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2004-2008: Solution RED

In April 2004 I joined Solution RED as a project manager (Now Empire Red, see https://empirered.com.au).  Solution RED was born out of the ruins of Gearhouse Show Techniques and Gearhouse Theming in Melbourne, so I knew most of the people working there when I started.  As this is relatively recent history I feel that there is little need to go into much detail, suffice to say that it was one of the most challenging and enjoyable periods of my working life to date.  I had the opportunity to production manage events in places as different as Uluru and Hayman Island, most with adequate budgets and high production values, and many of them produced by industry icon Peter Jones Special Events.  In the four years since I started work there, Solution RED grew quickly.  As the oldest employee I was accorded the respect due to my experience, but I eventually came to feel that my “use-by” date was fast approaching.  This is a young persons’ industry, and I have seen people hang on too long, both in front of the camera and behind it, to repeat that mistake.  In addition, the death of my father in November 2006 lead me to re-evaluate my priorities in life.  With both children now moved out of home (and a much-loved grandson to indoctrinate in the ways of steam), time has come to slow down a bit and to move to working part-time.  There is a Tourist Railway to help run (see www.alexandratramway.org.au), books and papers to finish writing and, at last, a little time for myself.  I retired from full-time work on 27 June 2008, just six months under forty years from when I started my first full-time job in the entertainment industry.

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A formal dinner for Peter Jones Special Events on Hayman Island early in 2008