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A DAY IN THE LIFE
On one particular day, Debbie Cross arrived at
the office to find a voice mail from
a band member who needed to have his travel
arrangements changed from flying to
driving, so her first call was to the travel
agent. Next, she made arrangements for the
support act to be picked up at the airport and
taken to the venue. "I don't have a
routine. I can come in and think I'm going to
read contracts all day, but come five
o'clock, I haven't even looked at them because
something has come up I have to take
care of right away. For instance, I'm working
on May travel and had it almost com-
plete, but they just added a few dates and that
means I have to rearrange flights and
other travel arrangements. Often you don't just
do, you redo." Throughout the day,
Cross may set up an interview for Kenny Rogers,
field calls from the road from the
tour manager, talk with building managers and
promoters about catering for upcom-
ing shows, and then try to return to reviewing
those contracts. "Kenny [Rogers]
works mostly weekends, so if the crew needs to
discuss something I've done, they call
me at home. That's just part of the job. It's
not a Monday through Friday, 9 to 5 gig. If
you want that kind of job, don't get in the
music business."
POINTERS FOR THE JOB SEARCH
A receptionist position is one of the best ways
to get a foot in the door, learn
about the company, and then offer to take on
more responsibilities. An internship, or
an assistant's job, is another way
in.
THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT THIS
JOB:
"What I like least are the constant changes.
Once you get things all set,
something is thrown in and you have to change
everything you've done.
You spend more time undoing and redoing than
originally setting things
up, but that's just part of the job when you're
dealing with artists."
THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS JOB:
"Taking care of 22 people and knowing they're
happy; knowing that I can
take care of that much responsibility from the
start of the tour until it's
over, and that everything goes well
between."
VOICES
OF
EXPERIENCE
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