News & Notices:
Announcements
Tenure Workshop at EdTA Conference
USITT's first tenure preparation workshop will provide exciting opportunities for participants. The workshop will be held in conjunction with the Educational Theatre Association's conference in Chicago, Illinois September 23 and 24.
Session include how to express work as research to non-theatre faculty reviewers with breakouts for research universities and for liberal arts schools; preparing to submit proposals to publishers; finding appropriate outside reviewers and available resources; and individual dossier reviews. Presenters include Mark Shanda, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Ohio State University; Dennis Dorn, retired faculty and frequent outside reviewer from University of Wisconsin; Tony Hardin, associate professor of set and lighting design at the University of Kentucky; Shane Kelly, head of theatre technology, DePaul University; and Sarah Myers, assistant professor of theatre arts, Rocky Mountain College.
For more information or to register, click here.
By Design Day Support Continues
Although April 23 has passed, it's not too late to support By Design Day 2011, which raises money for Behind the Scenes in the United States and Canada and Light Relief in the United Kingdom.
Some of the industry's top designers pledged that day's royalties to the two charities while others are choosing to make a straightforward donation. By Design Day was championed this year by international designers from a number of disciplines including Neil Austin, Ken Billington, Paule Constable, Jonathan Deans, Rick Fisher, Howard Harrison, Scott Lehrer, Tony Meola, Scott Pask, Ken Posner, Jennifer Tipton, and Hugh Vanstone.
Royalties have been pledged from shows on stages all over the world including Hamlet and Moonlight (Jon Clark); Warhorse, Clybourne Park, and Les Mis 25th Anniversary Tour (Constable); La Cage Aux Folles (Deans and Nick Richings); Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Deans and Nick Schlieper); Billy Elliot and Sweeney Todd (Fisher); Arcadia and Rock of Ages (Gregory Gale); The Book of Mormon and The House of Blue Leaves (Pask); Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Malcolm Rippeth); and Ghost and Tanz der Vampire (Vanstone).
To join your colleagues and pledge support, visit: www.estafoundation.org/bts or www.lightrelief.org.uk.
LED Luminaire Draft Standard in Public Review
BSR E1.41 - 201x, Recommendations for Measuring and Reporting Photometric Performance Data for Entertainment Luminaires Utilizing Solid State Light Sources, has been posted for public review on the PLASA website through June 20.
E1.41 offers recommendations for measuring and reporting the output of LED luminaires used in the live entertainment industry, with emphasis on color and color rendering. Current methods for luminaire output measurement assume the use of broad-band emitters, which LEDs are not.
Coffin Joins PLASA Team
Kacey Coffin, a board and committee member of ESTA since 2006, has joined the PLASA team in North America as executive assistant. She will be responsible for a variety of areas including membership and members service, as well as working with Certification Manager Meredith Moseley-Bennett on ETCP and with North American Executive Director Lori Rubinstein.
Ms. Coffin has been in the entertainment industry for over 10 years as co-owner of the former Fisher Theatrical. She became actively involved with the ESTA Business Education Committee in 2006 where she served as chair from 2008 to 2010. She was elected to the ESTA Board of Directors as a dealer representative in 2008. She also has been a member of the GenESTA Committee, most recently serving as chair. After the merger with PLASA, Ms. Coffin was appointed secretary of the PLASA North American Regional Board.
In 2008, she rode with the Long Reach Long Riders which inspired her to join The ESTA Foundation's Behind the Scenes Committee. In addition to her other duties, she will provide staff support for Behind the Scenes.
ETCP Announces Recognition For Contractors
The Entertainment Technician Certification Program (ETCP) Council has added the Recognized Contractor designation to the Employer and Labor Provider Recognition programs. This program recognizes organizations that use ETCP Recognized Employers and/or ETCP Certified Technicians on projects and job sites. This designation would be appropriate for designers, integrators, producers, and production companies. It would also be applicable for venues such as performing arts centers, arenas, museums, theme parks, and houses of worship.
Organizations receiving ETCP Recognition will be listed on the organization's website along with contact information as well as a link to the organization's web site.
Anyone interested in having an organization ETCP Recognized, complete and return the appropriate Best Practices Agreement. The guidelines and application form are available online. To have the information mailed or e-mailed, contact Meredith Moseley-Bennett, ETCP certification manager, at 212-244-1505 or etcp@plasa.
Plugfest to Test Controls
The next PLASA Control Protocols Plugfest will take place July 22 to 24 at the DFW Marriott Solana in Westlake, Texas. The event brings colleagues and competitors together to further the industry by testing the limits of control protocols and working out the bugs they encounter. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Plugfest began in January 2009 as part of the ESTA (now PLASA) Technical Standards Program by members of various Control Protocols Task Groups representing a variety of manufacturers. Twice a year, when they are all in the same place at the same time, they bring controllers, lights, analyzers, and various other tools and devices, and connect them all through a network to look for and resolve problems. People attend from all around the world in an effort to improve products.
Although the schedule runs until 10 p.m., the group can often be found working into the early morning hours. Most of the members of standards task groups are there and happy to provide expertise.
For more information or to participate, contact Scott Blair at s.blair@ieee.org or sblair@rdmprotocol.org.
