Make the decision today to register for the 2009 Annual Conference & Stage Expo and receive pricing at the Early rate. Register online by February 12, or download and mail in a registration and save money.

For information and registration links, visit www.usitt.org/cincy.

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Students who sign up for specific Professional Development Workshops will be eligible for this year’s Sapsis Rigging Professional Development Drawing for 2009.

Students who register for Stage Rigging with Jay Glerum before the Early registration deadline of February 12 and are selected in a random drawing will have their PDW fees refunded.

Bill Sapsis and his colleagues at Sapsis Rigging are providing this significant level of assistance for three students. There is no application process. All that is necessary is for students to register for the Stage Rigging PDW by February 12. Three will be chosen at random by the USITT office.

USITT continues to appreciate the support of professional development for student members which Sapsis Rigging is again underwriting in 2009.

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Take time now to consider nominating a candidate for office for the USITT 2010 election cycle. Work is underway now to find candidates for positions on the USITT Board of Directors (officers and Directors at Large). Those nominated and then elected will take office July 1, 2010.

USITT’s leaders encourage all members to become involved in the process of identifying the future leadership of the organization. This is especially critical as USITT moves into and beyond its 50 year anniversary.

Please complete the 2010 Election Nomination Form, which can be found by clicking here. Forms are due by March 1, 2009 to allow time for review by the Nominations Committee. Questions or suggestions regarding this process may be addressed to any member of the Nominations Committee. The committee roster may be found here.

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USITT’s special, end-of-year call for donations supporting its major funds for research, international activities, student activities, and long-term support of the Institute resulted in $4,530 from 27 donors. It is a wonderful response to the call, reflecting great generosity in a time of financial stress. The holiday season giving was heightened by an action of the Board of Directors; each dollar donated was matched 50 percent from the general reserves supporting the directed donation.

The match will apply to all regular gifts received through the 2010 Annual Conference & Stage Expo in Kansas City. Take the opportunity to join in the celebration of USITT’s approaching 50th anniversary with a gift that will be matched. For more information about donations to the Institute, contact Michelle L. Smith, michelle@office.usitt.org or 800-938-7488 ext. 102. To make an online donation today, click here.

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It’s the New Year, holiday decorations are put away, everyone is getting back to everyday routines, and the cold and wet of winter is well underway. Believe it or not the Cincinnati 2009 Conference & Stage Expo is right around the corner and the deadline for Costume Commission Workshop Proposals for the 2010 50th Anniversary Conference in Kansas City is fast approaching -- Monday, February 23.

Now is the time to put ideas and impulses into action, sit down at the computer, contact those individuals who might want to be a member of a panel, and send in the proposals. Send them to Kate Ellis, cathryn.ellis@nau.edu or fax 928-523-5111. Click here for the proposal form. Pay close attention when preparing the proposal. The technical requirements on the proposal form are extremely important when preparing for a Conference.

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Eric Fielding, recent recipient of the USITT Honorary Lifetime Member award, and Peter McKinnon, long-time member of the OISTAT Executive Committee from Canada, have started work on a new book series, World Scenography, a contextualizing survey of significant international scenic, costume, and lighting design produced since 1975. There has been no comprehensive documentation of global scenography since the four-volume series Stage Design Throughout the World by Belgian professor René Hainaux covered the period 1935 to 1975.

This new three-volume series, to be published in print and online, will cover the periods 1975 to 1990, 1990 to 2005, and 2005 to 2015. The first volume will be published at the Prague Quadrennial in June 2011; volume two at the World Stage Design 2013; and volume three at the Prague Quadrennial 2015.

World Scenography is an official project of the OISTAT Publications and Communications Commission and has been endorsed by the International Theatre Institute, the International Federation for Theatre Research, the International Association of Libraries and Museums of the Performing Arts, the International Association of Theatre Critics, and the Theatre Library Association. It is anticipated that following the publication of these three volumes, OISTAT plans to publish another volume in the series every 10 years.

An international editorial board has been appointed by the co-editors and six associate editors have begun the work of organizing teams of contributing researchers and the process of identifying potential content for volume one.

Anyone with suggestions of significant designs from the 1975 to 1990 period, who would like to serve as a contributing researcher for the American content of the first volume, or who would otherwise like to be involved in this project, should contact Eric Fielding eric@worldscenography.org.

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The draft standard BSR E1.18-1 - 200x, Standard for the Selection, Installation, and Use of Single-Conductor Portable Power Feeder Cable Systems for Use at 600 Volts Nominal or Less for the Distribution of Electrical Energy in the Entertainment and Live-Event Industries, is available for free download and public review through February 23.

BSR E1.18-1 is part of a larger E1.18 project to offer guidance on portable power feeder cable systems. This particular draft document contains the majority of the recommendations suitable for most common portable power distribution situations. Public comment is requested so the draft standard may reflect the consensus of informed opinion in the live entertainment industry.

For more information, contact Karl G. Ruling, Technical Standards Manager, ESTA, 875 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1005, New York, NY 10001; phone 1-212-244-1505; fax 1-212-244-1502; or e-mail standards@esta.org.

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The WSD2009 Online Application window is now in full operation at www.wsd2009.kr/members.asp?apply_type=de. Designers are encouraged to submit entries by filling the required information, and then providing digital files of design works, a curriculum vitae and credit card information. Participants will be able to upload the digital files through the online application system.

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