Today we’d like to introduce you to Austin Whitney and Oren Shani.
Our company story begins with Austin, Oren, Alex, and a house on top of a hill where all kinds of insane ideas were born. With Austin’s experience of being in a wheelchair since 2007, the most important idea to come out of this home on 1050 Miller Ave, was to help create amazing live music experiences for people of all abilities. With Austin’s legal knowledge from UC Berkeley School of Law, and being the avid festival goers that we are, this was a very important endeavor. Thus, Ten Fifty Entertainment was born. Today, Ten Fifty is the leading provider of accessibility and guest services for event producers in the LA area as well as throughout the nation. We fuel our operations with passion, dedication, and the desire to help create transcending experiences for everyone, regardless of their ability. We are a community of music lovers and are grateful to call LA our home.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The struggles and challenges are endless; there’s a new one every day. The very first one, though, was not only figuring out how to deal with a new disability, but also using it to help others cope with their own disability. Through music, we’ve been able to help people have amazing experiences that changed their life, including our own.
But like any business, the early phases were incredibly difficult. We learned a lot in that first year; it was the most educational experience of our lives.
Live event production is not an easy industry, especially when it comes to providing true accommodations for those that need assistance. It’s hard enough building accessibility plans within a live production environment; in many instances they aren’t complimentary, and we have to find creative solutions to make them work in parallel.
But aside from the production element, there are other challenges that these events present. Every time we have to evacuate a venue, which happens a lot due to inclement weather and sometimes even worse, we get pressed to safely move many disabled patrons in a short period of time. This is very difficult.
We get yelled at a lot when we are doing our best to help people. Dealing with big egos can be difficult. This world is really not for the faint of heart.
Please tell us about Ten Fifty Entertainment / Accessible Festivals.
Ten Fifty Entertainment is the leading provider of Accessibility and Guest Services operations throughout the nation. Our purpose is to create unforgettable experiences at festivals, corporate/private events, conventions, trade shows and other types of events. With just under ninety events each year, some of our larger events include: Coachella, EDC Las Vegas, LA PRIDE, and various events at the LA Convention Center. We provide:
Accessibility/ADA Compliance Programs
Information and Lost & Found
Ticketing and RFID Resolutions
Staff Procurement and Management
Volunteer Management
Staff Services
Environmental Initiatives
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
First and foremost, be careful about who you hire. We’ve learned the hard way that sometimes the people you work with don’t share the same passion, values and dedication as you do, even if we’re talking about something so fundamentally important as increasing the standards of accessibility at live events. It’s tough to comprehend this sometimes, but that’s just the world we live in.
Like we mentioned before, this industry is not for the faint of heart, and it’s especially important to keep your personal well-being a top priority. We’ve sweat, bled and cried for this company, and what it does for people. But we’ve also made personal sacrifices, including our own physical and mental health, as well as our relationships. It’s important to know where to draw this line and take care of yourself. This will pay much bigger dividends in the long run.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tenfiftyent.com
- Phone: 3107289527
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TenFiftyEnt/
Image Credit:
Josh Withers [only the image of crowd surfer]
Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
