Behind the Scenes at USITT

 

If you’ve ever attended the USITT Annual Conference, you know there’s plenty of variety in store in the big ballroom, or what my teammates and I refer to jokingly as “our home for the week.”  As the Coordinator for Special Events, I help to produce several all-conference events, including the Keynote Address, the Fellows Induction, the Awards for Young Designers & Technicians, the newly christened Brag and Swag (formerly New Products Showcase), the Distinguished Award Winners in Conversations, and the odd reception or two throughout the span of four days. 

These events vary wildly from traditional talking heads to the ever popular Stirling Shelton wandering the house in his even more popular kilt.  We’re constantly reconfiguring the space for each event, and Clear-Com’s Tempest®2400 wireless intercoms and CC-300 headsets were a big part of that this year. 

The scope of the Special Events room has increased steadily over the past half-decade, and 2013 was no exception. With a professional staff of five, a student volunteer crew of 10 (12 if you count our on-site drafted spot ops) and a rotating crew of stage managers for each event, Clear-Com’s two channel Tempest system was crucial in organizing communications between production and management.  The system integrated seamlessly between wireless and wired sets with no interference or breakup, and the reliability of the wireless signal allowed myself, the Technical Director (Andrew Trow) or the Lighting Director (Kristen Geisler Easterling) to move around the room during the event and still make the show happen, regardless of any hiccups onstage or backstage. 

And while the CC-300 headsets themselves are pretty comfortable, I really appreciated the ability to flip it with complete reversed functionality to the other side of my head after a solid few hours of calling camera shots.   

A big thanks to Clear-Com (and Full Compass) for making our jobs easier.

Scott Olinger is the Coordinator for Special Events at USITT. In addition to his volunteer responsibilities at USITT, he is the Chair of the Department of Theatre at Cornell College.

Full Compass, a Clear-Com Partner, supplied the USITT production team with the Clear-Com Tempest2400 systems.