Heavy Equipment Training in Denver
Rhino Colorado conducted a Telehandler/Lull Class VII training event at their office facility in late February. The training was led by Louie Gutierrez, in green in photo below, and Karl Jones. Twenty-four Rhinos completed the training as authorized operators. They are listed beneath the photo below. One, CJ Cavone, completed the training as an authorized instructor. Well done to all with a special welcome-back-and-thank-you-for-the-photo! to Laura Hofford.
Authorized operators: Joseph Arambula, Derek Atencio, Jeremy Bladecki, J Blain, Javier Carbullido, Walter DeGraw, Sprout Doll, Zachary Gonsoulin, John Gross, Micheal Hobbs, Niles Howard, William Jackson, Joshua Kornfeld, Thomas Larson, Dana McGee, Junior Ortiz, Moses Padilla, Jasper Robinson, Wade Roth, Tony Rust, Tayler Scherer, Timothy Shea, Kenny Smith, and Jon Sutton.
DC Supe Flourishes in New Role
Rhino DC would like to give a shout-out to supervisor Kyle Hippensteel. “Hippie”, as Kyle is known, became a supervisor around two years ago, but is new to supervising chair calls and is already earning positive feedback in this role.
After a January chair call at MGM National Harbor, Production Supervisor there Emily Walsh told us, “Hippie had a lot of new guys/gals on his chair set team for this one. He really did a great job of taking the time to work with his team to teach them all the tips and tricks, and they did a good job of listening and working with him! The crew for load in/show/out all were great as well, but I know being a newer supervisor with a very green team isn’t always the easiest!”
We dare say it: Hip, Hippie, Hooray! Thank you for doing us proud!
Rising Through the Ranks in Florida
Rhino Florida would like to recognize team member Samantha Ballera. Florida’s Recruiting & Hiring Coordinator Ryan Council told us, “I had the pleasure of bringing Samantha onboard back in 2022. She has developed into a crowning reflection of what an extraordinary employee looks like here at Rhino. She came in as a stagehand and kept growing into other diverse roles working into corporate events and then even secured the role working as an entertainment rigger. As of today, she has no negative points, no negative behavior reprimands, and she has won the respect of the scheduling team and onsite production leads.”
Congratulations and well done, Samantha!
Team Effort for the Super Bowl
Rhino Louisiana spent much of late January and early February at work on Super Bowl related events. When the dust finally settled, Director of Operations Ray Cullen provided us with a set of “fun facts” to paint a picture for you.
- 18 different clients
- 20 venues
- 21 days
- 4 Rhino Offices (Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee and Midwest)
- 184 Employees
- 1,210 Shifts
- 8,976 Hours worked
And, oh yeah …
- 15 Mardi Gras shifts
- 20 Additional non-Super Bowl events
- 3 Inter-company events
- An OSHA training
Well done Ray and all at Rhino LA and those from TX, GA, TN and Midwest who pitched in!
Markets Combine for Recruiting Road Show
Rhino Midwest combined with Rhino Louisiana to put a show of their own on the road recently. Star of the show “Staci the Stagehand” is seen at center of the photo here with co-stars Kira Deyo (left) and Rebecca Womack at the St. Louis Community College – Florissant Valley campus.
The trio battled high winds and snow to get to this, their first stop on a planned multi-state tour through the Midwest and Louisiana to further deepen the talent pool for both markets.
Upcoming stops include:
- Maryville University – St. Louis – March 19
- St. Louis Community College – March 26
- South Louisiana Community College – Lafayette, LA – April 8
- Columbus State Community College – Columbus, OH – April 21
More tour stops are to be announced. Please urge interested friends and family to contact Rebecca via email at rwomack@rhinostaging.com for more information on coming out to learn more about careers with Rhino in their area.
Cheering News
Rhino Northern California pitched in to assemble the sprung floor for February’s National Cheer Association “Roseville Showdown” event at the Roebbelen Center in Roseville, CA. Event producer Varsity Spirit produces cheer events around the country and has become a valued client around the Rhino Nation. You might say they put a spring in our step. 😉
Rhino Re-Ups as OSHA Instructor
Rhino Nevada would like to tip its collective hard hat to Director of Operations Boone Jackson. Boone, seen in photo here, just renewed his OSHA General Industry trainer authorization for the second time. He has been training employees locally in Las Vegas and in Rhino offices across the country for 8 years. Many of you will have done this training with Boone and can appreciate the amount of work that goes into preparing the lesson plans. We sure do, and we thank you, Boone, for your dedication to our values of safety, training and professionalism.
Rhino Goes to Bat at the Innings Festival
Rhino Tempe was on site again this year for the Innings Festival at their hometown’s Rio Salado Park. They put in an entire team effort to make the festival a success and it did not go unnoticed. Richard Cano, Production Rigger for the festival, sent along his thoughts in the aftermath: “I just want to send a word to you on what a fantastic job the riggers and climbers did. Great attitudes, hard workers. I look forward to this festival because I know I can count on the quality of help the riggers provide. Please give word to your team and a special thanks to Tony (Martines), Patty (Boucher), and Vic (Gates)!”
Another of Rhino Tempe’s on hand for the festival was Karla Palmer. In addition to being what Tempe’s Operations Manager Ashley Stayton calls an “an awesome fork operator”, she also does photography. Karla took the distinctive portrait here of her fellow Rhinos as they posed on the festival’s Right Field stage. They are, left to right, Matthew Contreras, Steven Bates, Gabriel Vasquez. Looking good, gents! Well done, Karla!
Cats and Rhinos Play Well Together
Rhino Tucson was in the field with Rhino Tempe last month at the Caterpillar Tinaja Hills Demonstration & Learning Center in Green Valley, AZ. Together they built a stage roof system for a demonstration event for the Caterpillar sales force. They did the same for Cat in 2024 and are hopeful for this unique work opportunity to continue into the future.
The roof system work was led by Dimitri Witowski (Tempe) and Franky Arvayo (Tucson). Rhino also provided the labor for the event A&V. Pictured here are Tucson’s Tania Ramirez and Elliot Morin.
Rhino Reaches Pinnacle
Rhino Tennessee is delighted to announce The Pinnacle as a client venue. It is a brand new, state-of-the-art venue (4,500 capacity) located in the Nashville Yards neighborhood. It opened on Feb. 27 with a Kacey Musgraves show. Team members who staffed the opener gathered for a commemorative group photo. They are, left to right, Geneva Taylor (Field Supervisor), Markese Cosby (Production Manager), Mollye Ladner, Chris DeGiovine (Field Supervisor), Jared Smith, Jeremy Nash (Field Supervisor), Matt Brown, Felix Taylor, Stefan Ebersole, Celeste Brown (Operations Manager).
See previous updates from around the Rhino Nation at the links below.