Last summer, Northern Illinois University was selected as the site of the second annual Midwest Rigging Intensive, a weekend-long event, held August 17-19, with a focus on practical learning for entertainment riggers. Sessions were held in the Stevens Building and the Convocation Center. The event is featured in a cover story in the Fall 2023 edition of Protocol, the journal of the entertainment technology industry, and the cover photo is of a hands-on session being held high up in the Convocation Center.
Tracy Nunnally, Technical Director/Head of Design and Technology in the NIU School of Theatre and Dance is a member of ESTA (Entertainment Services and Technology Association) and was a driving force behind the effort to host the conference at NIU. After looking at several sites, NIU was chosen as the best location for this professional training event due to the specific rigging facilities included in the renovations to the Stevens Building. These include the highly accessible rigging points in the Black Box Theatre and the rigging lab I-beams located in the scene shop.
Nunnally led or co-led a number of sessions in various locations in the Stevens Building and Convocation Center, and on the final day of the event was one of nine honored by ESTA with the Frank Stewart Volunteer of the Year Award.
In addition to his work as head of design and technology for the school, Nunnally is owner and president of Vertigo, a Cortland, Illinois based company that “has been providing exceptional flying effects around the world since 1991.”
