2007: A Year in Review
"2007 has been one of the most exciting and important years in our company's history", beams Owner and President, Brent Milton. "Our output in all areas, production, design/build, rentals, sales and repairs, had record breaking numbers this past year."
Milton explains that PacWest's success is a combination of working smarter while continually supporting a team of highly talented individuals. A focused level of strategic planning, coupled with ongoing employee training and development results in phenomenal accomplishments.
PacWest's Production and Installation teams continue to be key to the company's success.
Production
(Roll over pictures for a larger version.)
PacWest had a great year in the world of production, culminating with the New Year's Eve "Together As One" (TGA1) rave at the LA Sports Arena.
Jonathan Wright, (PacWest Production Manager), could hardly contain his enthusiasm as he described the new PacWest Adamson rig that made its debut at TGA1. "When you're doing sound for 30,000+ people, you gotta go big. And that's just what we did!" It was a boggling arsenal of audio, led by the 56 box Adamson Y-Axis speaker system. With over 400,000 watts of power and over 140 boxes total in the system's design, the show topped the charts for indoor events in North America.
"It was a big, (i.e. costly), decision for us to add Adamson to our current inventory", remarks Milton. "But it gives us yet another means of meeting the demands of contemporary artists." Milton has spent over 5 years researching and comparing manufacturers and proclaims that Adamson outperforms all the others, "hands down". PacWest currently has the largest inventory of Adamson in California. This, coupled with their continued expansion into video production, makes them pretty tough to beat.
Other production highlights from the past year include:
Installation
Chris Berendsen remains at the helm of the PacWest Installation team. When asked to describe 2007 in one word he said, "Intense". There was one stretch where he and his crew worked 75 straight days. They installed Valley Bible's 3,500 seat mega-church sanctuary with sound, lighting and video in addition to providing the acoustic design for the project. In that same stretch of time they worked with Riverlakes Church to install a sound system in their new sanctuary along with a complex 64 channel bi-directional Aviom snake system inter-connecting two buildings on their campus.
Without a moment's rest, PacWest won the bid for the Taft High School auditorium's sound system renovation. Working once again with the talented David Kennedy and Associates as the prime consultant, the unique design included a state of the art, over-under LCR speaker system. Other distinctive aspects of the design included; flushed in lip-fill speakers in the existing stage face and a completely digital signal path from the 48 channel digital console through the amplifiers.
Milton has taken his own skills to the next level in the area of Design/Build, by not only taking advanced courses in AutoCAD, but also by working with several consultants. "I'm constantly seeking out new mentors in this business. It's worth every dollar I invest to have another pro give me feedback on my work". Whether it's a business plan or an acoustical design, he has a team of people outside of PacWest he can rely on to challenge him to take even greater strides with his company.
The Year Ahead
2008 promises to be a big year on the PacWest front. From designing and installing sound systems for California's newest NASCAR track to The Bridge Bible Church, from providing production for Monster Massive to Amy Grant, there's never a dull moment at PacWest.