Richard Thomas
Head of Sound Design Group
The OISTAT Sound Design Group did indeed conduct our first “Virtual Meeting” on March 30 at USITT conference in Toronto, and hope that it will serve as a historic turning point not only for the Sound Design Group, but also for all of OISTAT. We used a simple telephone conference call to connect with members of the sound working group in the US, Hong Kong, Israel, Australia, and the UK. Although there was quite a time difference, everyone agreed that the minimal cost, and ease of use (each participant simply had to dial into a toll free number with an access code for our session) far outweighed the inconvenience of not being able to meet in person, and will provide many more members with an opportunity to participate in OISTAT, a key component of our mission.
Steven Brown provided an extensive overview of the programming we are working on for the 2007 Prague Quadrennial(PQ):
We also briefly discussed the 2009 World Stage Design(WSD) Exhibition.
Finally, we developed a plan to exploit the advantages of our new method of meeting, and a proposal to conduct a worldwide OISTAT Sound Design Group Educational Summit for the Fall of 2006. The planning is undergoing development. We are very excited about the prospect of doing this, and believe that the cost (less than 6 pence UK/minute, e.g., less than $50 for a full day conference!) will far outweigh the disadvantages involved in a “sound only” medium!
We further decided to have two live and at least two virtual meetings every four years. Live meetings will coincide with PQ and WSD. The virtual meetings will be held by phone.
updated July 4 2006.
