Schedule

National Conference Schedule
Mills + Schnoering Architects, LLC
Official Education Sponsor
2025 National Conference Sponsors

Click on event & session titles in schedule below for more details. All times are Eastern Daylight time.

Questions? Please email us at info@LHAT.org.

All events, days, and times listed below are tentative and subject to change.

Updated 05.09.2025

Sunday, July 20, 2025

7:30 am - 8:15 am

Pre-Conference Theatre Ramble Registration & Breakfast

8:15 am - 5:00 pm

Pre-Conference Theatre Ramble

Please note: The Ramble usually sells out in the first few days!

Bus loads at 8:00 am; departs at 8:15 am
First come, first served; space is limited.

Optional Event - Requires Additional Fee

Tours will include:

Additional venues to be toured will be announced soon.

11:00 am - 6:00 pm

Conference Registration

1:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Early Bird Education Session #1

Historic Theatre Renovation 101: A Framework for Planning Successful Projects

2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
(tentative)

Early Bird Education Session #2

Building a Strong Donor Pipeline: Strategies for Sustainable Fundraising

8:15 pm - 9:00 pm

2025 Awards for Excellence Ceremony
Awards Ceremony Sponsor - Kotobuki Seating International Inc.
Awards Ceremony Sponsor
Kotobuki Seating International Inc.

9:00 pm - 9:30 pm

First Timer's Orientation

9:00 pm

Evening on Your Own
  (Suggested: Cocktails & Networking in the Omni Palm Court / Tap Room Bars) 
Monday, July 21, 2025

7:45 am - 3:30 pm

Registration

9:00 am - 10:00 am

Plenary Session: Behind the Scenes at the Pittsburgh Cultural District

Get ready for an unforgettable conversation with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust— powerhouse behind Pittsburgh’s vibrant Cultural District, home to four of Pittsburgh’s historic theatres!

10:00 am - 11:15 am

Facilitated Networking Breakouts

We'll kick off the first full day of the conference by doing what LHAT does best: sharing best practices from around the nation. We learned during the pandemic that LHAT Happy Hours were a way to stay connected and hear what others were doing to remain relevant in their communities. After a quick introduction, we'll divide into 4-5 smaller groups based on theatre demographics (TBA), so you can take a deep dive into any topic desired. Share things you have learned since the Milwaukee conference or ask questions about topics that are most important to your theatre's future success. Think of it as an in-person LHAT-CHAT Network!

11:15 am - 12:30 pm

Lunch on Your Own

12:30 pm

Exhibitor Setup Begins

12:30 pm - 1:45 pm

Tools & Techniques Segment 1
  • Clear Vision and Good Governance
  • From Catching the Car to Commanding the Stage: A Leadership Journey in Theater
  • Getting Ready to Get Ready: Preparing for a Fundraising Campaign
  • Historic Building Envelopes: How to Approach Maintenance + Repair + Restoration
  • Preventing Chargebacks, Hacker Attacks, and Identity Theft
  • The Show Starts on the Sidewalk, or How to Get People Out of the Street and Into Your Seats

2:15 pm - 3:30 pm

Tools & Techniques Segment 2
  • A Celebration of 30 Successful Years!
  • A Work in (Political) Progress: How to Ensure (Ongoing) Funding for your Theatre
  • From Bread to Broadway & Pews to Performances: Revitalizing Historic Spaces for the Arts
  • Managing Your Theatre's Risk… and Other Insurance Issues
  • Movies are Medicine: Engaging Audiences & Unseen Benefits
  • Theatre’s New Act: How to Attract Younger Audiences to Your Venue

6:15 pm

Evening on Your Own

6:15 pm - 7:15 pm

Exhibitor Teardown
Tuesday, July 22, 2025

7:45 am - 3:30 pm

Registration

9:30 am - 10:45 am

Tools & Techniques Segment 3
  • Beyond the Ticket: How Theatre Marketing Must Evolve from Transactions to Transformative Experiences
  • From Restoration to Resilience: Sustaining Your Historic Theatre for the Future
  • My Past is Catching Up with Me: Understanding the Newly Historic, Modern Theater
  • Smartphone Storytelling: Creating Impactful Social Media Videos on a Budget
  • The Future-Proof Theatre: Leveraging Technology for Operational Efficiency

10:45 am - 11:15 am

Networking Refreshment Break

11:15 am - 12:30 pm

Tools & Techniques Segment 4
  • ADA Planning for your Historic Theater
  • Building a Strong Donor Pipeline: Strategies for Sustainable Fundraising
  • Cinematic Bragging Rights = Free Marketing
  • LHAT- A Health Conversation about Benefits
  • Marketing for LHAT Executive and Artistic Leaders

12:30 pm - 1:45 pm

Lunch on Your Own

1:45 pm - 2:30 pm

Theatre Tour: Benedum Center for the Performing Arts

Walk 5 blocks from Omni hotel to the theatre.

3:00 pm - 4:15 pm

Tools & Techniques Segment 5
  • From Stage Lights to Search Engines: AI, SEO & Branding Secrets for a Full House
  • Preparing for Retirement: From the Practical to the Mental & Emotional Transition
  • Upgrading Projection Systems in Historic Theatres: Lessons Learned from the Cabot, Colonial, and Belcourt Theatres
  • Whose Show is it Anyway? A Panel Discussion on Venue Rentals
  • You've Raised 80%, Now It's Time to "Go Public!"

4:30 pm - 5:30 pm

Facilitated Networking Breakouts

We will divide into five rooms with LHAT Board Members and other volunteers to facilitate each group for a lively, anything goes conversation based on topics that you will be asked to suggest!

5:30 pm - 6:15 pm

Cocktails & Networking

6:15pm-ish

Evening on Your Own

Optional: Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Game  (6:40 pm first pitch) - requires advance ticket purchase

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

7:30 am - 9:00 am

Registration

8:45 am - 9:30 am

LHAT Annual Membership Meeting
LHAT Annual Membership Meeting Sponsor - OTJ Architects
LHAT Annual Membership Meeting Sponsor
OTJ Architects

9:45 am - 11:00 am

Tools & Techniques Segment 6
  • Beyond the Noise - Three Pillars that Drive Success
  • Orpheum Re-Imagined: Renovating a Historic Theatre Using Modern Technology to Create a ‘Show Before the Show’
  • Where the Cool Kids Hang Out: Building and Maintaining a Dependable Tech Crew
  • You are ALWAYS Fundraising. Building Your Donor Pipeline from Annual Giving and Beyond

11:00 am - 11:30 am

Check out of Hotel

Store Bags in Ballroom (if applicable)

11:30 am - 1:00 pm

Theatre Tours 

Walk six blocks from hotel

1:00 pm - 1:50 pm

Closing Party

   At the Greer Cabaret Theater

Closing Party Sponsor - DLR Group
Closing Party Sponsor - Pittsburgh Cutural Trust
Closing Party Sponsors
DLR Group &
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

1:50 pm - 2:00 pm

Return to Hotel - Conference Ends

Afternoon & Evening on Your Own