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Hello to all CITT members,

Well, here we are at the beginning of May and spring has a toehold across the country.  It is therefore time that I update all of you on some of what has been going on while winter had its fierce grip on all of us. 

The nomination for board membership has come and gone and the following candidates who were up for election have been elected by acclamation.

Board members re-elected:

• Al Cushing (Secretary)
• Thierry Pouliot Fletcher (Treasurer)
• Michael Harris (President Elect)
• Sarah Zeilstra (Director at large)

New board members:

• Elizabeth Wilkie (Director at large)
• Karl Simmons (Director at large) 

I would like to thank all of the candidates for accepting to participate in the continuing growth of the CITT. Their full biographical details are on our website, but I would like to point out a few things about them. 

Our new president-elect is Michael Harris (Ontario).

As all past presidents know, but perhaps not the general membership, this is not a position or responsibility which we take lightly. Rather, all who have accepted this position understand the importance of the CITT and its place in the cultural sector of Canada, and have an extremely strong belief in its value to all of its members.

Al Cushing (Yukon Territories), Thierry Pouliot Fletcher (Québec) and Sarah Zeilstra (Ontario) have agreed to serve our organization for another term. We welcome their commitment to the CITT.

Elizabeth Wilkie, née Budd (Alberta) and Karl Simmons (Newfoundland and Labrador) are new to the board but are not strangers to the CITT. Both have a history of working in their respective regions to improve the working environment of production personnel as well as the visibility of the CITT.

I would like to remind all of you that according to the survey results of last year, the core values of the CITT according to you, the members, are:

• Best practices
• Professional
• Communication
• Education

The recent survey results also showed that the three things you, the members, value the most about the CITT are:

• Networking
• Sharing of information from within the sector
• The Annual Conference

The board continues to use those results to help us take the necessary steps to make the CITT more relevant and visible to all in the cultural sector. We also use them to help our past, present and future members to be able to recognize more clearly the value their membership in the CITT brings to their daily professional lives. The board is not indifferent, of course, to the requests of the members and the needs of the organization. We work diligently to improve all aspects of the organization. However, the board members cannot reach all of you. You need to reach out to your regional section and to local members and spread the word about the need to continue to network and share from coast to coast to coast.

This brings me to two other items, the CITT Awards and the Annual Conference.

CITT Awards Nominations

At our face-to-face meeting this past February, the board reiterated that as part of our Strategic Plan, it is important to celebrate our achievements and to communicate these achievements to our members and the cultural sector. These celebrations are to become part of our marketing plan.

Therefore, I am sending out a request to you the members, to participate in the selection of possible CITT award nominees – read more on the awards further down in this What’s up edition. Please take the time to reflect and offer up some inspiring candidates to our national office so that we can prepare the slate and proceed with the voting. The deadline as been extended to May 15^th and you can download the list of awards and the nomination procedures online here.

Videos accompanying the awards presentations are great, provided that we receive them in a timely manner, prior to the awards ceremony. 

CITT Annual Conference and Trade Show

We are in the midst of planning for our upcoming conference in Calgary, Alberta this August 15-18 at the stunning Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium.

Our national coordinator Monique Corbeil and the local committee headed by Murray Palmer (Chair Alberta section) are working diligently at preparing the pre-conference workshops, the conference itself along with the trade show and social events. We have reviewed the comments and suggestions from last year’s conference and it looks like it will be an exciting and interesting conference.

This year, we have reverted back to our previous schedule and moved the Thursday forum to Sunday morning. The conference kicks off on Thursday night with the Junk Challenge and will offer full days of sessions, backstage tours and social events, with more intense workshops and certification courses held 2 days prior to the Annual Conference.

Some of the workshops, sessions and events that are confirmed and are in the works are as follows:

• Sculpturing with Fosshape
• Projections: form prototype to production
• Scenic Painting Intensive Workshop 
• OH&S in your workplace
• Show Control
• Backstage Calgary East Village Venue Tour: The Pirates of Penzance
• LED's & Micro Controller magic 
• Technology vs. Craftsmanship; maintaining traditional skills in a digital world
• Historical Stage Machinery
• Product Development
• Rigging Safety and Inspection 
• Performing arts venue sustainability
• Sustainable pre-& post production design
• Theatres in Cuba: The Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy
• Backstage tour at the Banff Centre

The trade show will take place on the Jubilee stage, and will showcase the latest in products and services from our corporate members and industry suppliers. 

Please make sure that you register as soon as possible as it will help us in our planning. The success of our conference rests to a large part, in the hands of you, our membership. The more of you who attend, the more our conference will be vibrant, relevant and enjoyable to all. This year, the early registration rate has been set at $350.00 for CITT members.

Besides, if you register now, you will have one less thing to do.

Looking forward to seeing many of you at the conference! 

Cheers,

Norberts