Making Connections and Plans for the future at National Conferences
by Katie Guzzi
Here is a bit about my time at this year’s USITT Nationals:
I had a wonderful time at USITT Nationals. I went down with a group of students from my school, North Dakota State University, and had my registration covered by NBS which I am once again very thankful for. All of the workshops I went to I felt were very informative, even the ones that weren’t in my area of expertise. I enjoyed gathering all types of information that I could bring back to my professors and fellow classmates that couldn’t attend. The expo was great as well. Seeing all the new products that have come out recently, all the awesome swag companies were giving out, and narrowing my search for which grad school I would like to attend. I talked to a handful of schools that had a sound design program and even though I don’t plan on going to grad school for another few years, it’s good to get my information now to have a better idea of which ones to really look at in the future. It was an all around wonderful experience and I am definitely planning on going again next year.
Here is a bit about my time at KCACTF Nationals:
I went to the KCATF National Festival in Washington D.C. for my sound design of Handing Down the Names. The main thing they had us do while we were there was participate in a master class. The sound designers and lighting designers paired up to design a 2 minute scene with only one day to design, tech, and run the show. It was a great lesson in time management, and it really tested my abilities as a designer. We were also given an assistant to help us when we designed, one of the other sound design winners who had a different set of skills than we did. That part I enjoyed the most, especially since my assistant was one who had more experience with composing so I learned a lot from him. Throughout the week I got to know the other sound designers and lighting designers very well and made some great connections. Even though I did not win anything, getting there was a win for me. I was extremely honored to have gone and I met so many great designers whom I learned a lot from.