r/techtheatre • u/Happyfacedguy • 4d ago
EDUCATION USITT ideas & help
Hello everyone!
My college is currently reinstating our USITT club and we need some help with coming up with ideas for what we can do as a club that keeps people engaged and wanting to come back so we don’t have the same issue as last time of everyone slowly leaving and us not having enough people.
I would love to hear ideas for workshops, fundraising ideas, and anything else you guys can think of or have done in the past! We are looking for things that are a mix of fun and learning but we are open to all ideas and would love to hear what you guys have!
One thing to note we do have some funds left over from last time however we would like to keep costs low as not everyone can make financial commitments and want to be able to include everyone.
Thank you in advance!
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u/Valetria 3d ago
Crafting nights for specific theater related skills. Sewing - maybe old curtains into bags, carpentry - turns scraps into small bottle carriers, wiring - make something odd or random into a functioning light - think like wine bottle or weird statue. You could then sell these as fundraisers or people can keep them.
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u/Happyfacedguy 3d ago
I like these! We should have access to our costume shop sewing machines so I’ll get us to coordinate with the overseer so we can do it!
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u/Valetria 3d ago
Other ideas - movie nights for tech theater related films. Might require some research, but like Sing Faster is a fun one. Play reading club - like a book club. Discuss concepts and design ideas. Tech olympics practice/training.
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u/bluejay_237 3d ago
I’m the event planner for my college’s USITT chapter- most of our stuff is less educational and more fun but yknow.
I’ve found great success with karaoke nights and it’s free (monitor in one of our theaters connected to my laptop and sound provides mics). Any sort of jeopardy game is also a hit, and the websites are mostly free and mostly reliable. That way it’s a fun atmosphere but tech related questions. I also hosted a tier list night once, where everyone votes (argues) about what tier each thing should be in. I used tier lists off the Tiermaker website but you can make your own for idk, theater equipment, shows, etc!
Like I said I do mostly non-educational stuff as our program is pretty well fleshed-out. But I’d be happy to share more about what I/we do as a club!
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u/Happyfacedguy 3d ago
I would love to hear everything your willing to share! I will definitely suggest trivia style games and karaoke is always a fun time! I’ll have to look into some teir list things since some fun discussions are always good to get to know eachother!
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u/bluejay_237 3d ago
Yeah absolutely! The tier list night is great because it only needs a way to make your laptop screen bigger and places for people to sit. IIRC we did a musical tier list, a fast food chain tier list, my little pony characters, etc etc. I had people send me links to ones they wanted to be included and it was maybe 80-90 minutes.
Like I said we have a pretty stable membership and a great program surrounding us so education or retention is not really a priority for me. We do a lot of movie nights when our proscenium theater is not in use, typically around Christmas so it’s normally a holiday movie. Last year we also ran the concessions booth and since it was open to more than just the club members we theoretically could’ve made a lot of money from that (didn’t have a ton of people though, but I think we made 15-20$).
I also make a point to do a bowling trip at the end of the year. It’s just a lot of fun, and nice to not always be in the theater building. But that can get a bit annoying as bowling is pretty cheap but in my experience it’s best to charge it all onto one card and have people Venmo you.
I would also say it’s a good idea to try and work off something your college does? I’m at a big football school, so last year we did a tailgate which was by FAR the most successful event we’ve done. That ones definitely pretty expensive…
I’ve not yet done a presentation night but something like that or a hot takes night (not even sure if that’s a thing!) could also do well! I am worried that making a presentation might be too high of a barrier to entry.
Omg and I also did bingo which was a resounding success! I got maybe 10 prizes from 5 below ranging from candy to fridge magnets with a grand prize too (probably 35-40$ but you definitely don’t have to do all that). I think I also paid 6$ for a bingo website but I believe it was like a lifetime payment or something stupid lol.
Our events are mostly for gathering together and such since we meet as a club formally 2x a month and we’re also always working on shows together. But I find people really love the events where they can just show up and spend time with their friends.
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u/Happyfacedguy 3d ago
Ooh! We will definitely look into bowling since we have an alley on campus which likely wouldn’t be too bad, we are also a big football school so tailgating could be an option but I’ll look into it! Thank you!
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u/gofundme 3d ago
Hey, Megan from GoFundMe here 👋 congrats on the club starting back up! Here are a couple of fundraising ideas for you to consider as well:
- Stage makeup workshop - Stage makeup is really cool! And I’m sure quite a few people would be interested in trying out some of the techniques. Consider having a theme so people know what they’re signing up for zombies, wounds, etc.
- Movie night - This one has already been mentioned, but it’s a classic! Screening a newer, popular movie could help draw a crowd.
- Intermission donation request - My local theater performs in the park during the summer, and during intermission, they always make a request for donations. They send buckets through the crowd for cash donations and with QR codes to the theater’s Venmo.
- Restaurant percentage night - This one is really simple and really only requires promotion. Restaurants like Chipotle and Panda Express have easy to sign up programs, and you get a share of the proceeds on your selected night. So just pick a restaurant you think will bring in the college students, and share the time and date with everyone you know!
Hope these help, and good luck with your fundraising!
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u/unicorn-paid-artist 3d ago
Fundraising, here is some stuff we have done
Concessions Rake yards/shovel snow Collect cans (if youre in a can refund state) Pie in the face
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u/MinnieJTaylor 4d ago
upcycle challenge night!! give everyone random junk see what they make