#

How Capital A Productions Retired Its Whiteboard and Saved 20 Hours a Week

Apr 4, 2023

  The whiteboard at Capital A Productions has become a legendary symbol of the company’s AV production roots. While it still hangs in their office today, it now serves as a reminder of a time when it served as the company’s sole crew scheduling tool.   Capital A decided to transition to LASSO, an all-in-one platform […]
how-capital-a-productions-retired-its-whiteboard-and-saved-20-hours-a-week

 

The whiteboard at Capital A Productions has become a legendary symbol of the company’s AV production roots. While it still hangs in their office today, it now serves as a reminder of a time when it served as the company’s sole crew scheduling tool.  

Capital A decided to transition to LASSO, an all-in-one platform for event production, in order to move away from analog production processes. Initially, they were hesitant due to unsuccessful trials with other generic software tools and concerned about spending money on another piece of software amid the pandemic. However, once they saw how LASSO was specifically designed for the events industry, they decided to take the leap. 

 

 “I like to set up my life to be as efficient as possible, such as keeping all my socks in one drawer and organizing my t-shirts by color. I don’t want to work harder than I need to. So, when I find a solution like LASSO that makes my day-to-day life easier, I want it.” – Brad Gibson, Owner/CEO. 

 

alt="Replace whiteboard with crew scheduling software with LASSO"

How it Started

Founded in 2007, Capital A Productions is based in Savannah, Georgia, specializing in managing the production for large, local events like concerts, festivals, corporate events and mobile staging. Some of their recent major projects include the Savannah Jazz Festival and Southern Living Home Summit.  

With 40+ regular crew members, Capital A needed a tool to streamline scheduling, time management, onboarding, and communications. Founder, Brad Gibson, chose LASSO because it was built for the events industry by event industry professionals, and can manage all major production processes within a single tool.

 

{% video_player “embed_player” overrideable=False, type=’hsvideo2′, hide_playlist=True, viral_sharing=False, embed_button=False, autoplay=False, hidden_controls=False, loop=False, muted=False, full_width=False, width=’1920′, height=’1080′, player_id=’109346278710′, style=” %}

 

Spending 80% Less Time Tracking Hours Worked 

Before implementing LASSO, tracking time at Capital A was a tedious task, done exclusively on paper time sheets. With an average of 4050 crew members working events every week, it was time-consuming and difficult to accurately manage breaks, clock-ins and outs, breaks, and overtime. 

After switching to LASSO, the Capital A team was able to get a much clearer, more accurate picture of their crew’s time, significantly reducing the hours spent on this task. The adoption of LASSO Time has allowed Capital A to transform their previous time-intensive bi-weekly task into a much quicker and simpler daily audit, going from four hours every two weeks to just five minutes a day— an 80% reduction 

This increased efficiency not only saves time but also ensures greater accuracy, giving Capital A the confidence to manage their crew’s time — and the company’s capital — more effectively. 

Take a tour of LASSO Time Tracking

 

“We audit time every day, and it has made a big difference. Instead of spending four hours every two weeks, it now only takes five minutes a day to track our time in LASSO. When it comes time to process payroll, it’s just a matter of clicking a button and we’re done.” – Brad Gibson, Owner/CEO. 

 

Spending 3 Less Hours a Week Scheduling and More Time Connecting 

Before LASSO, Capital A operated right at the edge of its capacity, making it difficult to gauge the team’s bandwidth. One of their biggest challenges was finding talent available to work events — a time-consuming process involving multiple calls, texts, and emails. 

After implementing LASSO Scheduling, filling an event roster has become much easier for Capital A. Their labor coordinator no longer spends hours on the phone or sending messages. Being able to see the tech availability up front and to send and confirm the roster in bulk has been a real lifesaver opposed to waiting for replies.  

Scheduling has provided Capital A with the features needed to optimize their labor management, allowing them to better plan and allocate their resources. Now, Capital A is working in a meaningful way while also building better relationships with techs. 

 Is your crewing workflow bleeding your budget dry?

{% video_player “embed_player” overrideable=False, type=’hsvideo2′, hide_playlist=True, viral_sharing=False, embed_button=False, autoplay=False, hidden_controls=False, loop=False, muted=False, full_width=False, width=’1920′, height=’1080′, player_id=’109348815031′, style=” %}

 

Take a tour of LASSO Scheduling 

 

Enhancing Collaboration and Communication Across the Team 

Capital A’s old way of communicating with techs involved constantly reaching out via email, calls, and texts. But by communicating event details within LASSO, they have been able to ensure each, and every crew member is on the same, correct page regarding event details. This has helped keep the entire team informed with the latest drawings, rigging plots, customer notes, and more. 

“The biggest change that it’s made operationally for us, is that it’s given us the confidence to know that we’re able to communicate effectively to our team.” Brad Gibson, Owner/CEO. 

Having all this information available in LASSO saves the team from having to call and ask for directions or for the most recent version of event plans. This means everyone has access to the information they need right on their phone via the LASSO app — even if someone is out and another team member needs to step up.  

 

{% video_player “embed_player” overrideable=False, type=’hsvideo2′, hide_playlist=True, viral_sharing=False, embed_button=False, autoplay=False, hidden_controls=False, loop=False, muted=False, full_width=False, width=’1920′, height=’1080′, player_id=’109355545417′, style=” %}

 


Learn how you can streamline your workflow processes and enhance communication.
{{cta(‘be281f80-417c-442d-9acf-cef6bb9ae631′,’justifycenter’)}}

 

Most popular

15 Hidden Costs Causing Event Companies to Lose Six Figures a Year

Similar posts

The Problem with Payroll

The Problem with Payroll

Payroll is a necessary but often dreaded task for event producers. It's complex, fraught with hidden costs,...