New York City, New York: September 24-27 2010 Minutes

The 2010-2011 Thespian Officers are:
Sarah Davenport, Chair and International Liaison
Troupe 2971 from Atlanta, Georgia
Susan Cherry, Webmaster and Secretary
Troupe 6548 from Crooksville, Ohio
Jeremial Light, Region I Representative
Troupe 6971 from Aurora, Colorado
John Stark, Region II Representative
Troupe 4274 from Grinnell, Iowa
Ariel Thilenius, Region III Representative
Troupe 2445 from Gainesville, Georgia
Bobby Kirwin, Region IV Representative
Troupe 7171 from Strongsville, Ohio

Discussed Proper Behavior at State Conferences:
• You never get a second chance for a first impression.
• Never say anything that you will need to apologize for later.
• Dress nicely and look professional. Always take your sash.
• Make sure you’re available before you commit to going.
• Take care of details: confirm travel arrangements, check the weather, pack notes and supplies for your workshop.
• Always be on time and offer to help in any way you can.
• Follow up with a hand written note to the chapter director and possibly other adults or SSOs.

Budget:
• Revenue - $13,000
• Expenses:
• Scholarship - $2000
• Printing - $775
• Postage - $100
• Staff Travel – $1,800
• ITO Travel - $18,000
• Supplies - $3500
• Phone - $100
• Total Expenses - $26,275
• Loss - $13,275

Group Goal:
• We want to better connect with troupes through service projects.
• We want more troupes to become involved in giving back, not just through BC/EFA, but also in their communities and through other service projects
•The ITO will challenge every troupe to participate in at least one service project this year. Examples include holding a carwash and donating the money raised to charity, collecting used clothing, or even simply participating in Relay for Life.
• The ITO will challenge every troupe to participate in at least one service project this year. Examples include holding a carwash and donating the money raised to charity, collecting used clothing, or even simply participating in Relay for Life.

ITO Jobs:
• Sarah Davenport and Jeremiah Light- Festival Activities & ITO Coordinators
• John Stark and Susan Cherry- ITO Auction Coordinators
• Bobby Kirwin and Ariel Thilenius-Leadership Workshop Coordinators

10 Minute Leadership Presentations-
• Each ITO presented his or her chapter of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey. Each ITO taught one habit.

• The Habits were:
-Habit 1- Be Proactive, taught by Bobby Kirwin
-Habit 2- Begin with the End in Mind, taught by John Stark
-Habit 3- Put First Things First, taught by Ariel Thilenius
-Habit 4- Think Win-Win, taught by Susan Cherry
-Habit 5- Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood, taught by Jeremiah Light
-Habit 6- Synergize, taught by Sarah Davenport

• Each presentation was approximately ten minutes long and included a short lecture/discussion and an activity.

• These six presentations can be combined to create a sixty minute workshop, which can be taught at state conferences..

Leadership at ITF:
• Our theme will be the Seven Wonders of the World. Each chapter of the book will be based on a different wonder.
-Chapter 1: Taj Mahal
-Chapter 2: Catacombs
-Chapter 3: The Great Wall of China
-Chapter 4: The Leaning Tower of Pisa
-Chapter 5: Coliseum
-Chapter 6: Stonehenge
-Chapter 7: Cairo Citadel

• This year we will make outlines and/or worksheets to follow our lessons. This will give leaderships participants something tangible to take with them, in addition to their leadership book.

Dance Themes:
• Blast from the Past-Tuesday
• Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS-Wednesday
• Character Cocktail-Thursday
• Futuristic Formal-Saturday

Website:

• We want to encourage troupes and individual thespians to send in stories about what they are doing in their troupes, their experiences at ITF or state conferences, how the International Thespian Society has impacted their lives, etc. This will be included on a new “YOU” page of the website
• The “YOU” page will have two subcategories: one for service projects, and one for pictures and videos of state conferences
• The service page will include ideas, stories, and pictures of service projects. This is a component of the ITO group goal.
• We will include a text box on the website, to encourage and to make it easier for thespians to send us stories.
• As the ITO travel to state conferences, we will create videos and interview thespians. The videos and pictures from state conferences will be posted on our website as part of the new YOU page.

Scholarships:

• We will share information and deadlines about scholarships and grants as we travel to state conferences, on our Facebook page, and on our website. We want to ensure that as many students as possible know about these opportunities. We do not feel as though participation is as high as it should be, considering the number of members in the International Thespian Society.

Junior Thespian Conference in Columbus, Ohio: March 11-13 2011

A Confernce Call was scheduled for October 3, 2010. During this call we finalized our group goal and discussed the new page for our website.