The annual USITT Conference kicked off in high style on Wednesday, March 9 at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, N.C. After morning sessions covering everything from studies on stage platforms to lighting apps for smart phones, USITT President Joe Aldridge introduced Ken Lambla, Dean of the College of Arts and Architecture at the University of North Carolina Charlotte, to give the keynote address for the conference. In his comments Aldridge announced the formation of the USITT Rigging Safety Initiative, which will subsidize inspections of qualifying secondary schools rigging systems thanks to seed money from J.R. Clancy. J.R. Clancy, and other theatrical manufacturers, suppliers and distributors will showcase their latest products and services when the Stage Expo opens on Thursday. Throughout the show Stage Directions will be live-blogging panels, uploading video and interviewing attendees. For the latest news visit www.TheatreFace.com often, and follow Stage Directions on Twitter (@stagedirections).

I don’t have much information yet on the USITT Rigging Safety Initiative—just what was announced at the keynote speech, but I do have an appointment to speak with USITT Executive Director David Grindle, so will get as much info about that as soon as I can. Aldridge did announce though that the Initiative is due to a grant from J.R. Clancy, with matching funds from the USITT Board. The idea is to have as many high schools have their rigging systems inspected for free until the money runs out. Schools will apply to the program via a form on the USITT website. (The form is not available yet.) Schools will be judged based on need by an independent board of USITT members. Funds are finite so its imperative that schools apply as soon as possible. Aldridge also asked for more donors so that the program could help as many schools as possible. I live-blogged the entire keynote speech, including Ken Lambla’s speech on TheatreFace.com here.

Before the keynote address I attended a panel analyzing the various stage platforms, analyzing each for price, strength, and ease of build. You can read my recap of that session here. I filmed that conference, so I should have video of that up later tonight.

Meanwhile, Justin Lang, new editor of PLSN participated in a panel on lighting apps for mobile devices. I’ll get some audio of that posted later this evening as well.

 

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