1. Changes to the Missouri State Thespians 2012

2. Leadership 2012 - The format to Leadership will follow a workshop schedule. -Both students and adults will be able to attend workshops that focus on events they will be participating in. - Suggested number of student participants limit raised to 10. - Price per participant $12 – will still include lunch. - Early Registration will open the Friday evening of Leadership, General Registration will open at 8:15am Saturday morning. - Personalized Consent Forms for attendees

3. Leadership (cont.) Other changes that will happen at Leadership this year: -Registration for the State conference will open at Leadership on Sept 8th and close Nov 5 th. (approx 8 weeks). The timing will be better for teachers and school production calendars. - Honor Troupe Presentations - Student Elections and voting - Conference Logo Presentations and voting - Will be held in Columbia, MO. Held in the middle of the state.

4. Honor Troupe - Collection Season will be September 1 st to August 31 st (a school year). - Presentations may be hardcopy (books) or electronic (PowerPoint/files). - A student representative from each troupe will have up to 5 minutes to present their material to a panel consisting of 1 State Student Officer and 1-2 Troupe Director(s). - The new Honor Troupe form will take presentation into account, and will be rubric based. Conference registration will also be a component. - Honor Troupe Status will be announced at Conference.

5. Honor Troupe Survey Results

7. Student Elections - - Students may submit an interest in running from March 1-May 31, 2012. - - Troupes may submit up to 2 candidates to interview. - Face to face interviews will happen at the Summer Board Meeting at Tan-Tar-A (this year that will be July 9, 2012). - Students will be notified of the status of their submission by Aug 1. - Students will give their speeches and voting will happen at Leadership (still 4 votes per troupe). - Those students who are elected will be Student Board Elect members – who will be mentored from Sept 2012-Jan 2013. - Their term of office will begin in Jan. - Student Elect officers will need to attend 1 day of the Dec (this year Dec 8,2012) board meeting.

8. Adult Elections Adult Elections will be reflect the same changes as those made to Student Elections - Adults will be elected in September at Leadership. - Newly elected adult board members will be given some conference duties and will be expected to attend 1 day of the Dec Meeting – this year Dec 8, 2012.

9. Conference Logo Troupes will have the opportunity to submit Conference Logo Designs - The first 5 troupes that register their interest in presenting will have the opportunity to do so at Leadership (Time Limit of 8 minutes) - Student Officers will select the theme and post it on the website during the July board meeting. - Specifics (as to how the designs must be formatted) will also be posted on-line at the same time as the theme is announced. - Troupes will present their design ideas to the Leadership delegates, who will vote on their choice for the upcoming conference. - The troupe whose logo wins will receive a free Tech Challenge or Improv Olympix team registration at that year’s conference.

10. Leadership Site While we greatly appreciate the hospitality that schools around the state have generously provided for Leadership, we feel it is time to move to the Conference Site in Columbia for the following reasons: - Columbia is in the middle of the state. - Leadership will emulate the conference atmosphere. - Rooms will be the appropriate size to our needs (and we will have several rooms). - We will not have to “share” space with other school events. - We will be able to provide some Friday night activities (Honor Troupe adjudication, some performance and workshop opportunities). - Hotel rooms (for those who wish to arrive on the Friday evening) will be readily available.

11. Student Officer Responsibilities New Student Officer Duties - Take over TOTS EAT promotion for MST. - Serve on adjudication panel for Main Stage Submission. - Take over Philanthropy fundraising for state (Broadway Cares, etc.) - Serve on Honor Troupe panels - In charge of some conference events: timekeepers, 1 Act Stickers, Workshop Counters - Thank yous for guest artists - Help with registration for conference(s) - Receive a board vote on matters that directly impact the conference

12. Board Meeting Location Almost all board meetings ( with the exception of July and occasionally December ) will be held in Columbia, MO - This allows all Board members to meet in a central location for the state. - No confusion about where the meeting(s) will be held - The only exception to this will be the July summer retreat and the Dec meetings on years the conference moves site.

13. Board Meetings and other Important 2012-13 Dates 2012-2013 Dates - March 31 Board Meeting in Columbia MO - May 12 Board Meeting in Columbia MO - ITF June 25-July 1 Lincoln, NE - Summer Retreat July 8-10 (STOs- 9) at Tan-Tar-A in Lake of the Ozarks - EdTA Sept 27-30 San Diego - STAM Sept 27-29 Lake of the Ozarks - Leadership Sept 7-8 in Columbia MO - Registration Open for State Sept 8-Nov 5 - All paperwork and money DUE (not postmarked) Dec 1 st - Conference changes in registration closes Dec 1 st – (please still notify of drops) - December 7-9 (STOs 7-8, New Board members Dec 8 ) Board Meeting in STL - 2013 Conference – Jan 10-12, St. Louis

14. Board Meetings and other Important 2013-14 Dates 2013-2014 Dates - April 6 Board Meeting in Columbia MO - May 11 Board Meeting in Columbia MO - ITF – June 24-30 (?) Lincoln, NE - Summer Retreat July 14-16 (STOs 15) at Tan-Tar-A in Lake of the Ozarks Tan-Tar-A in Lake of the Ozarks - Leadership Sept 6-7 in Columbia MO - Registration Open for State Sept 7-Nov 4, 2013 - All paperwork and payments DUE (not postmarked) Dec 1 st - Conference changes in registration closes Dec 1 st – no changes accepted from this date on ( please still notify of drops) - EdTA – Sept 26-29 Minneapolis - Dec 6-8 in Columbia MO (STOs 6-7) - 2014 Conference Jan 9-11, 2014 In STL

15. What this means for your conference planning? - Since registration will open early, it will be closing early. You will have 8 weeks to finish your registration. Schools may want to start collecting names and collecting money before summer break or at least the first couple of weeks of school. - You will be making hotel reservations after you complete your conference registration through our system. This means you will need to know your rooming lists when registering for the conference. - When registering for events and you will need to know student’s membership numbers and titles of selection) in order to complete their registration. Any incomplete registration of these after Nov 5 th will result in a drop of the registration and NO refund (if previously invoiced). - When registering for scholarships you will need to know the student’s membership number in order to complete their registration, but not their title of their selection(s). Any incomplete registration after Nov 5 th will result in a drop of their scholarship application.

16. What this means for your conference planning? - ALL paperwork and money is due Dec 1 st - this includes your hotel room bill. If your payment is late your hotel rooms will be dropped and you will be responsible for obtaining and paying for your own rooms – at higher prices. If your rooms are dropped due to non-payment you will automatically be invoiced the room rental fee detailed below. - If you choose not to stay in the conference hotel your troupe will be charged a room rental fee of $100 for the conference IN ADDITION to the school registration fee. - If a troupe’s forms are not received by Dec 6 th they will be dropped from conference registration (including but not limited to hotel rooms, events, workshops, etc). - If a troupe’s registration money is not received by Dec 21 st they will be dropped from conference registration as well (fines not included in this – separate invoices will be generated for this). No troupe may attend conference without advance payment.

17. Adjudication In order to recover some of the costs associated with the new adjudication process without discouraging participation, there will be a $75 adjudication fee for Main Stage adjudication. - You may choose to be adjudicated every year. This means you may use this as an educational tool for your program. - All Main Stage productions at State will be adjudicated for ITF (included in the adjudication fee the troupe pays). - MST will pay for 2-3 adjudicators to travel to and from schools choosing to be adjudicated (gas, and lodging dependent on distance traveled to site).

18. Adjudication (cont.) In order to run the Adjudication Program, the list below outlines the typical costs to MST are(all costs approximate): - ITF adjudication = $475 per school performing at state - Mileage = $100 (assuming 2 adjudicators drive around 75 miles each way) - Hotel Rooms = $160 (assuming 2 adjudicators and each travel more than 75 miles each way) - Total cost for each school that is adjudicated ( pre conference ): $75-$235 - Total cost for each school that is selected to perform at State: $575-700+ Cost range is due to how far the the Cost range is due to how far the the adjudication team had to travel. adjudication team had to travel.

19. Adjudication (cont.) In order to be adjudicated - Schools must submit all completed paperwork and a $75 check -payable to Missouri State Thespians at least 4 weeks prior to the production. No adjudicators will be scheduled until payment is received. - In the event more schools submit for a particular weekend then available adjudicators can be secured, adjudicators will be assigned on a first come first served basis. This may mean than a school will be notified they are no longer being considered for adjudication and their fee will be refunded. - If a school withdraws their application by 14 days prior to the adjudication date they will be refunded the $75 fee. Any schools that cancel after that time (13-1 day prior to the date) will not have their adjudication fee refunded.

20. Adjudication (cont.) - Schools wishing to be adjudicated to perform at the state conference must perform by the weekend before Thanksgiving. Any production adjudicated after this date may be invited at the next year’s conference (should they wish this). - Schools may submit for adjudication year round – application always open. - Schools will receive 2-3 sets of adjudicators comments. - One Acts will still submit a script for consideration and will currently not be charged an adjudication fee – however they will also not receive an adjudication team to see their performance.

21. Main Stage/One Acts - Main Stage productions will be posted on the MST website at the close of the December meeting at 2pm. - Schools who have been adjudicated for consideration of a state performance who have not turned in their registration forms or payment by Dec 1 st will not be considered registered for the conference and will therefore NOT be issued an invitation to perform. - Schools that are being considered to perform must register for conference all students who are active in the production (front and backstage). No student will be allowed to perform at the conference who is not registered for the conference. The only exception to this will be student musicians performing in orchestras for musicals.

22. Main Stage/One Acts - Schools that are being considered for performance should still register their troupes as if they will be performing (as in the past) however, they must also indicate to the registration chair any changes they might want in their registration ( if not extended an invitation ) by Dec 1 st. If a troupe is not extended an invitation those changes will automatically be made at the announcement. - Schools that are being considered for performance should also submit a guest pass list to the registration chair by Dec 1 st. If a troupe is extended an invitation to perform the requested guest passes will be printed and assembled. No guest requests may be made after this date.

23. Changes and other Fees - The people organizing the conference are just like you – troupe directors, putting on shows, teaching classes, and doing MST work on a strictly volunteer basis. The following cause extra work and give us less time to spend on our own student’s needs. The fees will hopefully never be charged, but we’re sure you understand the problems that are caused by changes in registration and other problems in troupe registration. - Changes in registration (names, spellings, drops, adds, manual entry of information, etc.) from Nov 5-Nov 15 - $25 per change. This will not be charged if the change is a switch from the troupe’s alternate list (see next slide). - Changes in registration (names, spellings, adds, etc.) – Nov 16-Nov 30- $50 per change. This will not be charged if the change is a switch from the troupe’s alternate list (see next slide)

24. Changes and other Fees - We understand that “stuff happens” in an good faith effort to have an accurate accounting of the delegates attending conference - Troupes will be able to submit an alternate list of 2 students who may take the place of a student(s) who were initially registered and are unable to attend the conference with no change fee incurred. Please notify the registration chair if/when the switch is made so the appropriate badge can be printed for the appropriate delegate. - No Changes will be accepted after DEC 1 st (additions) - Printing - $1 per page - Faxes - $1 per page - Postage Due - $10 +cost of postage and handling fee

25. Other Changes currently in discussion - Streamlining the registration process - Redesign of the website to make it more user friendly - Making the Jr. Thespians in the state a larger and more active presence. - Delegating some conference jobs out to sponsors so they are more “committee” based. - Conference schedule for next year

26. What do we need from our Troupe Directors? -Stay active, involved, and informed. -Answer survey questions if a short survey is sent to you. Questions?