As someone from the business you want to get into, my first instinct is to tell you that you really don't want to tour, it's too much work, you'll hate it...blah blah blah. It's rather common for people in this business to say that kind of stuff, kinda to puff themselves up really, and I've been known to do it, but I'm just warning you now, that you will probably here that type of argument from people in the business.
Secondly, what experience do you have in this field? Although I don't know what you'll be doing (there certainly is an increased need for IT guys out there, but that's a whole other story) make sure you know what you're getting into. Being a fan of Almost Famous doesn't count. Seriously though, if you get a chance, see if you can do some shows, and some work for the band, doing what you'll be doing on the road for some one off or local shows before committing to a tour.
There are several sites on the web, including forums, dedicated to the field of touring and event production. At least 3 come to mind right away. I would highly recommend checking several of them out, and becoming a member there. The advice could be priceless. (Buy socks for example...more than you think you would ever use...don't clean em, just buy em)
But really, if you wanna do it, just do it. You'll learn, and you could even show an experienced roaddog a trick or two. Nothing will quite make up for the experience, but you definitely want to prepare yourself for it as best as possible.
-Mikey P
I don't have a lot of experience with any manufacturers other than Kyocera, but my experience is that they do have phones to meet most needs out there. They may not have a phone for all networks and standards out there, but here in the US, there CDMA products are quite reliable.
For starters, the Kyocera 2235, descended of the 2135, descended of the Qualcomm 2035, a very reliable phone. I have seen 2035s out there over 4 years old still in use today, without a single problem from their owners. I myself used a 2135 for over a year with no complaint....I just wanted a better phone hence the purchase of a Kyocera 7135 shortly after my provider made them available.
Yes, the Palm Pilot phone. I can't say enough good things about this phone. For all the troubles I've had trying to remember to carry my Palm, this phone is better than I imagined it. Being able to have one on me at all times has more than doubled my Palm useage. Not to mention the concept of being able to run custom apps on your cell phone. Syncing the phone backs up not only the Palm files, but all phone related material as well, including the recent calls, and all phone preferences.
Not to mention there is a windows app available to convert.mp3 files to new ringers and system sounds. I could even upload a different tune for each person in my phone book. The phone also has an external display for caller id, so opening the phone to see who's calling is not necessary.
One of the major issues that I've observed in the cell phone/provider consumer reputation area is that customers tend to blame their service problems on the hardware, when their provider's network is insufficient. (I live in a rural area and this is still a huge issue here.) The customers tend to purchase new hardware which continues to perform poorly and blame the hardware.
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Marconi invented the radio? Sure as long as Bill Gates sold the first operating system for the Intel microprocessor.
As someone from the business you want to get into, my first instinct is to tell you that you really don't want to tour, it's too much work, you'll hate it...blah blah blah. It's rather common for people in this business to say that kind of stuff, kinda to puff themselves up really, and I've been known to do it, but I'm just warning you now, that you will probably here that type of argument from people in the business. Secondly, what experience do you have in this field? Although I don't know what you'll be doing (there certainly is an increased need for IT guys out there, but that's a whole other story) make sure you know what you're getting into. Being a fan of Almost Famous doesn't count. Seriously though, if you get a chance, see if you can do some shows, and some work for the band, doing what you'll be doing on the road for some one off or local shows before committing to a tour. There are several sites on the web, including forums, dedicated to the field of touring and event production. At least 3 come to mind right away. I would highly recommend checking several of them out, and becoming a member there. The advice could be priceless. (Buy socks for example...more than you think you would ever use...don't clean em, just buy em) But really, if you wanna do it, just do it. You'll learn, and you could even show an experienced roaddog a trick or two. Nothing will quite make up for the experience, but you definitely want to prepare yourself for it as best as possible. -Mikey P
I don't have a lot of experience with any manufacturers other than Kyocera, but my experience is that they do have phones to meet most needs out there. They may not have a phone for all networks and standards out there, but here in the US, there CDMA products are quite reliable. For starters, the Kyocera 2235, descended of the 2135, descended of the Qualcomm 2035, a very reliable phone. I have seen 2035s out there over 4 years old still in use today, without a single problem from their owners. I myself used a 2135 for over a year with no complaint....I just wanted a better phone hence the purchase of a Kyocera 7135 shortly after my provider made them available. Yes, the Palm Pilot phone. I can't say enough good things about this phone. For all the troubles I've had trying to remember to carry my Palm, this phone is better than I imagined it. Being able to have one on me at all times has more than doubled my Palm useage. Not to mention the concept of being able to run custom apps on your cell phone. Syncing the phone backs up not only the Palm files, but all phone related material as well, including the recent calls, and all phone preferences. Not to mention there is a windows app available to convert .mp3 files to new ringers and system sounds. I could even upload a different tune for each person in my phone book. The phone also has an external display for caller id, so opening the phone to see who's calling is not necessary.
One of the major issues that I've observed in the cell phone/provider consumer reputation area is that customers tend to blame their service problems on the hardware, when their provider's network is insufficient. (I live in a rural area and this is still a huge issue here.) The customers tend to purchase new hardware which continues to perform poorly and blame the hardware.