and is able to get concert tickets for free.
anyway he's been coming in for a few years now and only recently just found out I played in a band.... "Wow that's cool - you must be a bass player"? ...... apparently I 'look' like a bass player
 
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#8
Beej said:
So I had a somewhat important presentation yesterday at work, and since it was not in our own building, and involved some local political players, I prepared a lot of things. The political players really only meant that there was oversight at a level where critical feedback on our presentation would shine a negative light on our organization, but there was still pressure to get it right.

I was confident in our content and knew the presentation itself would be fine, but I had no idea what the room setup would be, so I brought my laptop bag with cords, etc. Plus a 50' extension cord, portable flip-chart, portable projection screen and a box with sticky notes, paper, paper copies of the presentation (in case power was a no-go), markers, and pens so people could write in the break-out session.

I showed up 30 minutes early to set up, and laid my stuff on the table at the front. The room was actually pretty well set up and I didn't need about 80% of what I brought. One of our executives that I don't know very well came in early too and came over to visit and glad-hand me. He commented on how much stuff I had and I told him I didn't know the room so wanted to be prepared. He said "You must be a bass player!" with a big grin.

I told him I am in fact a bass player and he admitted he plays as well, but not currently in a band. We laughed about how you can tell a bass player by the over-preparedness for a 'gig'. Nice little bonding moment, and now I'm hoping I may have some hidden executive support for my programs... :D
Click to expand...

Guilty!
 
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#11
Hi,

Beej said:
So I had a somewhat important presentation yesterday at work, and since it was not in our own building, and involved some local political players, I prepared a lot of things. The political players really only meant that there was oversight at a level where critical feedback on our presentation would shine a negative light on our organization, but there was still pressure to get it right.

I was confident in our content and knew the presentation itself would be fine, but I had no idea what the room setup would be, so I brought my laptop bag with cords, etc. Plus a 50' extension cord, portable flip-chart, portable projection screen and a box with sticky notes, paper, paper copies of the presentation (in case power was a no-go), markers, and pens so people could write in the break-out session.

I showed up 30 minutes early to set up, and laid my stuff on the table at the front. The room was actually pretty well set up and I didn't need about 80% of what I brought. One of our executives that I don't know very well came in early too and came over to visit and glad-hand me. He commented on how much stuff I had and I told him I didn't know the room so wanted to be prepared. He said "You must be a bass player!" with a big grin.

I told him I am in fact a bass player and he admitted he plays as well, but not currently in a band. We laughed about how you can tell a bass player by the over-preparedness for a 'gig'. Nice little bonding moment, and now I'm hoping I may have some hidden executive support for my programs... :D
Click to expand...

This is most excellent! As bass players and IT geeks, you make us proud. :)


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
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#13
I've always been well-prepared, at least on most occasions.
Anything that requires a consumable will have that consumable in standby at all times.

Printers require ink & I have enough for 3 changes.
Stringed instruments require strings, so I have at least one spare set for every instrument I own.

For a while I was redundant about everything, two amps, two basses, two instrument cables, two capos (that I only use or neck-relief), two tuners, etc., etc., ad nauseam.
right now my backup amp is my computer however, since I have a USB interface & AmpliTube
 
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#14
I have some of my basses hanging on the wall in my home office. I've forgotten to redirect the camera during a few video calls so they have been visible. I'll get a few questions about "the guitars behind me," but on one meeting, after introducing myself, I had a customer say "Let's move forward with this - I trust this guy!" His coworker asked why, when they hadn't heard any details about our product. The response?

"Because he's a bass player."
 
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#15
McG said:
That would be me too. Backups for everything and some backups for backups. I even keep a capo in my bag for the all-too-often times one of the guitarists can't find theirs. :laugh:
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Reminds me the days I used to take a pair of brushes in my double bass bag after my drummer came to a gig with sticks and hot rods only...
 
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