This past weekend I had the pleasure of starting off my season's travels with a trip to the Iowa State Conference! Arriving on Thursday the tenth, I flew from DC to
Waterloo with a couple layovers in between. Upon my arrival, Chapter Director Ms. Helen Brennan was ready at the airport, greeting me with open arms! Her and I kicked off a
spectacular weekend together with some lunch and a wonderful Midwestern chain, Old Chicago!
On full stomaches, we headed over to our hotel, checked into our rooms, and prepared for the arrival of the STOs as well as the adult board. While beginning to unpack
by suitcase, the door of my hotel room opened and through walked my fellow ITO Brittany Smith!! Reunited at last!! We were overjoyed to see each other again and spent a solid
five minutes in a reunion hug! From this point we headed down to a conference room and the STO and adult board started arriving one by one, each arrival a wonderful reunion or
meeting!
We got to work right away stuffing name badges, and wrapping up all festival preparation. After a delicious catered dinner, we headed over to the University of Northern
Iowa (the festival venue) to assemble all the troupe goody bags! Stuffing over one thousand bags is no easy task, but it was a breeze with the wonderful STOs! These leaders
formed an assembly line to keep the process moving, and we were done in no time!
The next morning began the first official day of the conference! We could hardly contain our excitement and we had to be over at the venue early, so we stared our day off
with a prompt 5 AM wake up. Once having arrived at the venue I helped work the registration table with the fantastic adult board and STO alumni, and the STO worked to
welcome the delegation arriving. Before we knew it, opening ceremonies were underway, and the STO presented a hilarious skit kicking off the "Traveler's Guide to Theatre"
theme!
From here, fellow ITO Brittany Smith and I continued on to our leadership workshop. We taught at a leadership luncheon with a group of eager leaders who made the
lunch a true pleasure!
Next, I moved to watch STO Candidate presentations and help pick the incoming STO board (and what a wonderful bunch of leaders all the candidates were!)
Before we knew it, day one had ended, and we were headed off to bed to unwind and prepare for a busy day ahead of us.
Day two began bright and early with a trip over to the University's West Gym which was to be the destination of the STO initiative, "Rest-Stop" which was a fundraising,
and mingling event written, created, and implemented by the STO! This event was a HUGE SUCCESS! Raising over $200 for Broadway Cares in just 45 minutes, and uniting
Thespians from all over the state, it was a spectacular event, I even got pied (all for charity)!!
Next we made a mad dash to the IE Showcase hall and I had the wonderful pleasure of co-hosting that event with several of the STO. After the Showcase and some
lunch, I headed over to the venue of our NAPS Workshop! After preparations and initial introductions, Brittany sprinted in to join our workshop having just finished performing in the second session of the IE Showcase and running across campus (her performance was INCREDIBLE!!) Both sessions of NAPS were a big success! With a combined total of over 40 participants, all ready to learn and grow, it was a wonderful workshop!
The day was sadly coming to a close as we headed back over to the Performing Arts Center and changed into our prom dresses for closing ceremonies. The day ended
with closing ceremonies, several tears, and goodbyes...
It was a irreplaceable experience, and I wouldn't have wanted to spend my first state festival anywhere else! Thank you so Iowa for having me, and my lovely EdTA Rep Mrs. Debbie Corbin, and for allowing us to join in on your festival!
Until next time, make sure to stay in touch with you ITO by following us on all of our social media (@internationalthespianofficers on Instagram, @ITOOfficial on Snapchat,
The International Thespian Officers on Facebook, @ITOViceChair on Twitter)!
Thank you!
