Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2010 - 79

of technical Production programming for the oakland conference because
he put together a pre-conference workshop on stress management, and he
organized five of the six technical Production sessions for the conference in
addition to his support for tech olympics. i recall that conference vividly. it
seemed everywhere i went, there was rick stephens chairing or participating in yet another session! no doubt it was his energy and enthusiasm that
had the vP for commissions select him as one of the new co-commissioners. as the conference was winding down, rick approached ben sammler
with an idea for an exhibition of technical solutions from actual production
problems. according to rick, "the idea was to document these solutions
with written articles that would accompany the exhibits and help us all 'quit
reinventing the wheel.'" Knowing that ben was the best member to take on
this project due to his extensive experience with Yale tech briefs, rick was
delighted that ben agreed to put together a proposal for the exhibition with
the proviso that he be able to select a co-chair. His selection was, of course,
dennis dorn. ben and dennis submitted their proposal before the summer
commissioners' retreat and the board of directors' meeting. although the
proposal seemed like a simple "no-brainer" to rick, ben, and dennis, it
met with a surprising amount of controversy. against a background of several years of the budget-challenged design expo's exhibitions and subsequent
national tours, the prospect of yet another exhibition to drain the resources
of the usitt was met with less than cheers and applause. as rick stephens,
who was in attendance at those meetings, recounts it, "our proposal was to
cost less than $3,000, and we had a plan to have corporate sponsorship to
pay a good bit of that. as we got into the discussion i was told finally that the
leadership just didn't believe that we could do what our proposal outlined,
particularly in the area of cost. i tried for some time to explain that what we
wanted wasn't a museum-quality touring exhibit; that we were tds and we
not only knew what we were talking about, but we did this sort of thing all
the time!" rick, who by his own admission was getting a bit hot under the
collar at this point went on to say, "Just when things were starting to get out
of hand, bob scales, who had sat quietly throughout, spoke up in his quiet
way. 'really, dick (devin, vP commissions), i think that this is perfectly
feasible.' the room went quiet for a long 'five count,', and the atmosphere
instantly changed. if bob scales, great tech god that he was, felt that this
was 'perfectly feasible' who would dare to argue? We had an approved proposal!" tech expo was officially off and running.
now all that remained to do was... raise the money... generate submissions ... create exhibit/display structures... oh, and then there is the
publishing of the exhibition catalog, all of which had to be accomplished
between august and the following March. referring to these problems, ben
sammler said, "dennis and i met and divvied up the work. fundraising fell
on my side of the ledger. What surprised me the most was how easy this was.
i made one phone call to each of the first six sponsors we targeted and to my
delight, everyone said yes. We had our funding. it was immediately clear to
me that there was an overwhelming interest and support within the industry
to recognize the creative contributions of theatre technicians." solutions to
the other problems associated with this project quickly fell into place either through the efforts of energetic volunteers or due to the overwhelming
industry support for this kind of recognition. still, the expected number of
submissions for that initial exhibit was only in the area of fifteen to twenty.
it has been reported, although largely disputed as unbelievable by those
who know him, that ben sammler was "giddy" when he reported that there
were thirty-six submissions. Quickly regaining his composure, ben then set

himself about the task of editing and printing the exhibit catalog which contained articles submitted by each of the thirty-six entries. that now treasured
exhibit catalog sold for a mere three dollars at the conference. following the
conference, the June 1987 newsletter reported, "this was an outstanding
'first' first-class exhibit." although tech expo was originally conceived as
an annual exhibit, it was later decided that it would alternate years with the
design expo and continues to do so today. the 12th tech expo was a big hit
last March in cincinnati. although it is a break from the typical every-otheryear cycle, you can look forward to a special "retro" exhibit featuring some
of the best submissions of past tech expos in the upcoming 50th anniversary conference in Kansas city. the tech expo is indeed the "crown jewel"
of the technical Production commission.
the tech expo is not the only jewel in the technical Production crown.
new Products showcase, tech olympics, and graphic standards are all ongoing projects or features of usitt conferences that originated in or were cosponsored by the technical Production commission. lesser known, but every
bit as important jewels are the networking for Women, Job satisfaction survey,
usitt survey of Perceived gender bias in technical theatre, and the tenured
td Mentoring projects. in all likelihood i have neglected to mention many
other important projects and accomplishments of this vital commission, but if
nothing else, history has shown, and i am confident that the future will bear out,
that technical Production truly is the "can-do commission." v
Bill Browning is professor and head of technical production at
University of Delaware. He is also serves USITT as td&t's associate
editor for technical production and as a member of the board of
directors.

Puzzled Over
Stage Equipment?

Integrated Products
Integrated Source

SECOA pulls all the pieces
together for you. We integrate
the engineering, manufacturing,
project management and
installation solutions for your
school or professional theater.
8650 109th Avenue North
Champlin, Minnesota 55316
800.328.5519 toll free
763.506.8800 763.506.8844 fax

www. secoa .com

*
W I N T E R

2010

*
theatre

design

*
&

teChnology

http://www.secoa.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2010