This past weekend I had the privilege of attending the 2017 Georgia ThesCon! I’ve had my eye on attending this festival since I was first elected as ITO Vice Chair last year, and after an intense decision-making process, I was happy to declare MacKenzie Staples (both ITO At-Large and Georgia STO Vice Chair) and I would the be representative attending this state. I arrived on Wednesday afternoon and was picked up at the airport by Mac herself, whom I had not seen for over four months. We headed to Columbus, where the conference was being held, and met up with several of the other Georgia STOs. After a fun evening of dining and dishing on Thespian stories, the STOs got to work setting up their booth for the weekend. This was the moment I had truly been waiting for--getting to reconnect with Kimberly Staples and Georgia Chapter Director Paul Hampton. After finalizing everything for the busy day ahead, everyone headed back to their hotels and fell asleep, nervously anticipating Day 1 of ThesCon!
On Thursday the STOs headed to the Trade Center (the central hub of the festival for registration, dining, workshops, and more) bright and early. Around noon that day, the 5,000 Georgia Thespians began pouring in to pick up badges, reunite with old friends, and check out the early merchandise and college tables. The Baby STOs (the STOs who had been recently elected at Georgia’s LeadCon several weeks ago and who would be taking over as STOs after ThesCon ended) arrived quickly after to start helping out with fundraising. The students had created several successful fundraising mechanisms, from selling buttons they made themselves to a “DeciBills” competition between the Yellow and Blue tracks of Thespians (each with an alternate schedule for half of the 5,000 students.) All of the proceeds went towards fundraising for Conference Grants, which had sent 20 students to ThesCon that year alone. Soon, the STOs and I headed over to the Bill Heard Theatre where mainstage shows, opening ceremonies, and closing ceremonies took place. The STOs kicked off ThesCon welcoming the students in a beautiful scene illustrating the student’s power to broadcast their voice, and after a run of Minute to Give It, the all-state show Memphis took the stage. The evening concluded with workshops, improv, and a festive 50s night at the dance!
If on the first day students were adjusting to being back at festival, by Friday they were ready to take it by storm! With IEs, college auditions and scholarships taking place all day, the STOs were stretched, effectively handling potential issues that came up from scheduling. Fundraisers were more than off to a great start, and the Baby STOs were working hard collecting donations from students as they circled the Trade Center. The STOs and I taught several sessions of the Leadership Workshops as well, and every time had a number of enthusiastic attendees! Throughout the conference the STOs announced shows, gave directions, and worked hard to facilitate with every Thespian’s needs.
By Saturday tearful goodbyes had already begun, and totals were tallied for all of the money raised through fundraisers--almost $5,000 was raised for conference grants, enough to send 38 kids, an entire troupe of Thespians, to ThesCon next year! In one minute GA Thespians raised $3,200 for the Send a Troupe foundation, and several thousand dollars were fundraised for Broadway Cares as well. At closing ceremonies, after a showcase of some tremendous IE performers, the STOs bid farewell and set the stage for the Baby STOs to step up as the future leaders of Georgia Thespians, at LeadCons, ThesCons, and the International Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska. I was so privileged to have attended and been a part of the hundred of volunteers who made such an incredible weekend of theatre happen. Special thanks to the Georgia Thespian Adult Board for their hard work, kindness, and generosity, to whom I am so grateful for all they gave this past weekend and all year to making ThesCon come to life. Stay connected with this event and more all as the ITO travel this year by following us on all of our social media (@internationalthespianofficers on Instagram, @ITOOfficial on Snapchat, The International Thespian Officers on Facebook, @ITOChair on Twitter)!
