Adventures in USITT – A Second Time Round
by Grace Kroeger
My adventures at USITT’s Annual Conference and Stage Expo were very fulfilling! As a second time attender, I was better prepared for what the event actually entailed. I knew to how to plan my days. There were many days where I had about four sessions in the same time block! Luckily, we had such a large group with people of similar interests, we could divide and conquer the sessions, and disperse notes later.
Of the sessions that I was able to attend, my favorites spanned more than just my fields of audio and media and discussed life, working within the technical field itself. The sessions were: Women’s Roundtable, Identifying Microaggressions, Backstage to Big Screen, and the newly created Media Commission. The most beneficial sessions bettered my career and presence within the work place. It was important for me to understand how to begin to navigate life post-grad, small theaters, and establishing myself as a technician. In one of the Media sessions, the panelist showed system schematics of the lowest budget productions they had worked on. They used decade old equipment, but still made it work. There will be times when the budget and equipment simply won’t exist. Conference sessions that demonstrated those experiences was extremely beneficial for me.
Besides the conference sessions, USITT had a very expansive Expo floor which I rather enjoyed! The thrill of speedily “walking” to get a Syracuse bag before anyone else is unlike anything else. I remember the first I walked into the Dark Zone- it was unreal. The music shifted, the moving lights drew you in from every direction, and the fog bubbles were calling your name to pop them. This year, it was great to see the first-timers experience these same phenomena. Not to mention acquiring all the free swag!
From the Expo Floor, I acquired information on scholarships, study abroad options, and other learning opportunities from companies. One of my main goals for going to USITT to was to bring back important information for those who could not make it. Scholarships and study abroad opportunities fall precisely under that category! And I refused to let anyone forget deadlines for anything!
On my list of goals I had for USITT, my favorite and most fulfilled was my “beef list”- I wanted to talk with Figure53 regarding QLab. (To preface, I talked to a close friend of my mentor, who prepared them I had such concerns, and that they were going to be voiced. It was all in good fun!) As a sound / media designer, I work closely and fondly with QLab. I have built up a list of personal issues I faced using the program; a lot of which deals with being a student and having access to the very limited free version. This makes it difficult to work at home and allows for work only in the space, which is particularly difficult when the classroom is split between classmates and other departments / events. So, I went to Figure53’s booth with my list and all were responded to! My main lack-of-access issue was answered with: site licenses. They vary in duration, but the home institution can purchase full licenses for multiple computers. Like a classroom. So, in a sense, any student could work outside the theater and prepare their cues and work on projects at home?! Of course, I immediately texted my audio and media professors about this. And, sure enough, we have a site license for the duration of our final project in the media class. I hope this will be used for future classes, because it makes project work so much easier!
I feel that I brought back more information and learned more this year at USITT. My first time was a bit overwhelming. I felt I needed to learn what to do, how to balance out sessions and free time, fully explore the Expo Floor, and so forth. This year, I had better footing and really focused on bringing lessons back to the University and to friends who weren’t able to make it this year.
If I had any Words of Wisdom to pass on to those thinking about attending USITT next year: DO IT. It is an incredible learning experience! It may be overwhelming your first go around, if so, just focus on the free stuff! The next year you’ll get a better sense of it and might even get a job that time around (based on true events of a friend that attended this year!). USITT is just a bunch of nerds having fun. Why not join the fun? [ ]
Grace Kroeger is a USITT NBS scholarship recipient and student at University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.