Alongside our educational sessions, hands-on labs, and expansive Stage Expo will be the return of our special events! These include our awards presentations, USITT's Annual Party - MoPOP, Opening Night Celebration, Saturday Night Meet Up, and much more! Explore what special events will be happening in Seattle below!
Opening Night Celebration
There’s something energizing about gathering thousands of live entertainment professionals and students together to kick off an event ALL about Powering Live Entertainment, and we want YOU to be there! Join us for our opening night celebration where we’re showing off the latest tech, bringing out special guests, and sharing our excitement for the next four days of education, speakers, networking, new technology, special exhibits, hands-on labs and trainings, and so much more! It doesn't stop there — keep your excitement going as you explore our special exhibits on display, nosh on refreshments in the atrium lobby, and spend your evening connecting with fellow attendees and exhibitors in preparation for the rest of the week.
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First-Timer's Event
Are you new to USITT? Are you a long-time Member but a Conference newbie? No problem! Our First Timers Event will help prepare you for the next four days with tips and tricks, insider info, and how to make the most of your time at USITT24.
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USITT24 Stage Expo Opening
Join us and hundreds of other attendees for our Stage Expo opening celebration! Outside the Expo hall just moments before you experience USITT24’s Stage Expo, we’ll be jamming out, celebrating, and getting energized before the doors open to a world of new products, innovative tech, demonstrations, and more networking and recruitment opportunities than you ever thought possible! This year, a sensory-friendly Stage Expo opening experience will be available in the North Lobby for attendees who require a less stimulating experience but still want the excitement of our Stage Expo opening!
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Photo courtesy of Visit Seattle/Rachel Jones
USITT's Annual Party - MoPOP
Join us at MoPOP — Museum of Pop Culture, for a night of light bites and libations with your fellow attendees and exhibitors. Explore the many sights and sounds of the world’s most immersive pop culture experiences — showcasing iconic moments in TV, rock n roll music, science fiction, and much more.
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Saturday Night Meet Up at GameWorks
Don't head to the airport just yet! Help us celebrate and close out USITT24 by attending our Saturday Night Meet Up at GameWorks. GameWorks is double the fun with an arcade and a restaurant all under one roof! Join us for games, food, and fun with your fellow attendees. The full menu will be available and hundreds of games await your skills! Don't forget to wear your badge as you will need it to enter our Saturday Night Meet Up. Explore the GameWorks website here.
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Awards Awards Awards
Celebrate your fellow industry designers, creators, managers, luminaries, and more at our reimagined awards presentation. Show your support and join in the fun as we present our winners with their accolades. After our awards presentation, all Awards, Awards, Awards attendees will travel as a group lead by our fantastic entertainment group to the opening of Stage Expo and be the FIRST attendees to enter the Expo floor!
USITT Bookstore
Leave Seattle with a suitcase (or trunk) full of USITT merch, a member-author book, and hey, why not throw in a sticker or two? Stop by the USITT Bookstore located directly across from badge pick-up in the Atrium Lobby to stock up on USITT hoodies, sweatpants, t-shirts, stickers, hats, pins, and of course, books!
Member Author Book Signing
Get your favorite industry book signed, grab a refreshment, and chat with our member-authors at our well-loved member-author book signing event! Each year a collection of our member authors sell their own literary works of art at our USITT bookstore both online and at Conference. We encourage you to order your books online before Conference or purchase at our USITT Bookstore and have your book signed during this one-on-one industry author experience!
Digital National Poster Sessions
USITT's Digital National Poster Sessions allow presenters to share their research and expand scholarly activity. They are a great way to experience new solutions to old problems, innovations, research results, discoveries, developments, and more. This year’s topics include: Building Basics (rethinking core concepts or practices), Material Movement (looking at materials and mediums in a unique or novel way), and Processed Processes (new or improved processes or protocols).
Emerging Creatives Showcase
The Emerging Creatives Showcase is an annual open adjudicated exhibition of designers, craftspersons and managers. The Emerging Creatives Showcase helps us showcase emerging talent that has, for the most part, been left unfeatured in this and other exhibitions of rising talent. The cohort for this year's exhibition features Hispanic and Indigenous Designers and Technicians.
Cover the Walls
Experience the work of your fellow designers! Cover the walls is a joyous montage of professional and student designs, paper projects, crafts and more. This exhibit allows for the exchange of ideas and design approaches with fellow USITT Members fostering an intimate atmosphere focused on design and implementation.
USITT Moving Light Match-Up
End your Thursday with Al Ridella of 4Wall on the Expo stage exploring a variety of moving fixtures and their capabilities. Learn how to discover the best moving instrument to achieve your artistic ideas.
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It's not uncommon for a beloved film to inspire a theme park or attraction. But creating a 30-minute live musical production based on a 4.5-minute segment of a fictional Broadway show in a Disney+ series was a first when "Rogers: The Musical" opened at the Disneyland Resort in 2023. The once-act play featured seven musical numbers and more than 50 costumed looks, most of which were not part of the original televisions scene but were conceptualized and created by Disney Live Entertainment Costuming. Join us for an introduction to the creative process presented by Costume Designer Joe Kucharski and hear about how the costumes came to life from the show's Costumer, Renee Harrison.
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Architecture Commission Expo Mixer
Join the Architecture Commission in the Stage Expo Floor lounge for an informal meet and greet with members of the Commission, Commission Leadership, and Exhibitors. This is a social occasion and not a venue for a sales pitch. Catch up with old friends and make new ones in this relaxed oasis on the Expo floor. The Expo Lounge area for this event has been generously sponsored by ETC.
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Resume Doctors
Have your resume reviewed and edited by our Resume Doctors at booth 3301! Our Resume Doctors will provide feedback about what works, what changes should be considered, what trends are popping up in the industry, and more to help you create the best resume possible. This is a first come, first served, opportunity; however, we encourage attendees to get feedback from multiple volunteers if they have time. Interested in becoming a Resume Doctor and helping attendees curate the perfect resume? Click here to volunteer!
A celebration and exhibition of Seattle Repertory Theatre’s designers and craftspersons showcasing their interpretations of the environments of August Wilson’s Century Cycle.
Using the most disparate materials, Sonia Biacchi creates experimental costumes used for theatre, ballet performances, and avant-garde photo shoots