Several Southwestern College technical theatre students recently attended the United States Institute of Theater Technology (USITT) Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. This was the first time a group of SC students attended the conference. 

Kenny Allman, performance facilities and technical director manager at Southwestern College, accompanied the students to the four-day event at the Kentucky International Convention Center. There were approximately 8,000 attendees from around the world.

“One of the most important aspects of our attendance is that this is a professional conference (not just for college students) where students have the opportunity to work side-by-side with professionals in all realms of the theatrical production process,” Allman says.  “The conference consisted of multiple opportunities for learning and offered traditional classroom settings (about 300 classes) as well as a ‘Stage Expo’ setting where different companies presented their products and held classes associated with theatrical production.”

Students who attended were Jacob Reynolds, Glendon Dixon, and Ben Ekhoff, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Carson Davis, Russellville, Arkansas; and Jacob Reynolds, Sapulpa, Oklahoma.

Each of the students was exposed to over 150 theatrical graduate schools and more than 100 employers actively conducting interviews at the conference.

“For these students to be able to attend the conference, each of them was required to produce two different types of resumes (professional and theatrical) as well as a portfolio of their work,” Allman says.  “One of the benefits the conference offered was for professionals in the industry to evaluate resumes and portfolios and recommend changes to increase their chances for employment and/or acceptance into graduate school.”

Allman is already planning to take students to next year’s USITT Conference in Houston, April 1-4.