Host Bryndis Whitson welcomes Mike Borthwick to the show to share his behind-the-scenes look at music tour logistics and warehouse operations. Through his career, Mike has been a roadie and a warehouse worker, and he describes how supply chain logistics apply just as much to traditional warehouses as they do to live events, concerts, and stage productions. Mike tells Bryndis stories of the intricacies of loading gear for bands like Aerosmith and Nickelback, and showcases how load-in/load-out processes, safety protocols, and space planning apply across varied industries.

From dealing with snowy staircases to last-minute cancellations, Mike’s time as a roadie illustrated that inventory control and physical preparedness are key components in managing unpredictable logistics issues. He also discusses the lessons he learned from warehouse work, including pallet management, order picking, and maintaining inventory accuracy under pressure. Adaptability and proper planning are vital aspects of any logistics scenario. The conversation between Mike and Bryndis highlights the importance of treating every product shipment and gear load like a valuable asset, why documentation matters, and how to physically prepare for the demanding nature of certain logistics jobs.

About Mike Borthwick:

Mike started writing code at 10 and sold his first game at 12. He’s still passionate and excited about learning new technologies, and is constantly updating my skills and experience.

He enjoys challenging how "full stack" he can be. From writing lines of code to planning and managing complex technology projects, Mike enjoys front-end web development work for the joy it can bring to the end user, but also the back-end, server-side work for the complexity and technical challenges that it can provide.

Mike is a fan of many project management techniques, including Agile, Waterfall, Spiral, PP, XP, and others.

He is a published author, public speaker, and co-host of the Web Perspectives podcast. He has a new book, video series, and online tutorial for founders of software startups releasing in 2024.

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Contact Bryndis Whitson:

• Website: ZebrasToApples.com
• Instagram: @ZebrasToApples
• LinkedIn
  
  

Contact Mike Borthwick:

• LinkedIn: Mike-Borthwick

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Transcript

Bryndis 0:03

Hi, my name is Bryndis Whitson, and you're listening to the Zebras to Apples podcast, the fun and fascinating stories in supply chain logistics. Today, we're talking with Mike Borthwick, and what are we talking about? We're talking about, what is it like to be a roadie? What is it like to work in a warehouse, some things that you wouldn't expect that are supply chain logistics, and a few things that you would be surprised actually are. And that's exactly what the goal of this podcast is. Is to showcase stories that you wouldn't normally or necessarily think are supply chain logistics, and yes, they are. Please enjoy this episode with my friend Mike. It's really a lot of fun.

Hello. I'm here with Mike Borthwick, and we're going to be talking about a whole bunch of fun areas that people don't necessarily think are logistics, but totally are so.

Mike 1:02

Right on. Yeah, thanks for having me.

Bryndis 1:05

Okay, tell us a little bit about your career and what got you where you've been.

Mike 1:10

Sure. Okay, so when it comes to logistics. I had my first introduction to professional logistics in grade nine working in a professional theater as part of the drama club. Originally, I joined drama club in grade seven, but we didn't have a real stage back then, so we had to shuffle things around a lot, just just in order to get enough kids to make it feel like a stage. And then in high school, attached to our high school or church High School and Airdrie, we had a 450 seat professional theater, professional lighting, professional sound, professional everything, and a professional loading dock. Was the first time I ever got to use an actual loading dock, but it's kind of funny, because most of the bands that we would get to come in, and most of the plays that would come in didn't drive the size of truck that would need to make use of a real loading dock. So was a little lost on us at the time, but there were a lot of times bands or shows would come in, and by the time we had them all loaded up again, they'd find they had an extra two feet of space in their trailer, because we made it a certain point of pride in our group, that when we loaded out, we would make sure that everything was packed as tight as possible, so that nothing would fall over. Like that's one of the secrets to getting a good load out is making sure that everything is packed tightly, so that nothing gets damaged in transport. But that's the first time I started doing load in and load out for for bands and professional shows and things like that. And I would be there after school seven days a week, pretty much working on it, working on matinees, learning how to hang lights, learning how to run cables, how to do sound, how to replace bulbs, how to hang from my ankles above the audience, while doing all those things. And I only dropped my Crescent wrench once. But of course, it landed in the seat next to the theater manager, I got a bit of a talking to, you know. So that experience got me my first job in a warehouse, because I already knew how to run and load up and things like that. But it also got me a job when I was into University of Calgary, helping to load bands in and out. And in fact, one of the first shows I ever loaded in, it was, I was just remembering this. It was for the Headstones. They were playing the Black Lung as part of the stress management 101 session, which was really just an excuse to get $20 in lab fees from your parents so that you can go to the stress management 101 and spend it on beer, right. And then they played the opening set at the den downstairs from the Black bomb. And then I also helped them load in at SAIT across the way for where they were playing the headlining spot. So they played their set three times in one day. I loaded them in and loaded them out three times in one day and that's how I got to meet Hugh Dylan and all the rest of the guys in the band, and they actually introduced me to their record labels rep, who asked me if I might be available to help load in and load out other bands. And so then it went from being just, you know, 50 bucks in bar tab and then free admission to the show, to actually getting paid by a label to travel all over southern Alberta with the bands as they came through. So usually the cycle would be, you know, you you either go to a venue in Edmonton and load them in and then load them in in Red Deer or Calgary or Lethbridge and Banff like, oh yeah, Wild Bills in Banff has the most notorious staircase to load in on, and it's always slippery for some reason. I don't know why, but you know, half the time it's winter time, and that could probably account for it, but I don't know why it was slippery in the summertime.

Bryndis 5:45

And especially as you're going up, that would totally be, you know, maneuvering up it, yeah, up a staircase, plus tr...