OISTAT Technology Commission Meeting
29-03-2012 Long Beach, USA, 09.00h
Attendants:
Ivo Kersmaekers / Chair (BEL) ivo@showtex.com
John Mayberry / vice-chair (CAN) mayberry@yorku.ca
Pu Lin (TW) lin@linfair.net
Ian Evans (UK) ian.evens@rwcmd.ac.uk
Alexandr Brkic (SRB) abrkic@8010.rs
Fritz Schwentker (US) fschwentker@wjhw.com
Loren Schreiber (US) lschreib@mail.sdsu.edu
Tamas Szabados (HUN) gransabi@yahoo.com
Heikki Örn (FIN) heikki.orn@espoonteatteri.fi
Andreas Bickel (GER) bickel@buehnentechnik-online.de
José Antonio Prades Hung (CUB) hung.acitae.com@cultstgo.cu
Hazem Shebl (EGYPT) hazemzo@gmail.com
Bert Determann (NL) deter046@planet.nl
Louis Janssen / (NL) President of OISTAT louis@theateradvies.nl
Wei-Wen Chang / Executive Director of OISTAT wwchang@yahoo.com.tw
Reinholt Daberto (GER) architectural Cie. [Guest]
Paul Court (CAN) [Guest] paul.court@humber.ca
Gabi Hoegg (GER) edu Cie. [Guest] g.hoegg@hoac.com
Beth Martell (US) USITT [Guest]
1. Opening & Introductions
2. No specific agenda: working session
Minutes: Bert/Fritz
Regrets: Erik Westerlund, Andrej Soznovski
Planning this week:
Yesterday: tour L.A. and two theatres: Thanks Fritz
Today: meeting and opening expo
5.30h–6.45h room 104C reception TC USITT
Time to visit lectures:
104c Shock-load
Tomorrow’s meeting is in ‘Shoreline A’: 9.00h
2 presentations: Alexandr (SPP project) ; and ‘payback’ to
USITT: (Andreas: Bolshoi; John & José Antonio: theatre in Cuba;
Ian: WSD) 102A 2.45h 104C Alexandr. Jerome will present DTW.
Saturday: invited with Scott Prize: Queen Mary visit: facility
tour. Gather: 10.30h exact time to be confirmed.
Saturday night: closing night
3. No further remarks.
4. Meeting [hand-on] agenda: TIP; conference in Taiwan (new
business) OISTAT’s contribution to new Taiwan Theatres, train
technicians, production managers.
5. Contribution to Taiwan New theaters in the country are being
built and the training of technicians to staff them is a
priority of the Ministry of Culture (as Wei-Wen explains.)
Taiwan expect OISTAT to help. Ultimate goal is a Taiwan-based
training program. Timescale? As soon as possible. Need for
short time results. Proposal should come quickly.
John asks how it will work. Answers/suggestions:
- This is usually a slow process with one person at the time.
- Two different approaches: fundamental / managerial. Goal is
a Taiwan training program.
- Suggestion: charts of competence. Chris van Goethem's book
on this topic will be helpful.
- ‘Instant rigging course’ might be a solution. TC could help
with basic level.
- Automation is also needed. Setting up a workshop in Taipei.
Invite big companies on automation and let them give an
introduction program.
- German quality standards three rigging levels. Is translated
into English. Gaby will send next week.
- Louis: rigging specialist can even be hired? Gaby suggests
Matthias Müller (connected to Andreas).
- Paul: personal skills are also very important, not only
professional skill. General training is important!
- Fritz: how is the situation at this moment? Answer: We have
to start somewhere. We talking about 400 people. There are no
standards yet. It’s all about handing over experience. If it’s
not there yet, it’s hired.
- Ian: there have to be shows to work on. Answer: It’s not
theoretical. Good technicians are now all working in Taipei.
Technicians are flown in from there to Koashung.
- Are existing Taiwanese technicians not the key to hand over
knowledge?
- Isn’t it difficult because the technology will be more
advanced in the south? Yes, but it’s also about the way of
work, with whatever materials. It’s about the craft.
- Bert: very practical: send people during the holidays? A:
Wei-Wen: not at the moment because of politics.
- Send out Taiwanese students to western universities?
Training and documentation of skills.
- Alex: two separate directions. Academia (long term)and
through OISTAT. All kind of specialties are needed and
involved. Very much hands on and combination with companies as
well. In the end everyone wants a paper/certificate. You have
to watch out for that.
- How to organize the certifications? Alex gives practical
examples of the situation in Belgrade and Novi Sad. He suggests
a parallel process: both practical and academically. You have
to inspire young people.
- John: it works that way as well in Cuba. Contrast between
training and certification.
- Fritz: Certificate is great, but it only tells that you have
participated. For technician certification in the US (ETCP
Rigging and Electrician) the criteria are a review of
documented experience followed up by an examination.
- Alex: use all the different aspects, even often different in
various countries.
- Suggestion to hire people from abroad to work for a couple
of years. It works in other places. Theatres need managers
anyway.
- How does it work in Egypt? Via academy in three dimensions:
set design, décor, costume design. No special educations for
production manager or technical manager, that’s education in
the field. Fancy buildings, yet no money for (good) equipment.
Poor technical possibilities. Ministry have found a way to
bring expertise to Egypt. Hazem plans for a opportunity to
invite specialists to Egypt to help educate. People are eager
to learn more, although they are not specialists. Yet they want
to upgrade. Hazem: ‘We need to change the people. It needs
vision, composition’.
- José Antonio: in Cuba certification is obliged. The minister
of education is responsible for that. Knowledge up till now
came from communist countries.
- Ivo: the SPP is still very much needed.
- Scott Henkels and Alexandr are working together for a while
now. It works very well. Scott’s university has funding for
support.
ACTION ITEMS:
- German rigging standard book: Gabi will send it to Louis. It
is also available at www.DTHG.de
- German book on electrical devices on stage: Gabi will send
it to Louis. It is also available at www.DTHG.de
- John can send the Canadian standards on competence to Ivo.
- Everything will be put on the internet by Ivo.
- Wei-Wen would like a recommendation for a speaker for
theatrical management and operation, policy making and HRM.
- Fritz will follow up directly with Wei-Wen and Pu Lin.
6. TIP: Ivo explains history of it. He calls for giving out the
books (at the shipping costs). It works best if it’s picked up
by the OISTAT centers. The centers should encourage it. It can
be marketed through the technical directors.
We are going to make a second book for the future TIP
competition in three years. Ivo did the work last time. He
calls out help. Sponsorship is an issue and generates work –
although it might be easier now that we have one edition
already.
ACTION ITEM: All TC members should encourage it through their
own OISTAT centre en look for local funding.
ACTION ITEM: Promote this edition!
7. Meeting adjourned until Friday 30-03-2012 9.00h
==============================================================
Day 2
30-03-2012 Long Beach, USA, 09.00h
Attendants:
Heikki, Louis, Andreas, Jerome, Ian, Alexandr, Ivo, Bert, Fitz,
Loren, Hazem, John, José Antonio, Tamas, Pu Lin, Wei-Wen,
#Kazumi (JPN) kazumi@mte.biglobe.ne.jp
#Randy DeCelle (US) [guest] rdecelle@as.ua.edu
1. Agenda:
WSD
DTW
History time line
Invitations
2. Opening
Raymond [guest]
Introductions
3. WSD (World Stage Design):
Ian Evans gives an elaborate presentation on WSD 9/12 September
2013 in Cardiff. He presents an update on how the preparations
are going. It is a very ambitious and tantalizing plan.
Funding is still ongoing. A lot of aspects are already covered
by sponsors, but obviously it is a concern. WSD has already
asked OISTAT for support. One does not have to be a member of
OISTAT to submit.
The event is planned in September because of the possibilities
for housing in that period. The Royal Welsh College venue is
newly built. It offers excellent opportunities for WSD. The
whole vicinity is available for the event.
WSD will combine with Scenofest (9-12 September). This will be
the first time Scenofest is being organized apart from the
Prague Quadrennial. There is an ambitious plan for making it a
great event. The theme will be sustainability. The result of
Scenofest will be an actual sustainable theater space.
The OISTAT Congress and commission meetings will be held on 1315 September.
Ian asks the TC for idea’s that can interact with artistic
performances. He gives the example of a remote controlled stage
wagon on which a dancers performs a choreography in combination
with the movement of the wagon.
Who wants to submit?
Ivo: perhaps an ‘old stuff exhibition’ can be incorporated. A
workshop on it can be given. To some extend it will be possible
to arrange. It can be combined with History & Theory Cie. in
the ‘Timeline Project’. Ian mentions that we have to consider
not to be worrying too much on where to set the level: don’t
worry about it too much.
The TC can do tours with students and designers along the expo
to discuss on how to the sets can actually be built and what
aspects have to be taken into account.
Louis suggests to co-operate with the Amsterdam Theatre School.
The TC is asked to look for the realization of 5 lectures. The
budget is 3.000,- pounds [yet to be found].
-
-
-
ACTION ITEMS [concerning all]: look for people who want to
commit themselves to the following headers:
Look for 5 keynote speakers from the TC perspective and find
funding for it.
Bert coordinates; everyone will provide names within 2 weeks.
Provide tours with TC members along the exhibition to look into
actual realization and solutions ‘realizing the dream’: later
‘Technology as a performance’: Come up with ideas for a
technical aspects that can interact with artistic performances,
for instance: a remote controlled stage wagon combined with a
choreography. Or technology that IS the performance.
Loren will coordinate
Conceive an ‘Old Stuff Exhibition’: Ivo will coordinate
Peppers Ghost workshop: John will coordinate
4. Digital Theatre Words:
Jerome Maeckelberg gives an update on the progress. DTW has
been on-line ever since the PQ. Find it via Google by DTW
OISTAT.
You will enter manually with a link to the website itself. The
OISTAT website links directly to DTW. However, there is still
work to be done by the contributors. Also new language
components continue to be added. Addition of audio files is
under consideration. Download runtime will be renovated, new
languages will be presented.
The new deadline will be WSD. A promotional CD will be
presented. Ian suggests a computer set-up on site to try the
demo.
Heikki will fire up the Finnish contribution.
5. Invitations for next meeting:
Shanghai: October 2012. Shanghai is asked to extend the
invitation to March 2013.
WSD: September 2013
Possibility: spring 2014 Hungary
Looking into potential invitation during Showtech June 2013
6. Meeting closed
===================================================================
Summary List of ACTION ITEMS:
-
-
-
-
German rigging standard book: Gabi will send it to Louis. It
is also available at www.DTHG.de
- German book on electrical devices on stage: Gabi will send
it to Louis. It is also available at www.DTHG.de
- John can send the Canadian standards on competence to Ivo.
- Everything will be put on the internet by Ivo.
- Wei-Wen would like a recommendation for a speaker for
theatrical management and operation, policy making and HRM.
- ACTION ITEM: All TC members should encourage the TIP through
their own OISTAT centre en look for local funding.
- ACTION ITEM: Promote this edition´s TIP books
ACTION ITEMS [concerning all]: look for people who want to
commit themselves to the following headers:
Look for 5 keynote speakers from the TC perspective and find
funding for it.
Bert coordinates; everyone will provide names within 2 weeks.
Provide tours with TC members along the exhibition to look into
actual realization and solutions ‘realizing the dream’: later
‘Technology as a performance’: Come up with ideas for a
technical aspects that can interact with artistic performances,
for instance: a remote controlled stage wagon combined with a
choreography. Or technology that IS the performance.
Loren will coordinate
Conceive an ‘Old Stuff Exhibition’: Ivo will coordinate
Peppers Ghost workshop: John will coordinate