Nice thread Sam!
I was unable to make the workshop on Wednesday, but have heard rave reviews. Thank you to all of our speakers for taking the time to share their knowledge and experience with the audience.
My best decision was to pursue a position at Gateway Mastering back in 1998. I was hired then as a production engineer (cut references, QC masters, digital editing, etc...), and found myself with the golden opportunity to assist mastering legend (and Gateway owner) Bob Ludwig directly. Bob wanted a new assistant at the time, and I was more than willing and eager to put in the hard work. Bob and I had a great rapport (still do!), which led to him teaching me all of his mastering tricks and secrets, something he has only shared with very few engineers (only Gateway engineers, BTW). My position as his assistant naturally and quickly evolved to the building of my mastering room in 2001.
It was a lot of hard work, and still is. But, if you are presented with an opportunity you should be ready and willing to make the most of it.
As a side note: for those pursuing careers in engineering, the best way to develop your skills (I believe) is still through a good mentor + assistant relationship.
