CHAIR
1. Assign/Oversee tasks of ITO members throughout the year.
2. Maintain communication with ITO members, EDTA Board, and home office throughout the year.
3. Contribute articles or assistance to ITO web/festival publication of GOBO.
4. Compile a written report of ITO activities to be submitted to the home office contact who will forward it to the board. The reports should be submitted to the board at least quarterly and more often if necessary.
5. When regional representatives are unable to fulfill their commitments, step in and represent the ITO at State Conferences. Perhaps conduct workshops on student leadership at state conferences.
6. Attend Thespian Festival, oversee and participate in all assigned activities, such as: planning and coordination of meeting with SSOs and Thespian volunteers; planning and coordination of the leadership training; conducting meetings to be held after the election of new ITO to develop goals and review Festival activities.
7. Meet all published deadlines to earn discounted or comp Festival registration.
8. At the conclusion of term (July 31st), prepare a packet of information, tips, and suggestions to pass on to his/her successor, review role of ITO and make recommendations to the home office liaison.

WEBMASTER
1. Update GOBO, the ITO website (www.itothespians.com), keeping it current through the year. Responsibilities include: editing, design and layout, linking to the EDTA web page.
2. Publish special Festival edition of Read This Now! to be passed out to the Festival delegates as a method of public relations for the ITO.
3. Act as secretary at all ITO meetings. After each meeting publish and distribute the minutes to the ITO Board and the adult liaisons.
4. When regional representatives are unable to fulfill their commitments, step in and represent the ITO at State Conferences. Perhaps conduct workshops on student leadership at state conferences.
5. Attend Thespian Festival and assume all assigned responsibilities, such as participating in the leadership training sessions and these and these additional functions: the meeting with SSOs and Thespian volunteers; the mainstage reception; the ITO auction; and, the meeting with newly elected ITO.
6. Meet all published deadlines to earn discounted or comp Festival registration.
7. At the conclusion of term (July 31st), prepare a packet of information, tips, and suggestions to pass on to his/her successor, review role of ITO and make recommendations to the home office liaison.

REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES
1. Communicate with troupes, Thespians, and state student officers in the region.
2. Represent ITO at state conferences within region. Perhaps conduct workshops on student leadership.
3. Write and submit articles for GOBO, throughout the year. Write and submit articles for the state newsletters or web pages in the region.
4. Attend Thespian Festival and assume all assigned responsibilities, such as participating in the leadership training sessions and these and these additional functions: the meeting with SSOs and Thespian volunteers; the mainstage reception; the ITO auction; and, the meeting with newly elected ITO.
5. Meet all published deadlines to earn discounted or comp Festival registration.
6. At the conclusion of term (July 31st), prepare a packet of information, tips, and suggestions to pass on to his/her successor, review role of ITO and make recommendations to the home office liaison.
During Festival ’89, state student officers met with Ms. Pam Ware (ITS past president, board member, Region III Director, and volunteer extraordinaire) after a lunch period and became so interested in their work that they met again at 6 a.m. the next morning. This became known as the student officer’s steering committee. The committee realized that ITS, a student honorary organization, did not have a student leadership group at the international level. Discussion followed on ways to elect such a group. The consensus was that such a group could regenerate itself at meetings at Festival. Election would be from student officers, not necessarily the whole student delegation. That year, to be sure the students chosen were serious enough to attend all the meetings; they elected the steering committee at the end of the week. They decided that they could continue to operate in this way: attend the Festival as juniors, be elected at the end of that week, and actually handle responsibilities the following year, as seniors. Pam Ware was largely responsible for guiding the students. At the August 1989 meeting of the ITS Governing Board, the Board adopted the proposal for an international student board. Thus, the International Student Board was conceived and brought to life.
 

Click HERE to see a list of past ITO.

 

So you want to be an ITO, huh? Well then, you've made our day!

In an effort to help you with your campaign, we're hosting this "run for ITO" section. Many previous candidates, including us, have felt that they knew too little about what life as an ITO entails (or what the election procedures are really like).

Here's a Q & A style section that should help to answer some of your questions.

How often do the International Thespian Officers travel? Do I have to pay for this?!
We travel at least four times a year in addition to the International Thespian Festival:
1) We go to a planning meeting in September, usually in New York.
2) We go to our own state conference/festival (plus any of the applicable pre-festival state board planning meetings).
3) Optional - we have the option of going to a state festival outside of our own. State reps: this is less "optional" and more "expected". If you want to, you can do more than one on top of your own. Sam Watters went to seven or something crazy like that.
4) We go to a Junior Thespian Festival. There are usually two, and they're usually in the South.
5) We go to a planning meeting at the home office in Cincinnati in the spring. The date is negotiable.

All of our travel is paid for by the EdTA - airfare, hotels, food. The airfare and hotel is prepaid; the food is ours to pay for initially but we get reimbusred.

How many "hours per week" can I expect to spend?
This is a difficult question, but we know that you want to have the work quantified to ease your nerves. Basically, it changes - in the weekends before a meeting or festival, you will be working a lot (probably several hours). You have to prep for each festival by practicing your leadership workshop. You have to prep for each meeting by completing the bring-with assignments, oftentimes a brief presentation on something to show the adult board. On some weeks, you will not do anything except answer e-mails. (Hint: want to get us to know you? E-mail us or talk to us on Facebook or Myspace. Keep in mind that we get a vote, so our familiarity with you will not hurt!)

Without degrading the other positions, I will say that the title of Webmaster/Secretary is the most work-intensive. It's just the nature of the job. Prospective webmasters will spend far more time doing "work" than the others - especially if he or she decides to redesign the website. (In case you're wondering, I do NOT recommend this). The secretarial duties are intense as well - your minutes are the ones that are distributed to the board, next to the chair's statement, and so they should be thorough (probably 3-5 pages per meeting, to quantify it). You are responsible for maintaining the visual identity of the ITO by using our logos and typeface sets. You are responsible for print-readying every document, not just your own - all of the auction letters, etc come to the secretary for proofing and layout, which is where you orient the text so that it fits on our letterhead, then you save it as a PDF and email it back to the region rep or chair for them to print and ship.

The chair can expect a lot of work as well. He or she is responsible for writing the summary statements that the adult board reads. The type of work here is more thoughtful and less sit-down-and-make-something.

The regional reps do the most travel and the most public speaking. The "work" here is not like that of the chair or the secretary - you will not have hours of document editing or sitting and typing (like I, the secretary, am doing right now). On the other hand, this is the position that the statement you might have heard about sacrifice comes in. You will lose the most number of weekends, because (theoretically) you will be traveling to other states for their conferences. You will present the leadership workshop so many times that eventually you will be sick of it.

In addition to the titled jobs, everyone gets a secondary, yearlong job: two are assigned to the collection of items for, and organization of, the ITO auction; one is assigned to the design of the weeklong Leadership Workshop; one is the advocate for Broadway Cares, and works with Joe Norton, an EdTA board member and rep from BC/EFA; one will be the festival activities coordinator; and the last is the ITO activities coordinator.

Which position is right for you? Well, the region rep is the right job for you UNLESS you have extensive web design and/or document management experience, or you are already an ITO. This leads us to...

Do you have to already be an ITO to be the Chair?
Technically, no - in fact many Chairs in the past got it his or her first year at being an ITO. But, historically if a current officer runs for a second time, he or she usually wins. Chair is usually a job reserved for a person who has already served as a regional representative. We don't mean to discourage you from running, but this is the information that we wanted you to know about in advance - to be blunt, Chair is typically the office of a second-year ITO.

Do you get paid?
No, but we get compensated travel that is worth quite a bit if you add it up. Think of it as an investment: if you are elected, the EdTA trusts you enough to spend a pretty substantial amount of money in shuttling you around to various events across the country. I'm not at liberty to saw just how much, but I will say that the ITO is a project that brings a substantial debt to the organization (AKA, we spend more on travel, scholarships and other expenses than we take in with the Auction). This is an inticement to take your position seriously.

What do you do at the International Thespian Festival?
We do everything, basically. We introduce shows, we run the leadership conference, we organize the state student officers, we sit at the ITO table and give directions, we work in the ITO office, we distribute documents, etc. We are the logistical make-it-happeners.

What do you do at state festivals and the Junior Thespian Festivals?
The most important thing that we do is present the Leadership Workshop. Typically, we teach at least two sessions of it, but often more. In addition, we act as emcees and fill in for student state officers. Again, we are the logistical doers, but our job is a bit more glamorous at the smaller events. Our feet don't hurt quite as much at the end of the day.

How should I campaign?
You do your campaigning at the Leadership Workshop each morning, and at breakfast right before it starts. We will give you a brightly colored hat of some sort that you can decorate, so everyone knows you are a prospective ITO, and it is expected that you will go out of your way to meet your voters. On Friday you will give a speech if you are running for Region Representative and then on Saturday those who are running for Chair or Webmaster will give their speeches.

Regarding things to bring: you should definitely bring a website porfolio and resume (several copies, preferably) if you are a prospective secretary, but this is the only position that is really obliged to bringing documented proof of competence. The region rep competition is a little fiercer, so sometimes they bring posters or buttons or other cute little trinkets, but this is not entirely necessary (you can win without them, trust me).

How competitive is this?
It depends. You could have anywhere 1-100 people running against you or no one at all. If no one runs against you then the delegates at the Leadership Workshop take a vote and if you get majority then you get the position. (This happens very rarely so don’t be on it.) The margins for running are mostly slim.

Q: What is the campaign schedule?
It all happens in the Leadership Workshop, which is from 8:00 to 9:30 AM each morning from Wednesday through Saturday. Your breakfast will be in the building with the workshop, regardless of where you reside (and your other meals) - you will eat around 7:30-8:00 with your fellow leaders. This is a prime campaigning opportunity.

How do some people get elected over others?
Well, it's hard to say. I think that public speaking and charisma is more important than many candidates think - voters know that the ITO have a very public presence at Festivals, and if you can be energetic and prove that in front of audience, you will perform well, then you will have an advantage.

It's imperative that you get to know your fellow Leadership attendees. If you don't meet them at breakfast and as we're beginning our daily lessons, they will likely note vote for you based on your speech alone - they will vote for the person that went our of their way to meet them and say "Hi!" each morning.

If there is more than one webmaster with strong work, the one with the better web experience (or document design/management) will have an advantage, but there are so many factors involved that it's worth running, even if you don't think you're a competitive applicant.

Should I run?
If you are truly dedicated to the work, and you care about theatre education, then absolutely! It is an experience of a lifetime, truly - there will probably be no other time in your life where an organization offers to fly you across the country to lead thousands of fun kids through some of the most exciting events on a student's calendar.

Even if you aren't sure that you can win, it can't hurt to try. If you've run before, run again! Several past ITO's were not elected their first year, but came back and ran again - successfully!