What rigging safety words would you Google?

[broadweigh]

Hi,

I hope I've posted to the right forum.

We're a company that provides load monitoring systems for people in the theatre industry that are rigging up equipment (lighting, sound, scenery etc...). This is vital hardware which lets the rigger know the current load of the rig, so as to prevent it from crashing down! I'm wanting to know: if you were interested in this product, what would you search for on Google? "rigging safety", "fly bar load rigging", "weigh scales for theatre scenery" etc...? I believe we offer a quality service to customers, but want to make sure that we appear on Google for relevant keywords.

 

I hope that this post is not misconstrued as advertising - believe me its not. I genuinely want to know what you guys would search for if you were looking for a weighing system that ensures rigging doesn't collapse. Ive posted in the Safety Forum becasue it's purpose is for safety.

 

Moderators: please dont delete this post, its not advertising, just a little research to help us offer a better service. If you think it belongs in another forum, feel free to move it.

 

Thanks

[paulears]

I guess

loler load cells sensors rigging

is a start?

 

I can't see many theatres being particularly interested as in practice, overloading isn't a big problem - because to a large degree, they're using counterweights, and not getting the stuff off the deck is the result of the weights supplied being wrong. I can see events being more interesting as they use power systems more often.

 

Obviously as theatre systems get replaced worth power systems it'll get more important, but from the limited info I have at the moment, most commisioned systems incorporate load cells into their designs.

 

I'd have thought that people looking for this kind of kit would be able to find it quite simply, the search phrase above brought a few useful starting points.

 

I'm not quite sure that

This is vital hardware which lets the rigger know the current load of the rig, so as to prevent it from crashing down!

Not something that in theatre I'm aware of.

 

Moderation: However, with my mod hat on - your username breaks our rules, and we really need your full name in the profile - send Bryson a PM with a replacement username, and I'm sure we'll be happy

[broadweigh]

Thanks Paulears. I was expecting to get slammed on this forum for my post. I did think about loler based words. Theatres is just one of the types of venues we cater for and we've done a few jobs now. I see this as being an expanding market. Ill PM you now.

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

How do I PM someone! Ive looked in the help and in the cp but cant find how to send a private message! Thanks.

 

Moderation: The easiest way to PM a Moderator or Admin is to go to the home page and look for 'The Moderating Team'. Click on that and you can see all our names with further information about us. To the right is a 'PM' button for each of us -just click on that. Only Admin can change usernames and Bryson is the first name on the list so quite easy to find. Hope that helps.

[son of lx dad]

I don't know if its patented but I would use the term "Load Cell"

[broadweigh]

I thought of "load cell", but feel that's too generic. The chances of someone searching for "load cell" and wanting a load cell device for measuring the weight of a sound rig is slim. Ive thought about incorporating it with other words - "load cells for rigging" etc..

[kitlane]

To be honest, I think you are underestimating the level of knowledge of your target market. If someone knows enough that they want to monitor a load then pretty much all of them will know what a load cell is. More to the point, what is your USP? Why is your wireless load cell system different to any other? Or why is yours more suitable for theatre than the others? If you can answer these questions then you will kow how to stand out in the crowd.

[Seano]

This is vital hardware which lets the rigger know the current load of the rig, so as to prevent it from crashing down!

Er... well, no, not really.

And to be honest, if a load cell system was *that* vital in a particular application I think many people would be reluctant to go with a battery powered wireless system in that case.

 

I guess

loler load cells sensors rigging

is a start?

I think I'd drop 'loler' from that list. Maybe:

"load cell", "weigh", "load monitor(ing)", "rigging"

and specific to these ones: "load pin", "shackle" and "wireless"

 

Also, would it be terribly cheeky to use "straightpoint" and "radio link" in web page headers?

I think they're probably the most commonly seen wireless load cells in our industry at the moment.* Clicky Maybe you could snag a bit of traffic from the competition. ;)

 

... because to a large degree, they're using counterweights

Quite. But there's a 'case study' on Broadweigh's website here: clicky

I can't make any sense of it at all. Is this a real case study Kelly? Really? I just can't see any benefit at all to using load cells with counterweight sets.

 

I'd agree that live music/events uses loadcells more often than theatre, and when they are used in theatre they tend to come hand in hand with more 'rock and roll' type techniques. (Motors, trussing, etc.. )

 

Speaking of which, if you don't mind some unsolicited advice: This "Wireless Stage & Rigging Monitoring" case study type thing, makes it very clear you don't (yet) know much about the entertainments/events industry at all. You've got the terminology ever so slightly wrong, and you seem to think all concerts happen outdoors. Honestly, it reads like the website of one of the teenage wannabes we occasionally see here, who style themselves as the CEO of a major bedroom dj hire company. Until you have more experience to base this kind of thing on, I think I'd be more interested in seeing something about Mantracourt's experience in other industries.

 

I thought of "load cell", but feel that's too generic. The chances of someone searching for "load cell" and wanting a load cell device for measuring the weight of a sound rig is slim.

I don't really see what's wrong with that - a load cell is a fairly generic kind of a thing. If I wanted to weigh a pa system a generic load cell is what I'd be looking for.

I wouldn't be looking for a sound system specific load cell because I know there's no such thing.

[ramdram]

On the safety issue...how much warning do you get before a failure of the entire structure? How would your shackles work in reverse? IE if a wind is threatening to lift the lid off an enclosure?

 

Our venue is a huge semi permanent tent open to a few feet the ground all round; the structural engineers did all the workings when the place went up and found the windage and snow loading on the canopy was the only significant force to worry about. They aligned the structure accordingly, so that the prevailing wind did not get under the canopy, and, adding steel rope to the significant rafters to cope with snow loading.

 

The point being that destructive forces are not always acting in concert with gravity...and what about shear forces say?

 

Ref your case studies, did the equipment your kit was fitted to actually fail, as in total destruction, before you were involved?

 

I suspect this is another case of technology looking for a home. You may have read other posts in the forum ref new technology. When we hear about the new stuff most folk adopt a very conservative attitude because a). it is bound to be expensive and b). we know very little about it. and c). sounds too good to be true.

 

This sometimes ends in an open invitation to the manufacturer to organise a demo to put his mic were his mouth is sort of thing.

 

So if you were to do similar and demonstrate cost savings (but on what though) over a shortish time span, then you might stand a chance of selling your kit.

 

(One caveat for you to consider, if it did work then you would suffer the ultimate flattery from our friends on the other side of the planet by copying your ideas/design and undercutting your prices.)

[son of lx dad]

The chances of someone searching for "load cell" and wanting a load cell device for measuring the weight of a sound rig is slim.

 

 

I would expect quite the opposite. I am a Lampy Crewchief working in the 'richer' end of the Entertainment Industry across quite a few of the genre, and "Load Cell" would be my first thought for how to search for these sorts of devices. Having looked at your website, I would agree with Seano (again) here, I don't think you quite know enough about your target audience.

[mac.calder]

One thing to keep in mind... The people who can actually interpret the data from a load cell correctly, are the people who know what a load cell is, and know that a load cell is what they want... Call a spade a spade... otherwise you will get customers who don't really understand the technology - and they are likely to use it in an unsafe manner, and likely to complain when it does not do everything they hope it will

[broadweigh]

Hi,

Slight delay in getting back to the forum.....but thanks very much for the responses received on the search term topics. Really useful and I can see we’re trying to over complicate the search terminology so thanks for the feedback.

 

Seano: I’m taking your comments on the chin about the website. Mantracourt has been supplying into the load cell industry for many years although the entertainment industry is new to us, as you spotted. That’s not to say we are new. Our core markets have been the lifting/weighing/process industries which we've supplied for over 30 years but loadcells span a multitude of industries. Our expertise is in signal processing and precision measurement which means we know how to get the most out of alot of different sensors and we understand the different aspects that go into dynamic loading applications, but usually in larger scales and larger shackles. The BroadWeigh system uses our second generation of wireless & battery powered strain measurement which has been used in food processing, tunnelling, ship building, cranes and structural monitoring. Users are settling on our system in part because of the long battery life and of course the cable free aspect which gives higher adaptability and system integrity e.g on building sites where power cables can often get cut, tripped over and ripped out. Appreciate your suggestions of Straightpoint and radio link – we might have heard of these systems!

 

Ramdram: the shackle system wouldn’t work in reverse but what is possible is to provide other load cells that can measure compression, shear or tension using the same wireless module and interfaces. We have wireless installations in building monitoring, bridges, and civil engineering applications integrated into inclinometers, vibration, temperature and displacement sensors. Also as far as we are aware the companies who have used our equipment have not had major failures, such as stages collapsing, but the system did offer the reassurance which seems to be a growing Health & Safety concern. In the case of the fly bar system it did make knowing when a bar had snagged far more apparent and also when loads were not equally distributed along the bar. On the case studies, they are real but with one obvious error as noticed here. The scenario was with a motor-driven system not a counter-weight. Our error there so thanks for highlighting it.

 

On the suggestion of an open mic invite, if this were ever to be offered we’d like to take part so would be interested to hear more. Also, we'd be really interested in setting up a system in a multi monitoring situation - ideally with PC interface requirements - if you're interested or could have a live site, please let us know.....

 

Thanks for listening and thanks for your time