I joined Enormous Time Waster, I mean Facebook, last winter. Why they allowed me in I have no idea. Aren’t I too old for this sort of thing? Shouldn’t they have rejected me and suggested I move to one of the more mature, middle-aged social nets? Luckily, there appear to be others from my generation on there too, a mix of designers, technicians and educators who also bravely gone where those over 40 normally don’t.

What’s been fun, however, is tracking down so many of the talented artisans we profiled in the pages of Entertainment Design under the moniker “Young Designers to Watch.” Remember those? We did it for several years in ED, from 2000-2004, as well as a roundup of lighting professionals in Lighting Dimensions called 30 And Under in 2004 .

It makes sense, really. Most of those young designers are the key demographic for Facebook, so it’s no surprise that I’ve find as many as I have. (It’s probably also no surprise that they have about 10 times as many friends as I do, but that’s another story).

Curious as to who’s out there? Here are some of those alumni I’ve found:

Class of 2000

Set Designer Klara Zieglerova

Class of 2001

Projection Designer Michael Clark

Sound Designer Jill DuBoff

Lighting Designer DM Wood

Class of 2002

Costume Designer Constance Hoffman

Set Designer Michelle Malavet

Lighting Designer Thom Weaver

Class of 2003

Set Designer David Korins

Lighting Designer Jason Lyons

Class of 2004

Lighting Designer Brian Bembridge

Sound Designer Leon Rothenberg

30 And Under 2004

Lighting Designer Nic Phillips

Projection Designer Jake Pinholster

A few of these folks, like Hoffman, Korins, and Rothenberg, I haven’t heard back from yet (why have they forsaken me?). And there are several on the list who I think are on Facebook but can’t tell for sure, either because of really common names, like sound designers Paul Adams (Class of 02) and Elizabeth Rhodes (Class of 03), or obscure photos (is that crayon drawing really you, sound designer Josh Schmidt?)

But it’s been great getting back in touch with some of these folks and finding out what they’re doing. It’s actually quite gratifying to see so many of them doing so well in their chosen career. If you’re among those we profiled as a Young Designer to Watch who I haven’t yet stalked on Facebook, please drop me a line. I’d love to hear what you’re up to.

Last Thursday I spent an interesting four hours with David I. Taylor and two acousticians at Arup, the international engineering firm that has more recently branched out into theatre consulting as well. Taylor introduced me to Raj Patel, Arup’s head of acoustics, and a younger acoustician, Ryan Biziorek. We spent quite some time in the Arup Soundlab and if you are interested in theatre history, theatre consulting, or acoustics, I suggest you call David and make an appointment to spend some time in the Soundlab… about six hours if you want the full treatment. I was only there about two-and-a-half hours and we were rushing through it all. The idea of the Soundlab is to show you—as the architect, theatre consultant, or end-user—exactly what a building will sound like. It takes the “voodoo” out of acoustics and harnesses physics in the service of the emotion and art one expects in a great hall. Arup made its mark in the performing arts world—as engineers—with the Sydney Opera House, one of the most iconic opera houses in the world, and perhaps the one that started the drive for “destination” architecture in the arts. The theory of the Soundlab is that you can hear how the great halls of the world actually hear, then work to make yours sound the same way, or as Patel puts it: “You can hear a room as it is being developed, not just hope for the best when completed.” This theory has moved beyond performing arts buildings and into the arts themselves, with musicians such as Laurie Anderson and Stephen Vitiello using the Soundlab to work on projects, such as Vitiello’s “Smallest Of Wings,” an immersive sound environment that recreates the sounds of the rain forest in a space in the center of London. It’s very cool stuff and I’m sure the folks at Arup would be happy to let you stop in and listen…

Mike Jarvis, live events technical project manager for Stage Electrics in the UK, sent in this photo with the comment:

“Sometimes the challenge isn’t the technical side of the job, but the physical one, like getting your artic [that’s semi trailer to us Yanks] on to Trafalgar Square in London whilst it is still open to the public. That’s me in the hi-viz vest.”

Thanks for sharing, Mike.