Or, how Mark Lorello and the National Operations Team make the impossible look easy"¦

Around the Clock and Around the World!

WARNING: This is a LONG article.

READING COMFORT TIPS:

• Sit in a comfortable chair
• Bring a snack

When something goes exceptionally well, Mark Lorello, Director of Operations for the Bexel Network, has only one word to say: "NICE!" Sometimes, he draws it out a bit like this: N - I - C - E ! Either way, and no matter how great the operational accomplishment, you'll only get one word out of Mark.

"Great" is another word that applies to the events that occurred in the Burbank shop in an 18-hour period between the tear-down of the NBA All Star Game in Las Vegas and the Academy Awards set-up in Hollywood "“ that's February 18/19, 2007. Bexel has many competitors that move a lot of boxes around the country "“ yes, it's true "“ there are bigger box houses that actually move more boxes than we do. But what kind of badge of honor is that? Really, anyone can move boxes "“ that's what freight forwarders do all day long, right? Bexel did not build its worldwide / world class reputation by being a "˜logistics company'.

Through the years, we have gained a deep understanding of the importance of logistics in providing extraordinary customer service and picture perfect events. The equipment must move smoothly from one venue to another "“ a seamless flow of events to the customer "“ it doesn't matter where the gear came from or what huge, amazing show it just shot or how perfectly everything worked two hours ago. In the high profile / fast track world of major television production, the customer only needs to know about the present "“ the production at hand and that everything ties together perfectly right here and right now. And that is exactly what Bexel excels at. That is Mark Lorello's life.

"Logistics and resources" he says, when asked about the 18 hour / zero overtime success of this last great turnaround. "It was all about time "“ there is only so much time in a turnaround like this and it's never really enough so every single minute counts" Lorello continues.

Mark managed the process by sending in an "A" Team crew to Las Vegas the night before "“ arriving Saturday PM and standing by until the green light was given to tear down the TV compound constructed to service the NBA All Star Game. The breakdown and pack-up began Sunday evening at 9:00PM.

Five 24 foot Bexel trucks were loaded to absolute capacity "“ this included Avids, EVS units, plasmas and lots of fiber "“ plus BBSONE was loaded up and on its way to Los Angeles.

Six Bexel Operations pros were on site to do the work: James Hazlett, Jason Tapia, Tommy Teller (from our Las Vegas office) Jose Orozco, Mark McMahon and Miguel (but we like to call him "Mikey") Robles.

Monday morning, at 3:30AM, the first truck rolled out of the compound.

At 4:30AM the other four trucks rolled out as a caravan.

The first truck arrived at our dock in Burbank, Monday morning at 10:30AM. Then, one at a time, the remaining four trucks rolled in and each was offloaded with support from a crew of specialists that Mark pulled together specifically for this return:

Jimmy ("Z") Brandt (visiting from Orlando), Michael Blanton (visiting from Dallas), Jorge Noriega (visiting from Dallas), and Johan Gil (visiting from New York).

The Las Vegas drive crew of six were kept "˜on the clock' until the noon crew arrived and then they were sent home "“ the handoff to the noon crew was flawless and they immediately began to attack the load with a fresh attitude. They were completely finished with the NBA offload by 3:00PM "“ with no OT! A normal, business-as-usual Monday night at Bexel Burbank. Very honorable mention: BBS Sales personnel and the Burbank Engineering team also supported the setup and offload on both ends and Mark sends a note of thanks to the following: Howie Rosenthal, Lee Estroff, Ruben Levins, Lane Robbins, Scott Meglemre, Jon McCarroll and last but certainly not least, Johnny Pastor.

With only hours remaining until the bulk of the NBA gear needed to be turned to the Oscars at the Kodak Theatre, a concentrated team effort to re-purpose the package began "“ and this in the midst of an extremely busy "˜business-as-usual' day in Burbank. While Mark's NBA/Oscar crew and Edd Bonner's tech crew jumped on the turn-around package, other Ops and Engineering crews were diligently working on separate packages "“ like the set-up required for the new Mark Burnett show called "Pirates" (Jason Tapia and team had pulled all of the necessary gear on the previous Friday) "“ it was ready for prep before the NBA/ASG went on air and its crew had been working for several days in our prep room "“ work that continued while the NBA / Oscar load was moving through. Additionally, a last minute production package for a new (to us) show called "Last Comic Standing" took a great deal of Ops and Engineering time and support to pull and tech in one day "“ the client ("I can't believe the service you're providing to me!") is quite happy with the result, as we continue to prepare this "˜Ex-Wex' job without a hitch.

Mark sends out his respect to "˜the day crew' that made sure that everything flowed as normal, even though the NBA/Oscar turnaround was so dominant: Alex Salas, Alfonso Arias, Robert Arias, Joel Jimenez, Tony Licata, Frank Rodriguez, Danny Fernandez, Gaston Zenedejas, Valmore Villatore (also known as "Junior") as well as Sean Mason and the QC team and the entire Burbank-based Engineering team under the leadership of Director Edd Bonner.

Last stop: All fiber went back to the BBS workspace where prep was already underway on video and audio portions of the Oscar package "“ racks were being staged and rung out as Scott Nardelli's new Fiber Truck arrived for load-in and delivery to Oscar.

The first Bexel Burbank truck pulled out of our dock en route to the Kodak Theatre at 6:00PM, Tuesday. The second truck pulled out at 7:00PM "“ just as the first truck returned, empty. And Mark Lorello's final word on the matter, as truck number two pulled in at 8:00PM (that's 23 hours after the NBA break-down began in Las Vegas), also empty? "Nice!"

Bexel Broadcast Services: So much more than Video Equipment Rentals!