Member Orientation is a lively, welcoming session where all members—new and seasoned—can come together to connect, learn, and build community. It’s a great refresher if it’s been a while, or a perfect starting point if you’re just getting involved.
We’ll cover the essentials every member should know, including:
Your rights and responsibilities as a member
How to access and use your benefits
Working under a union contract
Navigating the USA 829 website and member resources
You’ll also have time to ask questions, connect with other members, and hear directly from union staff about how USA 829 supports you and your craft.

This 90-minute session, led by your Benefits & Support Services Liaison, Sid Solomon, will take a friendly and accessible look at how our members qualify for health coverage, pension benefits, and participate in annuity and 401(k) plans, while also digging into other benefits & support services to which you're entitled. And while it’s especially geared toward newer members, everyone is welcome. Seriously, if you’ve always been a little confused by how your benefits worked but weren't sure who to ask, Benefits 101 is for you.

There will be opportunities to ask questions throughout the session, and every single question--big or small, simple or complex--will receive a personal response from Sid, either during or after the orientation. So if you’re available, join us and get to know your benefits a little better.

This class will teach the basics of modeling objects in 3d using Vectorworks. Topics will include navigating the 3D space, creating simple 3d objects, solid operations of 3d objects and modifying 3d objects. Specific tools that will be taught: extrude, push/pull, add & subtract operations, sweep, extrude along path, working planes, fillet & chamfer, deform, and shell solid.

Instructor:
Nick Solyom
Lighting Designer
Lighting Designs: The Movement You Need (Steppenwolf, Jeff award), Westerly Breath (The Met Museum), Imaginary Comforts (Berkeley Rep) and The Christians (Gulfshore Playhouse). Co-Lighting Design: Take the Lead (Paper Mill Playhouse), Consultant: Rob Lake Magic, with Special Guests the Muppets (Broadway). Associate Lighting Designs: Schmigadoon!, Death Becomes Her, The Outsiders. Proud Member of USA 829. SolyomDesign.com

Join us for What Do You Mean When You Say Retirement?, a session hosted by our Benefits & Support Services Liaison, Sid Solomon, SHRM-CP, designed to make retirement benefits clearer and easier to understand. The session will walk through key benefits you may be eligible for as you reach retirement age, including union health and retirement benefits such as Pension, Annuity, and 401(k), as well as Medicare and retired status within USA 829.

This class introduces all designers to Vor, an application for macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, and how the power of a camera and some data can elevate your workflow to a whole new level. Taking a camera feed, multi-track audio, and data inputs (lighting, sound, video, automation, etc.), Vor creates a composite video in real time, overlaying cueing information, recording multi-track audio, and giving your production instant replay, so you can give context to what happened, when. The class will also cover the basics of setting up the equipment needed to use Vor, including cameras, audio, and other production inputs.

While created by lighting professionals, this discussion seeks to draw in people from all disciplines to learn how you can make the creation process just a bit easier by utilizing Vor. We encourage attendees to come with questions and an open mind for how you can welcome new technology into your process. No experience with Vor is necessary. This class is being offered in collaboration with Studio School for Design.

Instructors:
Jess Creager (she/her)
Lighting Designer
Jess Creager is a New York City-based Lighting Designer who works primarily as an associate in commercial theatre. She is co-owner of Borealis Solutions LLC, the software development firm whose flagship product, Vor, took the entertainment world by storm with its release in 2022. Recent (and upcoming) Broadway projects as associate: Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Merrily We Roll Along, Evita, Waiting for Godot, Much Ado About Nothing, Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York, &Juliet, Illinoise, Leopoldstadt, Company. Disney projects as associate: Frozen (West End, Disney+), Hercules (West End).

Scott K. Tusing (he/him)
Lighting & Special Effects Programmer
Scott K. Tusing is a New York City-based Lighting & Special Effects Programmer and the first call when productions want to push the boundaries of technology and system integration. Recent projects: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Broadway, US Tour, San Francisco, Netherlands, Toronto, Hamburg), Death Becomes Her (US Tour), The Lost Boys (Broadway), The Last Five Years (Broadway), &Juliet (Broadway, Toronto), Six (Broadway, Aragon Tour, Boleyn Tour), and The Great Gatsby (Broadway, US Tour, Seoul, Paper Mill Playhouse). Scott advises leading lighting control and moving light manufacturers on product development and strategy, co-owns Borealis Solutions, and mentors the next generation of programmers and designers through ETC's Fred Foster Mentorship program.

This class will teach how to use ETC Eos Augment3d to place your moving lights in 3d space. We will only be using ETC Eos so Vectorworks and a 3D light plot is not required. You will be able to see what the light is doing in 3d space, focus lights with a mouse click and create live moves that use XYZ instead of pan & tilt for smooth diagonals.

Instructor:
Nick Solyom
Lighting Designer
Lighting Designs: The Movement You Need (Steppenwolf, Jeff award), Westerly Breath (The Met Museum), Imaginary Comforts (Berkeley Rep) and The Christians (Gulfshore Playhouse). Co-Lighting Design: Take the Lead (Paper Mill Playhouse), Consultant: Rob Lake Magic, with Special Guests the Muppets (Broadway). Associate Lighting Designs: Schmigadoon!, Death Becomes Her, The Outsiders. Proud Member of USA 829. SolyomDesign.com