The next STSG conference will be held on Saturday 18th February 2012 at Rugby School, with an 'extra' visit to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford on Friday 17th February. All accommodation places have now been taken, but there are still a few day places remaining.

This year we have a busy line up of technical workshops and seminars, as well as the usual lunch and dinner social events. Confirmed supporters include White Light, Stage Electrics, Charcoalblue, AC Entertainment Technologies, Stage-in-a-Box and TopHex TheatreCom.

Delegates will receive final confirmation details directly by e-mail. Your booking details are shown on the 'Members' section of the website - please check that all details are correct.

1000

Meet, tea/coffee, exhibitors.

1030

Session 1
Lighting Design Workshop – Jason Larcombe, White Light
Jason will be starting by taking us back to the fundamentals of lighting design in order to re-evaluate our design choices and maximise limited facilities, as well as passing on tips for effectively teaching and demonstrating lighting to students (without getting bogged down in technical equipment and jargon). The workshop will be adapted to suit the knowledge range of the delegates, and is intended to inspire us in our own methods of passing on lighting skills to the students (and teachers) we support. There will also be plenty of tips and ideas to add into our own lighting for the next production!

1230

Lunch

1400

AGM

1415

Session 2
Sound Design Workshop – James Gosney, Stage Electrics
James will be looking at the principles of good system design and getting the best out of your venue, starting with revision of the basics, then covering topics such as speech intelligibility, realistic budgeting, choosing the right equipment, digital versus analogue, surround sound, microphones and a look at the differences between theatre sound and concert sound. James will also show how to effectively plan an audio system, using the Macready Theatre as an example. Again, the workshop will be adapted to suit the knowledge and needs of the delegates. The session will be split into two, with the second half covering more advanced system design. There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions.

1500

Tea/coffee break, exhibitors.

1530

Sound – part 2

1630

Session 3
Theatre Planning Seminar – Andy Hayles, Charcoalblue
Following on from Friday’s visit to the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Andy will introduce the role of Theatre Consultant and give a brief overview of Charcoalblue’s involvement in this major project to create a world-class performance space. Andy will then talk about three school projects – firstly, the ‘North Wall’ at St. Edward’s School in Oxford, a refit of a former swimming pool to contain an intimate 270-seat flexible theatre; and secondly, the recently-completed major refit of Repton School’s theatre; and finally, the new-build multi-purpose theatre at The Leys in Cambridge which is currently under construction.

1730

Move to hotel (for those booked for the evening)

1900

Dinner.
 

Friday 17th February

Backstage tour of the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford with Theatre Consultants Charcoalblue. This is an optional extra and free to all members and invited guests. Meet at 4pm at the Riverside Coffee Shop in the RST. More details can be found in the confirmation letter.

Booking

Members can download a booking form from the Members' Area or request a copy from the Group Administrator. We also welcome new and potential members, as well as our drama teaching colleagues.

All accommodation places are now taken. We can offer a reduced rate of £30 for those who don’t want to stay overnight, and it’s free for those who just want to come to the day (without dinner).

All Friday accommodation places are also taken.

As with previous years, partners and guests are welcome to join us at the hotel in the evening or meet-up at lunchtime. Costs are listed on the booking form.

We are thankful to all of our supporters for allowing us to keep the delegate cost as low as possible.

Other supporters:

Top

Comments from the conference:

  “It was brilliant; I came home with lots of ideas. (It was) organised so well.” - Head of Drama, Ipswich School.

  “The whole event was very worthwhile.” - Hampton School.

  “It was really good to meet other people doing the same thing and discuss issues.” - Sir James Smith's School.

  "It was a really good mix of informative workshops, useful networking opportunities and socialising!" - Dean Close School.

  "Well staged, effective and useful - and very friendly. It's a very worthwhile event." - Hurst College.

Our second conference was held in February at Rugby School in Warwickshire. The event was generously sponsored by White Light, Philips Selecon, Showcomms, A.C. Entertainment Technologies, Zero 88 and Stage Electrics, with workshops run by KV2 Audio, Philips Selecon and Showcomms.

The first session of the day looked at ‘active’ or self-powered loudspeakers and discussed some of the advantages and disadvantages of their use over conventional loudspeaker systems. The session was presented by Andy Austin Brown of KV2 Audio. There was no doubt that everyone was impressed by the clarity and volume from KV2’s range of small portable loudspeaker systems. The clarity and distinction of different instruments in a typical music track was outstanding, as well as the frequency range from the relatively compact boxes.

After lunch, the conference divided into groups for two smaller workshop sessions. The first was a presentation by Selecon Lighting, looking at the company’s popular range of lanterns and the particular features making the lanterns suitable for school use. We were also given a ‘sneak-peak’ of Selecon’s new range of profile spotlights.

The second session was a demonstration by Showcomms of wired and wireless communication equipment for use backstage. The conclusion seemed to be that on a budget it’s best to avoid wireless communications in favour of the reliability of traditional ‘Tec Pro’-style systems, despite the restriction of cables!

Brian Attwood, editor of The Stage newspaper, chaired an open-forum session, in which it was discussed how best to encourage and support young people into backstage theatre careers, amongst other issues. The intention is for three or four members to form a sub-committee to liaise with The Stage and take things forward.

A suggestion was made that the STSG could develop a relatively simple, self-administered, ‘reward’ or qualification scheme to recognise the many students involved with backstage theatre at an extra-curricular level, with the intention that it will perhaps encourage them to consider taking a career further. Any feedback or suggestions on this would be welcome, particularly if you’re currently in charge of a group of students backstage.

The Group’s AGM closed the daytime sessions, with most delegates adjourning to a nearby hotel for dinner, drinks and an overnight stay.

Photographs from the day and evening can be found in our Gallery, or on our Facebook group. The next conference is likely to be in 2012, at a venue to be decided.

  "A really well organised and enjoyable event."