David Rodger
Louisville Conference Promotion Coordinator

For those attending the 2006 USITT Conference & Stage Expo in Louisville, Kentucky, getting from hotels to meetings, out to restaurants, and back again will be a piece of cake.

The Louisville Marriott Downtown is right across the street from the Kentucky International Convention Center, which is only three blocks from the Galt House Hotel and Suites (see map here, but it may take a few moments to load). And, if it happens to be raining, all three are connected by an indoor pedway.

The headquarters hotel for the 2006 USITT Conference & Stage Expo is the brand new Louisville Marriott Downtown; its grand opening was in July of 2005. The 591 guest rooms and 25 suites feature all the amenities one expects in a first-class hotel: oversized work desks, two-line phones with modem lines, voice mail, irons and ironing boards, coffeemakers, and down-filled duvets. For those bringing cars or vans, valet parking is $20 per day.

Several conference events will be in the Louisville Marriott Downtown which has 50,000 square feet of meeting space. The Fellows Address and Reception, as well as presentation of the Young Designers & Technicians Awards, will be in the Marriott Ballroom on Thursday at 6:15 p.m., followed at 8 p.m. by the popular New Products Showcase.

The Sound Commission will have a large room all to itself where equipment can be set up for designers to share their aural masterpieces. The Theatre Conference Employment Service will also be in the Marriott, as will ESTA's working groups and sessions.

The other conference hotel is the Galt House Hotel and Suites. This landmark hotel, which has had three locations since it was first built in 1835, has enjoyed its Ohio River overlook since 1972. The Galt House is Kentucky's largest hotel with over 1,300 rooms, including 600 suites of which 12 are impressive two-bedroom suites.

Reservations at a discounted rate in the USITT block can be made easily, either online or by downloading a housing form.

Two other downtown locations which everyone will want to visit, the Kentucky Center for the Arts and Actors Theatre of Louisville, are also within easy walking distance. On Wednesday morning, the Keynote, Kickoff Event, and Annual General Meeting will be held in the Kentucky Center's newly redecorated Whitney Hall.

Also the very popular Opening Night party will be in the Kentucky Center's spacious lobby and lounge areas.

Actors Theatre of Louisville will be in the midst of its world-famous Humana Festival of New Plays while the USITT conference is in town. A special discount package of tickets to three plays is available to conference attendees, as are discount vouchers to any of the plays in the festival. More information about Humana Festival tickets is available on the USITT web site, or directly from the ATL web site.

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