---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2008 10:44:32 -0700
From: Alan M. Rowe <amrowe@...>
To: EntertainmentElectricity@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [EntertainmentElectricity] Re: ETCP Certification

I am very proud to say that I am one of those two opinionated film
industry guys that John mentioned. I feel the panel did an excellent
job addressing all of the concerns about representing the various
aspects of being an Entertainment Electrician. Everyone was concerned
with making the exam fair to all of the various groups of people
taking the exam and I feel that we were very successful. I believe
that this Certification represents the same level of knowledge &
competency when it is being held by a member of Local 1 (Broadway
Stagehands) as it does when being held by a member of Local 728
(Hollywood Studio Electrical Lighting Technicians) even though our
jurisdiction does not in any way overlap.

John was absolutely correct about the survey. The survey determined
what the professionals in the field felt made someone worthy of
certification. The topics that were mentioned (followspots, moving
lights, and ethernet) are used frequently on motion picture &
television sets and most likely were rated as such by the motion
picture people who took the survey. HMIs, while used frequently, are
more esoteric and were probably not rated as high as other potentially
more important topics of working on location.

Personally, I feel that anyone who becomes ETCP Certified proves not
only that they have a specific level of knowledge, but also that they
are motivated professionals who wish to be among the top people in
their craft. I would expect that any member of Local 728 who passes
this exam would have an advanced level of knowledge about HMIs,
SoftSuns, 480V power systems, and the other specialized tools that we
use. Consequently, I would expect any member of Local 1 would have an
advanced level of knowledge in the specialized tools that they use.
Not because they are on the exam, but because this person has proved
they are someone who excels at what they do and goes above & beyond
what is required.

I would like to point out that even though I have only mentioned
theatre & motion picture electricians, this Certification also equally
applies to people working in the industrial, special event and touring
aspects of our industry.

Just my "strong, very opinionated" feelings...

Alan

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
-----------
Alan M. Rowe
Safety & Training Director, IATSE Local 728 Studio Electrical Lighting
Technicians
ETCP Recognized Trainer; PADI Divemaster #192902 & Adventurer-At-Large
818-891-0728 (Local 728 Office)
818-843-0012 (Safety & Training Office)




On Mar 9, 2008, at 5:32 AM, John Huntington wrote:

> On Sun, Mar 9, 2008 at 12:02 AM, kellyjbritt <kbshark@...> wrote:
>> In the ETCP electrician handbook it states that this test is to
>> cover electricians that work on location (as well as stage hands).
>> The problem is that within the list of topics that this test covers,
>
> I was one of the 12 "subject matter experts" who wrote the test (there
> is at least one other on the email list too). There were two strong,
> very opinionated (in a good way!) film industry guys in the group--one
> from Hollywood and one from Toronto, each representing the unions
> there. They fought long and hard for inclusion of film-related
> questions and we all worked hard to make sure that questions didn't
> include any jargon that would have been unfair to any one industry
> segment.
>
> The group started by working up a very long list of every single thing
> we could possibly think of that involved working with electricity in
> entertainment. That list was released in survey form with the the
> goal of determining what people in the entire industry were actually
>>doing<, and some 800 people from across the industry (including a
> sizable portion from the film business--I don't recall the exact
> numbers but Ken Vannice would know) responded. The list was then
> ranked based on the results of the survey, and those tasks with low
> marks (meaning they were not being done that much on a day to day
> basis) were excluded. This whole process was run by a
> "pshycometrician" to make sure the test accurately represented what
> was being done in the industry (and not just what a bunch of people
>>thought< was being done), and was defensible in case of future
> challenges.
>
> It's my understanding that this survey process will be repeated when
> the test is revised, in order to reflect any changes in the industry.
>
> John
>
>



Entertainment Electricity Rules:

1) Be nice!
2) Stay on topic (electrical issues related to entertainment).
3) Don't take troll bait.
4) Think quality of posts, not quantity.

The moderators reserve the right to delete/ban anyone who doesn't follow these
simple rules.
Yahoo! Groups Links