No picture today. Maybe we should steal Jean's:
Show floor opened today. It feels bigger this year, and I am told it will be bigger again next year. Maybe it;s time to ask where the tool and industrial supply companies are again.
I started out today with prep for a session I sit on tomorrow. We're talking about Project Management concepts and how they relate to theatrical technical direction. It could be real long and real dry or it might be real interesting. Mostly I think it depends what kind of a turnout we get.
I spent some time on the booth today. Long enough to once again wonder about give-aways. NCSA has a new booth and they bought a 10x20 space. That's some serious juice to compete with. Yale bought a double space this year. Overall I think it isn't the trend though. There are still enough schools at the tables that we don't look conspicuously frugal.
This afternoon was the Technical Production Commission meeting. I've been to that meeting enough times now that I could likely recite it as a performance art piece. One interesting thing: Fritz asked how many of the 100 or so people that were there taught rigging and got like 75 hands. Then he asked how many were certified theatrical riggers and got three (and one was his, and one was mine). Looks like I might have some preaching to do amongst my own population.
Late tonight I was talking to Mike Katz in the lobby and a random undergrad age person came to talk to him "I've seen you in a bunch of sessions..." He asked what our advice would be for someone that wanted to be a TD at a small liberal arts college. My advice? "Get a better dream." Maybe I erred a little on the shocking end I guess. I mean that's a fine "I'd like to wind up" or "when I want to settle down to have kids" or even "after a few years" response, but to be going to school for theatre for the sole purpose of teaching theatre at a school - that's EXACTLY what's wrong with USITT. I babbled at him about "technical supervisor for Broadway" or "automation supervisor for Cirque" as more appropriate goals - even if you don't get them - but I think by then he wasn't listening to me anymore.
David, destroyer of dreams.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
USITT - Thursday
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My first day working at Disney, I got a tour of the entertainment-related stuff with another guy who had started the same day, who was interested in pyrotechnics. At the end of the day I asked him what his career goals were. He said, "My life's dream has been to work on the Epcot fireworks show!" I remember thinking... ok, you made it! At age 27, you have accomplished your life dream? Seriously? What about, like, designing new fireworks shows? I was unimpressed. Especially since he had spent almost the entire day bragging about how he had won some sort of "Best Theme Park Tech Person" award several times in a row?
Later I heard that nobody else on the pyro team liked him, because he was too uppity, so they gave him all the crappy jobs.
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