News & Notices
Two Committees Named to Assist Development
USITT is entering a new era of fundraising. Two new ad hoc committees have been appointed by President Joe Aldridge, each with the common mission of continuing USITT’s efforts to enhance the benefits of membership to each and every member. Development Chair Dennis Dorn is overseeing the efforts of both committees: the USITT Fellows Fund Committee and the USITT Development Committee.
Constituents of the USITT Fellows Fund Committee are members:
- Richard Arnold
- Fred Foster
- Tim Kelly, chair
- Sylvia Hillyard Pannell
- Elynmarie Kazle Zimmerman
USITT Development Committee members are:
- Bill Byrnes
- Daniel Culhane
- David Rodger
- Mark Stanley
- Carolyn Satter
- Bill Teague
- Sherry Wagner-Henry
- Kim Williamson
- Stephanie Young
Ex officio members will be: President Aldridge, Fellows chair Randy Earle, and Executive Director David Grindle
USITT is a significant influence and activity for a lot of people in the entertainment industry. For many of us it has provided opportunities as active professionals to showcase our work. Furthermore, USITT has furnished a means to celebrate the accomplishments of promising student members and to introduce them and their work to the industry and membership.
Raising money to help support these ventures and to encourage and disseminate research among members is already an established practice within the Institute. Thanks to the efforts of Larry Hill and Dick Durst who headed the “USITT at 50” campaign, much has been accomplished. Before that campaign, and to a large extent this remains true, much of the Institute’s non-operational activity has been achieved through the use of what are euphemistically called “pass-through accounts.” Our emphasis now is to transform our funds more fully, i.e. making them endowments in the true sense of the word, so that the opportunities of the past will remain available and even enhanced in the future.
A brief informal joint meeting was held at the end of the recent Board of Directors meeting in Las Vegas to introduce members and establish initial procedures. In the months that follow the committees will meet electronically and plan to meet at the USITT Annual Conference & Stage Expo in Charlotte in March 2011. By that point, the plan is to have specific strategies and initial development tools in place.
The members of the two new committees have taken on a great responsibility because their own careers and friendships have grown through USITT. They are committed to continuing and growing what is currently available to all. Be sure to thank them for their generosity and be sure to be generous yourself when receiving Institute appeals. Our future depends on you.
