Category: Support BTS

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ETC’s iRFR and aRFR Apps – Caring for Your Colleagues

ETC’s iRFR and aRFR Apps – Caring for Your Colleagues

ETC presented Behind the Scenes with a check during LDI for $26,493 representing proceeds from sales of the company’s iRFR and aRFR (Radio Focus Remote) applications. Since the launch of the iRFR in 2009, ETC’s mobile app sales have now generated over $465,000 in donations.

The iRFR and aRFR mobile apps enable convenient, touchscreen-based remote control for Eos family consoles and controllers. You can learn more about the apps from the ETC website and download them from the iTunes or Google Play stores. 

Upon presenting the check, David Lincecum, Vice President of Marketing for ETC, stated, “Taking care of each other has always been part of ETC’s culture. Having this corporate value so closely aligned with Behind the Scenes is a big reason why ETC employee owners are honored to be able to support their peers in this way. This is a true investment in our industry, our family, our friends and our future.”

Tobin Neis accepted the check along with other members of the Behind the Scenes Board of Directors. Tobin commented, “It’s hard to find the words to convey how grateful we are to the employee owners of ETC for their incredible support of the charity over the years. Their care and concern for both the physical and mental well-being of their industry colleagues speaks volumes about the people they are and the culture of the company. Recognizing the human toll this industry takes and actively doing something about it sets an example for companies of every size to follow.”

Learn more about joining the Pledge-of-Support Program by naming a product or service to support the charity.

 

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Celebrate the Seasons with BTS

Celebrate the Seasons with Behind the Scenes

Decorate Your Home for the Holidays and Help Your Colleagues in Need

From Halloween through Christmas and Hannukah, add some unique holiday decorations to your home this year and support your colleagues who are seriously ill or injured as well as the BTS Mental Health and Suicide Prevention initiative. These ornaments have been generously made and donated to Behind the Scenes by Mike and Sue Wood, so every penny goes directly to helping your colleagues in need.

Individual acrylic inserts are now available for the portable mini LED ghostlight so you can celebrate the holidays in style. Choose from the iconic ghostlight, the pumpkin ghostlight for Halloween, the autumnal Cornucopia ghostlight for Thanksgiving, the Hanukkah menorah ghostlight, or the Christmas tree ghostlight. Purchase your first unit with the base and remote control and then stock up on inserts so you can complement the season. It couldn’t be easier to change out the acrylic inserts.

We also have an array of ghostlight and industry-themed ornaments to decorate your tree. Have cutouts of your favorite tools hanging on your tree by choosing from a crescent wrench, shackle, paintbrush or scissors as well as holiday designs. Available in 3” round acrylic disks in red or clear. There’s also a BTS ghostlight and a garlanded Christmas tree with a ghostlight star etched on clear acrylic.

LED night lights are available in multi color or solid blue with your choice of a ghostlight, Christmas tree with ghostlight star, or Star of David.

The holidays are just around the corner so don’t delay and add some holiday cheer to your home today! And while you’re there, check out the BTS Holiday Cards, created by industry designers specially for the charity, available in card packs of 10 and as e-cards.

Click here to order your holiday decorations now!

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Spread Cheer with BTS Holiday Cards

Spread Cheer and Help with BTS Holiday Cards

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The 2021 Behind the Scenes Holiday Cards are on sale now at the BTS Boutique. It’s important to let family, friends and colleagues know you are thinking of them and these unique holiday cards say it perfectly. They are also a personal and inexpensive way for a company to keep in touch with its customers and let them know “We are here and you are important to us.”

Sending a BTS holiday card helps spread the word about the charity and lets your recipients know you are supporting industry colleagues who are ill or injured as well as the BTS Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Initiative.

Cards are available in a variety of options: card packs of 10 with a standard greeting, personalized cards with a company logo and custom message, and electronic cards in multiple file formats and an array of price points starting at just $20.

This year’s cards feature an eclectic mix of new designs by Elektra Buhalis, Maureen Freedman, Ola Krazspulska, Robert Mendoza and India Smith. We’re also bringing back one of our all-time favorite designs by Melissa Pfeiffer.

Orders for printed cards will be taken until September 30, 2021 to arrive by late November. Electronic card orders will be taken until December 17th. View and order cards at www.behindthescenescharity.org/holidaycards.

Click here to order your cards

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ETC’s iRFR and aRFR Apps – Continuing Fred’s Legacy of Caring

ETC's iRFR and aRFR Apps – Continuing Fred Foster's Legacy of Caring

Kate Foster presents a check to BTS Board Members Rick Rudolph and Tobin Neis

Continuing Fred Foster’s legacy of caring for entertainment technology professionals in need, ETC presented Behind the Scenes with a check during USITT for $14,937.81, representing the most recent proceeds from the company’s iRFR and aRFR (Radio Focus Remote) applications. Since the launch of the iRFR in 2009, ETC’s mobile app sales have now generated almost $370,000 in donations.

The iRFR and aRFR mobile apps enable convenient, touchscreen-based remote control for Eos family consoles and controllers. You can learn more about the apps from the ETC website and download them from the iTunes or Google Play stores. 

“Behind the Scenes provides great relief to members of the extended entertainment production industry family who are dealing with financial hardship due to injury and illness,” said Kate Foster, ETC’s marketing scenic designer, upon presenting the check on the USITT show floor. “We at ETC are proud that our app sales can continue to support their efforts.”

These funds come at a critical time for the charity, which is experiencing a significant increase in applications for assistance, with many from individuals in extremely dire circumstances. “We are seeing so many individuals with medical bills that have wiped out their savings, and their inability to work due to illness or injury means they can’t cover even the most basic expenses such as rent and utilities,” commented Rick Rudolph, Chair of Behind the Scenes.

Upon accepting the check, Rick expressed the Foundation’s deep gratitude for ETC’s ongoing commitment to its mission, “Fred was our champion from the earliest days of the charity, as he immediately understood the need for it, and we are so grateful that the entire ETC organization has become such a strong supporter. By showing others the care and respect Fred showed them they are carrying on his legacy and creating a lasting memorial.

Members of the Foundation Board of Directors also updated Kate about the recent scholarship awarded in Fred’s honor. The Fred Foster Scholarships help children of grant recipients continue their educations despite their families’ financial hardships. In Leena’s case, her father’s diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia and subsequent bone marrow transplant left him unable to work and to keep up with basic expenses. That meant the family couldn’t afford her tuition so she could complete her last year of nursing school. Behind the Scenes paid her tuition bill so she could.

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The LRLR Raise Funds at USITT Raffle

The Long Reach Long Riders Raise Funds at USITT Raffle

The Long Reach Long Riders (LRLR) celebrated their upcoming ride with a raffle and live auction to benefit Behind the Scenes during the USITT Stage Expo last week in Louisville, KY. A myriad of activities including sales of raffle tickets, a live and silent auction, challenge grants, swag sales, and sales of Neal Preston’s books, posters and prints raised over $18,000 for the charity. The LRLR 2019 ride, dubbed the Altimeter Tour, starts on July 7th in Denver Colorado. The riders cover all their own expenses so everything they raise goes to the charity. Sponsor a rider today at www.behindthescenescharity.org/lrlr.

The booth featured a display of some of The Lightpower Collection’s iconic photographs by Neal Preston including those of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Robert Plant, Bob Marley, Ray Charles and others. Neal’s books “In the Eye of the Rock’n’Roll Hurricane” and “Exhilarated and Exhausted” and posters of some of his most famous images were also available for sale.

Raffle festivities led off with the traditional kazoo parade led by Bill Sapsis and Eddie Raymond (yes, they were the T-Rex’s), and many of the LRLR. Following the parade, BTSPledge-a-Product partners ETC (irFR and aRFR application for iOS and Android devices), ACT Lighting (The dot2 Series of Lighting Control Solutions from MA Lighting) and InCord (Theatrical Safety Netting Systems) presented checks from the sales of their products pledged to BTS.

Live auction items included a hand-tooled seam ripper and serving tray created by Shan and Trish Ayers, a special pack of Amberient’s industry trading cards which included a signed Richard Pilbrow Rookie card, and a hand crafted pen and pencil set donated by Indianapolis Stage in association with Penchant4.com. Amberient also held a silent auction in their booth throughout the show featuring custom furniture made from old lighting equipment including a recliner made from a Kliegl Dyna-Beam. Bob Scales’ ever popular ghostlights were sold out by the end of the show.

Bill Sapsis (Sapsis Rigging) and Reid Neslage (H&H Specialties) announced their challenge grant to the crowd just before the raffle began and the attendees ponied up to make sure they had to pay.

The winners and their prizes are:

  • Grand Prize, Vectorworks Spotlight with Renderworks won by Matthew Easley
  • BTS Ghostlight from Altman Rentals won by Sara Gable
  • $250 American Express Gift Card from Barbizon won by Christian McKinney
  • Prostar 300lb capacity 115 volt, 10ft lift with chain bag won by Carolyn Satter
  • Event Safety Summit 2019 Registration from Event Safety Alliance won by Jennifer Estremera
  • Nespresso CitiZ Espresson Machine with Milk Frother won by Paul Winnick
  • Stagehands Dream Kitfrom Monkey Wrench Productions won by Kim Pelle
  • $250 Gift Certificate to musson.com from Musson Theatrical won by Alexi Carlson
  • $250 Gift Certificate from Sapsis Rigging won by Heather Brown
  • USITT 2019 Full Conference Registration from USITT won by John Mitchell

Special thanks go to USITT for making our presence at the show possible; to The Lightpower Colllection, Neal Preston, Giulia Calani and Shepard for making the exhibition of Neal’s work possible;  to Moe Conn, Kim Craigie, Mark and Alison Heiser, Alice Neff, Greg Williams, and Bill Sapsis, for their invaluable help; to the donors of our fabulous prizes; and to all who bought raffle tickets, auction items, and swag.

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ACT Lighting Supports BTS Through Pledge-a-Product Program

ACT Lighting Supports BTS Through Pledge-a-Product Program

ACT Lighting, a Behind the Scenes Pledge-a-Product Partner, demonstrated their support for their colleagues in need by presenting a $5,000 check to the charity at the recent USITT show. The donation reflects proceeds from the sales of the dot2 series of lighting control solutions from MA Lighting. The dot2 range consists of the lighting consoles: core, XL-F, XL-B; playback expansion wings: F-wing and B-wing; the Node4 1K network output node; onPC console software; and 3D visualization software. Designed for small and mid-sized projects and venues, dot2 offers advanced functionality with outstanding ease-of-use. Full tracking backup is available via plug and play networking. Learn more about the dot2 Series.

Upon presenting the check, Darius Seabaugh, Sr. VP of Marketing – ACT stated, “We are thrilled to be able to take part in contributing to such an important initiative for our industry. We hope this contribution will help those families of entertainment technology professionals in their time of need.”

Behind the Scenes Board member, Tobin Neis, accepted the check saying, “Behind The Scenes greatly appreciates ACT Lighting for their donation to BTS to help industry technicians in time of crisis, these ongoing donations help the charity to make a difference and that’s pretty wonderful.”