Making a New Business of Old Business: Introducing Spyglass Management Inc.
Georgie D
Cofounder, Spyglass Management Inc.
IG: @spyglassinc.ca
Email: geo@spyglassinc.ca
I met David Jones when I was working for Halifax Jazz Festival in 2010 as both a sound engineer and their membership coordinator. What a nerd, right. It feels like a long time ago now. At that point I was becoming fairly successful as a sound engineer and I had earned my chops through working at The Company House, Halifax Pop Explosion, East Coast Music Awards and a variety of other venues or festivals that were taking place in Halifax or the Maritimes. When I met David he was directing the site of the Halifax Jazz Festival - and somehow I ended up signing up to volunteer with his team.
After I worked my first day with him I was stunned. There was so much to do, all of the time. It never quit. Measuring and surveying the site to start building it. A constant barrage of trucks showing up and dropping rental assets. Multiple teams of suppliers needing to know their placement on the site build and starting to install infrastructure. Managing the paid and volunteer team to build several assets at once to meet timing goals. Keeping track of a 25+ person team and who needed food, water, rest or a thoughtful word to cheer them on. Everyone kept saying his name and asking him questions. Balancing this unique combination of being precise and efficient, but still somehow being measured and thoughtful. While he made it look like a walk in the park, I distinctly remember thinking “Holy shit. I can’t imagine being that guy.” And here we are 15 years later. I am that guy.
After working with David for a few years doing Tall Ships, a random assortment of craft beverage events, and of course Halifax Jazz Festival, I realised that he was one of the coolest people I would ever get to meet. We hit it off. In 2016 when David wanted to retire from the Halifax Jazz Festival, the Executive Director at that time asked me if I wanted to take the position (If you’re reading this, thank you ADT). I was then working as the Assistant Technical Director and found the proposition odd but intriguing. I gave it a good think and said yes. We signed up to participate in Music Nova Scotia’s Mentorship Program and won funding for two years. That time spent in a dedicated learning environment with David inspired me to understand and value the wide and deep aspects of the event industry beyond my then experience of music industry and venue management.
After years of good coaching, in 2022 we started Dudka & Jones Business and Event Management together. And it’s in the last 3 years that Spyglass Management Inc. was created. At 20 years into sound engineering and 15 years into event operations, we needed a company that could speak to the volume of experience we have in multiple areas. And similar to how David mentored me when I was younger, we seek to give the staff I have mentored an avenue to become experts in their fields. So here we are, introducing the new company. While David is still in the process of retiring, he remains an active consultant moving forward.
Spyglass Management Inc. operates three event and business brands that can help support your project.
Atlantic Event Builders: Full scale event operations and support
Cablebaby: Audio, visual & tech solutions - For permanent or temporary installations
Side-kix: Website, graphic and logo design services
You can find a list of our services at spyglassinc.ca
Thanks for reading! Really, we appreciate it. We’ve started a blog to discuss event related topics. You can find our next post linked below.