AB Tech Budget

We charge organizations that use our services. Our rates are well below market. Events range in cost from $65 to over $2,000. We support over 300 events per year.

cover cost of tshirt

cover half of transportation

cover cost of food

Sound Consoles - Average yearly cost of repairing our analog and digital sound consoles. A single professional repair starts at $700 due to specialized components and labor.

Audio Processors - Average yearly cost of repairing audio processors. DSP and effects units are essential to all of our sound systems.

Speakers and Amplifiers - Average yearly repair cost for reconing and replacing drivers. We have several speakers break a year, with $500 being the average cost per incident.

Electrical Connectors - We have a lot of cables, we need to repair connectors that become damaged and replace ones as they wear over time to ensure safety.

Lighting Consoles - Average yearly cost to repair our lighting consoles. A single repair starts at $500.00

Chain Hoist Inspection - Our chain motors require annual inspection and certification to ensure they are safe to use.

Conventional Lighting - Parts to repair and maintain our conventional lighting equipment. We are able to service our inventory on our own, however a large portion of it is very old.

Microphones & Microphone Stands - Placed in the hands of performers, these pieces of equipment are frequently damaged and need to be repaired.

Intelligent Lighting Repair - We need to take care of our inventory of new moving head light fixtures. Yearly maintenance is estimated at $195 per fixture with 6 fixtures.

Cables - As a production company with numerous events in a large number of venues, our cables experience wear and tear and they need to be replaced to ensure proper functionality and safety. Our cable inventory is extensive, including specialized cables for sound, lighting, power, and rigging.

Tools - We service and maintain the majority of our own equipment. This requires general tools (wrenches, screwdrivers, etc) as well as specialized devices (cable testers, crimpers, soldering irons, etc) which need regular replacement as they wear out.

lump sum for equipment repair as needed, but please provide description of equipment that could need repair in next year's budget

Copying and Printing - We create recruitment flyers to distribute to students on campus. We need to attract new members to join our crew and sustain the organization.

Sharpies, Pens, and Paper - Our events require significant planning and coordination. We provide basic office supplies to support the design and preparation required for shows. This includes sound input channel lists, lighting plots, equipment pull lists, truck packs, and others.

appeal granted

Web Application Maintenance - Our entire event schedule, equipment, personnel, communications, and finances are managed through a custom internal web application that we develop, support, and maintain. This application is mission-critical and integral to the operation of the organization. We must upgrade, repair, and maintain the hardware for the server running this application.

appeal granted

Technical Application Software - We use various computer programs that are essential to the preparation and operation of our events, such as QLab, Soundvision, Vectorworks, and various other digital modeling, visualization, and theatrical programs. We must purchase and obtain licenses to operate the latest editions of this software.

low priority

Food - We frequently support events that require our crew to work continuously for many hours, spanning multiple meals. We need to feed our crew so they can continue working.

in line with other groups; appeal granted

Our crew works long hours to enable us to support a large number of events -- often late at night, on weekends, and at inconvenient times. We pay our crew to keep them working.

We frequently need to send our equipment in for repair. Since much of our gear is very large and heavy, the freight shipping costs are significant.

Per agreement with Dean Murphy to pay back our 2010 loan of $50,000 to overhaul our intelligent lighting.

not a Dean, he's VP

First Aid Supplies - We regularly work with large equipment and occasionally we get hurt.

Lams and Shirts - At large events, we provide lams and t-shirts to identify our crew members to security and event staff.

Hearing Protection - We frequently work events with high SPL. We provide disposable earplugs to give to crew and event staff during concerts to ensure personal safety.

Large Trucks - We need to rent large trucks to transport our equipment during events such as Greek Sing, Spring Carnival, and Orientation. Each rental costs over $400.

Small Rental Trucks - We need to safely transport our equipment to a number of smaller off-campus events. Each rental costs approximately $100.

Colored Gels for Lighting - We need to replenish our stock every year since the gels wear out when used. We go through about 40 sheets a year at $10 a sheet.

same as last year

Tape - We use a lot of tape to secure cables, mark equipment, and keep guests away from dangerous areas. We stock a large number of types, sizes, and colors of tape. Gaffer's tape alone costs over $20 a roll and we use nearly 50 rolls every year.

Lamps - Our conventional and intelligent lighting equipment requires specialized lamps with precision optics. We use incandescent tungsten, halogen, fluorescent, and arc source lamps. These regularly burn out and require replacement, and cost between $15 and $350 each.

same as last year

Atmospheric Fluid - Our hazer machine is used frequently to enhance lighting at events and requires special fluid to operate. Replacement fluid bottles cost over $50 each.

Batteries - Our handheld and bodypack wireless microphones require AA alkaline batteries to operate. We consume approximately a dozen batteries during each mid-sized event, with large events such as Greek Sing consuming as many as 100 batteries. Batteries cost $165 per case of 500.

Microphones - Over 70% of our work deals with bands and singers who require specific high-quality microphones. We continually replace our existing inventory with new models as our equipment ages. These microphones cost at least $100 each, and a single wireless handheld microphone costs over $1000.

Martin Magnum 2000 Fog Machine - Our existing fog machine was over 15 years old, and failed completely during an event in 2011. We need to replace the unit with a professional quality fogger in order to provide smoke effects requested frequently at our events. We can no longer rent this equipment from a local company we have in the past, as the University cannot come to an agreement in the service contract.

ETC Smartfade ML - We need to replace our small-format lighting console, which is over 10 years old. It is not compatible with our new inventory of intelligent fixtures and has reached its end-of-life.

Speaker Stands - All of our small and mid-size sound systems require speaker stands. A number of our existing speaker stands have become heavily worn and require replacement.

Presonus StudioLive 16.4.2 - Our small-format 12 channel mixing console is now a decade old and is broken. We need a replacement board to use for the smaller events we frequently support, when our other boards are often in use elsewhere or are too big.

Swisson DMX Splitter - Our existing DMX splitter is over two decades old and does not function with our newest LED lighting fixtures. We need to purchase a new unit to accommodate these fixtures, and allow us to provide more the complex lighting systems which are now requested frequently.

DMX Cables - With additional intelligent lighting purchases and rentals, we are frequently short DMX data cable which must be run between every fixture for control. Owning the cable reduces rental costs.

Rigging Supplies - We continue to be requested to provide substantial rigging at events. When hanging heavy loads in the air, it is of the utmost importance for safety to have the necessary equipment and keep it in good shape. We need to purchase new shackles, pear rings, steel, polyester slings, and other hardware to replace and supplement our current inventory.

1/4 Ton Chain Hoists & Case - We frequently do not have enough chain motors at events to safely support the desired load. We need to purchase 2 chain motors and a road case to complete our system of 8 motors (our recently purchased motor controller was designed to support these additional units).

Motor Cables - We need to purchase more motor control cables to support additional 1/4 ton chain hoists, as well as longer cables to allow us to connect all motors into a single control box. This ensures that we can move all motors at the same time, supporting larger systems of truss and keeping the load level and evenly distributed for safety.

Motion Labs LoadCell System - As we provide rigging services to more events each year, each with more complex rigging plans, we need to ensure that safety is our primary focus. A load sensing system will allow us to remove the margins of error that exist when rigging trusses and other equipment, and minimize the University's liability when we provide such services.

lower priority

ColorBlaze TRX LED Fixtures & Case - This purchase of 8 units completes the final phase of our planned intelligent lighting system, for a comprehensive system of 6 spot moving lights (purchased in 2010) and 16 LED wash fixtures (8 purchased in 2011). This new intelligent system will drastically reduce rental costs, increase flexibility, enhance production value, and reduce conventional lighting lamp waste and energy consumption.

L-Acoustics 108P Powered Speakers - We consistently receive requests to provide sound systems at multiple simultaneous locations, such as during Winter Gala, 1000 Plus, and UC Late Nights. Our current inventory of powered speakers is insufficient to meet these demands. Two additional 108P speakers would provide compatibility with our existing L-Acoustics speaker systems, and allow us to reduce rental costs for large events including AB Concerts and Spring Carnival.