Minutes of USITT-SW Section Meeting
USITT Annual Conference & Stage Expo
Louisville, Kentucky
March 30, 2006

Meeting was called to order by the Chair, James G. Cunningham. Thirty section members were present along with several other attendees. Introductions were made by all present.

The Glenn Martin, Jr. Service Award was presented to Don Childs. The Forrest A. Newlin Founders Award was presented to Doug Gilpin.

The minutes from the Arkadelphia and Huntsville meetings were presented. Doug Gilpin moved to accept the minutes and Don Childs seconded the motion. The motion passed.

Elizabeth Lewandowski presented the Treasurer’s Report. The section has $2612.32 in its checking account and $7157.12 in savings.

Tom Grabowski presented the Membership Report. The section has 25 individual and 48 student members. Tom reminded the members that renewals are due in January.

The Fall 2006 symposium was discussed. Possible topics included casting, portfolio reviews and alternative employment opportunities.

The Winter 2007 symposium was also discussed. The Chair related that the Univ. of Arkansas at Fayetteville had offered to host a symposium. The Chair offered to consult with Michael Riha about the offer. Possible topics included an 8-hour session on using Sketch Up software.

There was no old business to discuss.

The Chair stated that at the Huntsville meeting, due to his oversight, there was not an election held for the position of Chair-Elect. Doug Gilpin made a motion to hold the election now and the motion was approved. Elizabeth Lewandowski made a motion to suspend the by-laws for the purposes of the election and the motion was passed. Don Childs was nominated for the position of Chair-Elect and there were no other nominees. Don was elected by a unanimous vote.

Discussion regarding the section’s involvement in KC/ACTF was next. The issue was raised that the section needs to be more visible in KC/ACTF. Don Childs made a motion to give a national and section membership to the winners of the KC/ACTF Region VI design winners in the scene design, lighting design, costume design and sound design categories. The motion was seconded by Kris Hanssen and approved by the members. The memberships will be presented at the regional KC/ACTF festival. It was also pointed out that the section can apply for $200 from the national office for supporting KC/ACTF activities. The chair will follow up on this matter with the national office.

In other business, Joe Aldridge, the USITT Vice President for Conferences, spoke to the members about the upcoming conference in Houston to be held March 16 – 23, 2008. He asked for volunteers for programming and promotion and 14 members signed up to assist. He also stated that other upcoming conference cities being considered were Kansas City, Fort Worth, Baltimore, Nashville and Cincinnati. Hotel costs and proximity and convention center size were the deciding factors for the national selection committee.

Ideas for Professional Development Workshops for Houston were also discussed, including the designers of or a tour of the Alley Theatre, the work of Kevin Rigdon, the resident scenery and lighting designer at the University of Houston, and tours of the Tobin Collection in San Antonio and the Hoblitzelle Theatre Collections at the University of Texas at Austin.

Midwestern State University offered to host the Fall 2006 symposium previously in the meeting. Elizabeth Lewandowski asked the members their opinion of having a gallery exhibition of faculty and professional design work that was peer reviewed. Portfolio reviews for the students were also discussed, with the possibility of conducting a follow-up session in January. Both topics were well received by the members.

The members commended the national office for changing the USITT-SW section designation of states to now include the five-state region used by KC/ACTF Region VI. The designation had previously included only Texas.

Discussion was held about the three dues proposals presented by the national leadership at the section chairs pre-conference retreat and conference meeting. Of the three proposals, the second option, that the national office collect both regional and/or national dues at the same time and then give the regional dues to the appropriate section, was the option most amenable to the membership. The Chair said he would pass on the opinion of the membership to the national leadership.

The meeting was adjourned.