What is Show Control?

First, let us welcome you to our online Alcorn Training, a gateway for learning all there is to know about Alcorn McBride’s suite of products, solutions, and tools.

We want to start off by defining some of the concepts we’ll be using to make sure we’re all on the same sheet of music and marching to the same drum.

First, let’s start with a simple definition? What is a show? A show can be any performance or exhibition of varying complexities. It could be as simple as a person playing a single musical instrument or as complex as a Broadway production or Vegas stage show. The only real requirement to be a show is that it is to be consumed by someone other than those producing it.

What about control? Simply, it’s regulating or coordinating something (or things). That could be errant children, a symphony orchestra, or a complex machine like a ride or show. All of these things can be controlled (well, SOMETIMES kids can be controlled).

So putting those together, show control should be regulating or coordinating the things that take place in a show, right? And that’s basically correct – we like to think of it as automating or coordinating entertainment devices like lighting, audio, video, animatronics, special effects/show action equipment, rides, etc.

Or in a more identifiable metaphor, we can think of it as a symphony conductor. All of the various systems that are being controlled are the players in the orchestra and the conductor’s job is to make sure that they’re playing the same piece of music, on the same page, and at the same time and at the same tempo.

That’s show control. Hopefully, that’s what you’ve come here to learn because that’s what we’ve been doing since 1986. And we think it’s pretty awesome and hope you do too!