Going to USITT

This week’s post is about a theatre conference run by an organization called the United States Institute for Theatre Technology. This organization puts on a four day conference every year, where members have the chance to meet and network with profession in the technical theatre world. While at HPU, myself and a group of other theatre students have gone to the conference. I’ve gone to the conference for the past two years, and am going again at the end of March. We all have a blast and learn so much about companies that we could potentially work for. Last year it was held in Fort Worth Texas, and this year it’s held in Cincinnati, Ohio.

While at this conference, we get to participate in the Tech Olympics. During these Oylmpics, we compete with other colleges from all over the country in multiple events. These events range from hanging and focusing a light to clearing and resetting a table with props. There’s also the quick change event where you’re timed on how quickly you can undress and redress a person. Last year myself and another girl from HPU placed 3rd in the props event, which was very exciting for us!

Doing the quick change during Tech Oylmpics

Doing the quick change in the tech olympics

The props table set up

There’s also the floor expo, which for theatre students is like Christmas morning. You walk in and you just stand there in awe for a minute or two because there are so many lights and noises to take in. Then you make your plan of attack to talk to all of the companies that give out free things. Once you’ve gotten all of the free things possible, you go back to all of the companies that you’re interested in, and give them your resume, etc for jobs and such.

While we’re there, we also go to seminars and classes on various topics. I’ve been to classes on how to costume an entire show from a thrift store and the class on resumes which was very helpful. They’re all very interesting and they help you a lot. I love this conference, and we always have so much fun and learn a lot when we attend.