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Operator Emergency Procedures

If something goes catastrophically wrong during a show, this is the page you reach for.

Decision tree

Something is wrong
    │
    ├── Are people in danger? (fire, injury, etc.)
    │     └─ YES → handle people first; show is secondary. Press STOP, get house lights up if you can,
    │              find venue staff, call 911 if needed.
    │
    ├── Is the audience aware?
    │     ├─ NO  → Try to recover quietly. See "Quiet recoveries" below.
    │     └─ YES → Be honest. See "Visible problems" below.
    │
    └── Is Runtime actively crashing / unreachable?
          ├─ YES → See "Runtime down" below.
          └─ NO  → Use BACK / STOP / tap-to-jump as needed. Show probably continues.

Quiet recoveries

Wrong cue fired, audience didn't notice: - Skip ahead past it; don't try to "undo" — you can't. - Continue with the next planned cue.

Cue didn't fire when expected: - Try GO again (sometimes the operator's tap was missed or the cue was a no-op) - If still no response, tap the cue directly in the list to force-fire it - If it still doesn't fire, skip it — most cues can be missed without breaking the show

Audio/video stuttering or distorted: - It's a Node or network issue, not something you can fix from the dashboard - Continue the show; alert the tech during a natural pause

Visible problems

A speaker is silent / a screen is black / a light is out: - Continue the show. The audience will assume it's intentional. - The tech will check after.

Multiple things are wrong: - This is a network or Runtime issue. Call your tech if they're not already next to you. - Continue if you can; press STOP if the show is unrecoverable.

The show is wildly out of sync (cues firing for the wrong moment): - Press STOP to reset. - Find the cue that matches where the show actually is on stage; tap it to resume. - Better than letting it spiral.

Runtime down

Symptoms: - Connection dot goes red - GO/BACK/STOP buttons grey out - Status display says "Disconnected"

What's happening: Runtime crashed, or the network between you and Runtime broke. You cannot fire cues from the tablet until it comes back.

What to do: 1. Wait 15 seconds. Many crashes auto-restart via the configured task scheduler. 2. If dot turns green again, check Last fired: in the dashboard footer. Verify the show position. If the auto-restart happened mid-cue, you may need to press BACK once or tap a specific cue to reposition. 3. If still red after 30 seconds, call your tech. 4. While waiting: if there's any audio currently playing or video looping that the audience expects to continue — it probably IS continuing on the Pi. Pis don't crash when Runtime crashes; they keep doing what they were last told. 5. If a critical cue is missed: if there's a key moment about to happen (door unlock, big lighting moment), and Runtime is dead, you may need to manually walk to the rack and trigger it directly via the Node's local URL. Your tech can do this; you should not unless trained.

Total show stoppage

If the show absolutely cannot continue:

  1. Press STOP on the dashboard if you can
  2. Find venue staff to handle the audience announcement
  3. Get house lights up if there's a manual control nearby
  4. Audio: silence is OK — better than wrong audio
  5. Honest announcement: "We're experiencing a technical issue. Please bear with us." Not "Sorry, the computer broke."
  6. Buy time — 5-10 minutes is recoverable; 30 minutes is when you offer refunds

After the emergency

When the show is over:

  • Tell the tech everything that happened. Times, cue numbers, what you saw. They need this to debug.
  • Don't close the dashboard tab — the tech may want to inspect state.
  • Save anything written down — operator notes during emergencies are gold for debugging.

What NOT to do in an emergency

  • ❌ Don't unplug things to "reset" — most cause more problems
  • ❌ Don't open the rack or touch the Runtime PC — leave it for the tech
  • ❌ Don't go on stage — you're an operator, not part of the show
  • ❌ Don't post to social media that the show "broke" — let the venue handle communication
  • ❌ Don't promise the audience a specific recovery time you can't guarantee

Practice this

Before opening night, your tech should: 1. Pull the Runtime PC's network cable mid-test → you experience the red dot 2. Force-stop Runtime → you see what auto-restart looks like 3. Have you press STOP and recover the position

Three minutes of practice prevents three hours of panic.