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Attendants:
Ivo Kersmaekers / Chair (BEL) ivoshowtex.com
John Mayberry / vice-chair (CAN) mayberryyorku.ca
Pu Lin (TW) linlinfair.net
Ian Evans (UK) ian.evansrwcmd.ac.uk
Alexandr Brkic (SRB) abrkic8010.rs
Fritz Schwentker (US) fschwentkerwjhw.com
Loren Schreiber (US) lschreibmail.sdsu.edu
Tamas Szabados (HUN) gransabiyahoo.com
Heikki Örn (FIN) heikki.ornespoonteatteri.fi
Andreas Bickel (GER) bickelbuehnentechnik-online.de
José Antonio Prades Hung (CUB) hung.acitae.comcultstgo.cu
Hazem Shebl (EGYPT) hazemzogmail.com
Bert Determann (NL) deter046planet.nl
Louis Janssen / (NL) President of OISTAT louistheateradvies.nl
Wei-Wen Chang / Executive Director of OISTAT wwchangyahoo.com.tw
Reinholt Daberto (GER) architectural Cie. [Guest]
Paul Court (CAN) [Guest] paul.courthumber.ca
Gabi Hoegg (GER) edu Cie. [Guest] g.hoegghoac.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
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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) kazumimte.biglobe.ne.jp
#Randy DeCelle (US) [guest] rdecelleas.ua.edu
1. Agenda:
WSD
DTW
History timeline
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 13-15 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
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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
