[SML] Oakland warehouse fire

[Alex French]

I have several old friends that I haven't seen in person in many years who
are rooted in the Bay Area all-things-alternative arts scene, so I've seen
a lot about this on social media.

A lot of that discussion quickly turned talking about 'the one guy' most
responsible for this situation.

It sounds like he was well known for being a sleazy asshole
presenter/producer in every way that you can think of- event safety,
treatment of artists, employees, etc..

It also seems like (from my 3,000 mile away, only slightly interested, via
Facebook view of things) there has immediately been a lot of discussion
within related communities about how to do much better on site/event
safety- because it is the right thing to do, and to keep the alternative
arts scene alive.  And that many similar sounding events ('dance party in
live/work space in warehouse') are already managed much more sensibly.

I think the very first takeaway should be not about the specific situation,
but about "bad people can do stupid things and get people hurt" which can
apply in many situations in many industries/communities at any level.
AFTER that main take away there are a lot of sub-points that many theatre
folk (particularly in the community theatre world, and the lower-end, less
mainstream professional world) should be well prepared to discuss
intelligently.

Alex French



On Sun, Dec 4, 2016 at 11:45 AM, David Islas via Stagecraft <
stagecraft at theatrical.net> wrote:

> http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/04/us/warehouse-party-fire-
> oakland-search.html
>
> As many as 40 dead in a warehouse that was hosting a party. Permitted only
> as a warehouse, but in addition to the event, it was advertised as an
> artist collective with folks living on-site.
>
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