With more than 300 attendees from across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, LHAT's 2024 National Conference was a great success! Represented were more than 200 historic theatre owners, operators, volunteers and aficionados, along with 100 service providers and suppliers who are experts in our field.
In the heart of downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the League offered four days of professional development, networking, theatre tours and more. More than 25 hours of Tools & Techniques Sessions highlighted best practices in historic theatre operations, film programming, fundraising, marketing, renovation, restoration, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB). An additional three hours were devoted to facilitated networking sessions which were broken into groups based on theatre types and sizes, plus different topics attendees said were top of mind at their theatres.
More than 80 people kicked off the conference on the ever-popular Pre-Conference Historic Theatre Ramble, visiting five theatres -- the Downer, Egyptian and Skylight Music Theatres in Milwaukee, The Bend Theater in West Bend and the Stefanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts in Sheboygan. During the conference, attendees were treated to tours of Bradley Symphony Center, the Riverside Theater and the Pabst Theater, where our 2024 Closing Party took place.
Attendees celebrated excellence in the field at the 2024 Awards Ceremony and 41 exhibitors shared their products, services and expertise at the annual Meet the Services Providers EXPO. Attendees also met, mingled and networked during multiple networking and social events.
Special thanks to all of our National Partners and 2024 Conference Sponsors, plus our theatre tour and other local hosts. Because of their generous support, the LHAT National Conference continues to be the largest and most important gathering specifically designed for historic theatre professionals in the nation!