Well here goes the dilemma, being a typical college student and a complete moron. I have wasted a few years, and not really ended up with any form of actual paperwork. Though i have landed a wonderful job working as a theater tech on campus. This has renewed my love of theater and the jobs we do within it. How ever there is still the need to accrue some form of degree, thus this post. As we do not have an official theater program in our school that is no longer an option. How ever we do have an event management degree which i am considering taking. I am aware of a local theater program in another state, how ever even the program advisers, and dean in charge of it, consider the program to be of more use to those looking to teach theater as opposed to working in the field. So I turn to everyone who has worked in this field for a while now. Do you think an event management degree would help a theater techs career significantly?
College career help?
- Thread startersnarefire
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First of all, I assume that you have read the relevant threads here in the booth regarding college career advice for working in the field.
As to your question about the event management degree, that's a definite maybe. First of all, I'm not sure what exactly this type of program is offering (perhaps you could link to your college and that program so we could see). Also, what part of the field do you want to work in?
As to your question about the event management degree, that's a definite maybe. First of all, I'm not sure what exactly this type of program is offering (perhaps you could link to your college and that program so we could see). Also, what part of the field do you want to work in?
As far as I know an event management degree is great if you want to run the front office, manage budgets, hire and fire technical and house staff, and spend most of your time doing fund raising and courting renters. If you want to do technical work I doubt it will be of much use to you. There are very few facility managers out there who know how to hang a light fixture or EQ a system. I suppose there might be a situation of a small theater looking for a manager with enough experience to operate equipment when needed. In the end I go back to my old mantra. You don't need a degree in tech theater. However, a degree in tech theater is the easiest path to doing tech for a living. The more education you have in tech theater, the easier it will be for you to get a foot in the door and start impressing people. Five years from now no one will care what degree you have they will only care where you worked and who you impressed along the way. There are plenty of people in this field who have no formal education at all in tech theater, but it's a much harder path and requires a great deal more luck. There also is a ceiling imposed by some institutions on people who don't have the correct degree, not all, but some.
If you want to do tech, I would advise you to find a school with a decent tech program and forget the event management degree. It doesn't have to be Yale, the prestigious schools are helpful for you if you want to be a bigshot Broadway designer, but don't really do that much for you if your dream is to be a T.D., House Master Electrician, or a big shot out on tour. There are plenty of State Universities with decent theater programs out there. The most important thing is that you have a great attitude, a broad knowledge, a strong work ethic, and you impress people with your work. 3/4 of those things can't be learned in a class room.
If you want to do tech, I would advise you to find a school with a decent tech program and forget the event management degree. It doesn't have to be Yale, the prestigious schools are helpful for you if you want to be a bigshot Broadway designer, but don't really do that much for you if your dream is to be a T.D., House Master Electrician, or a big shot out on tour. There are plenty of State Universities with decent theater programs out there. The most important thing is that you have a great attitude, a broad knowledge, a strong work ethic, and you impress people with your work. 3/4 of those things can't be learned in a class room.
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