Personal Security

**elipson** · Posted On: 9/12/2007 12:01am

I've had some exposure to this type of work in concert performances, dealing with musicians and the like. Not personal exposure being a tour security guy, but a close friend at the security company I work with.

For big Music ppl and the like, there are two kinds of Security guys. Personal and Venue. The personal guy is your typical bodyguard. They do a lot of boring stuff and basically watch over autograph sessions, and stand just off stage during performances. Only really big names ever bother having someone serve as just the personal guy. Most bands/performers just have the Venue guy who does both. Rappers tend to have multiple guys. Usually big black guys, who usually dont know what they are doing.

Venue guys do a lot more. They organize press appearances, autograph things, before/aftershows, guest passes, and most importantly they organize local security crews at the different Venues.

Either of these jobs require more than just bodyguard training (although its a huge asset), they require knowledge of how concerts are run. This skill set is very specific and can only be learned by doing it. I've seen many concerts that were poorly run, and they are a nightmare.

The company I work for only considers guys for tour work after they have been with us for MANY years. My friend waited 10 years before finally having enough seniority. I don't know how other companies are run though. Names to check out in the tour business are Network and Showtime (one of these used to be House of Blues productions, damned if i remember which one). This industry is really kind of an old boys network though. Tour security guys are recommended to bands by other bands in the industry.

Ex-miltary guys are always prized by the powers that be (although sometimes they turn out to be crappy guys who think they understand concerts cuase they know how to blow stuff up). However, I have heard that lately because of Iraq, ex-military guys are a dime a dozen.

I also remember reading some stuff about Blackwater in the States, running some high-end VIP protection courses, designed for Contractors going overseas.

Hope this helped.

**mad_malk** · Posted On: 9/12/2007 12:37am

i have heard diffrent reports on blackwater and how they treat there employes. and yes PP work is mostly stand here for for 2 hours travel there stand here for 4 hours. Or sit in garage and watch car make shure no one touches car and be ready to bring car up As soon as the call is made. Boreing boreing and more boering. and if it's not Boreing then some one realy screwed up.

**Sh0t** · Posted On: 9/16/2007 7:03pm

As I found out much to my chagrin, the only military experience California licensing considers for PI licensing is as an MP, fyi.

Getting a PI license is a pretty hefty thing, usually the sponsorship is a gift to loyal employees of security firms who work back office or something, they rarely sponsor people like writing in for a college scholarship or something.

In an interesting turn of my life, I befriended a fairly minor celebrity at a convention I was working security at and became this gentlemen's bodyguard for several months after which, he helped me get my first job in the video game industry at Fox(which helped me get to Sony, where I am now).

I pursued a career in the security industry above what I used to as a bouncer, low-brow security, etc but i found it was harder to break into than I expected. There are a couple million ex-military guys, even among those who had "extra training" , trying to become private versions of military jobs. It's a pretty saturated market. Like many, it has some lobbying in effect to keep out many interested parties.

To confirm the above assestment of bodyguarding, I'll give a routine day from my brief stint at it.

Subject was on a tour going to various franchises of a store he was advertising for, meeting the managers for photo ops and improving company moral, etc. My job consisted of basically just organizing how people lined up for autographs, helping people get to him and pointing them toward the right way to exit, getting our car called at the proper time, sometimes doing assisting management **** like hotel checkins and all that kind of stuff. Nothing really crazy, which I was happy for.

For executive protection and things like that, combat skills really are pretty low on the list of priorities. Your figure can be an issue as well. If you look intimidating, you probably WILL NOT get the job, because you have to really be cordial and warm and all that. I got told this in an interview, so don't laugh. I'm not that biggest guy in the world either, but it was a negative, they said. An athletic geek look seems to be preferred. Look like your client is probably the best way to explain it. Look like a yuppie executive, not a snake-eater.

As far as boring, I guess it depends on what excites you. If you like to plan and strategize and come up with ideas to prevent trouble, you may find it very enjoyable. If your idea is to get into gunfights everyday at work, I think SOF has better ideas for employment. Not my cup of tea. I prefer to do my shooting at cardboard.