At the same time, you know that someone (the venue, the promoter, our the tour manager) is cutting corners when actual insightful communication isn't happening between all parties. Just as the tour will send a contract to the venue, the venue sends it's contract and technical specifications to the tour. The tone and types of communication with a venue or tour before they even get two cities away is just as good an indicator towards the likelihood of problems.
Nothing, not even brown M&Ms can make it so all of a sudden we don't need to communicate through the proper channels and follow procedures.
I get it, you're a professional. 30 years ago, you know when the IBM PC was introduced, the variation of quality of venues was likely higher. Big name, technical shows simply did not go to smaller venues, because they would fuck up.
It's not intended to be an attack on you. It's not an attack on your profession. It highlights how a professional organization can raise the quality of everyone they interact with. Like it or not, wal-mart makes its suppliers better. Maybe it takes talking, cajoling or even dirty tricks, but the key idea is you can make your suppliers better. Don't be afraid to be very sneaky in your thinking to get what you need from your suppliers.
Nothing, not even brown M&Ms can make it so all of a sudden we don't need to communicate through the proper channels and follow procedures.