Pat MacKay to Receive TEA Distinguished Service Award at 2015 Thea Awards Gala March 21"At Disneyland Hotel on March 21 the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) will present the annual Thea Awards to 16 recipients, and grant an additional honor -- the TEA Distinguished Service Award -- to Patricia MacKay of Ones&ZerosMedia," said TEA president Steve Birket of Birket Engineering. "An industry pioneer in her own right, Pat has supported TEA since its founding, sharing the vision for crediting and celebrating the under-acknowledged creative suppliers to the industry and the synergy between themed entertainment and theater -- especially in her roles serving on the Thea Awards Committee and now as a TEA Summit co-chair." Tickets to the 2015 TEA Summit & Thea Awards are now available. MacKay was founder of the publishing entity that produced TCI and Lighting Dimensions (now Live Design), and the LDI trade show. She immediately recognized and acted on mutual interests between her group and TEA, upon TEA's founding in 1991. Her activities included organizing workshops and events such as Themed Entertainment Weekends and Women in Technology meetings that helped focus attention on key issues and trends, and foster industry leadership. In the 1990s, she joined the Thea Awards Committee and served almost continuously through 2014. In 2012 she became a co-chair of the annual TEA Summit conference. "Pat's background and influence helped foster TEA's cordial relationship with the theater community, focusing awareness on crossover projects such as Michael Jackson ONE, KÀ, and other Thea-honored Cirque du Soleil shows, plus groundbreaking Vegas developments such as Treasure Island," said Birket. "Her leadership has supported dialog with lighting design and other disciplines -- sound, video, multimedia -- that are critical but often not fully appreciated outside the theater world and that are ever more tightly integrated into today's projects. Pat MacKay has continuously and generously given of her unique perspective, resources and connections - as well as her time -- to further TEA's mission. She has done much to help drive awareness of the industry, and awareness within the industry: consistently -- with passion, humor, intelligence, and style." MacKay will be the fourth annual recipient of the TEA Service Award, which was introduced to recognize outstanding contributors to the Themed Entertainment Association and its goals. Prior recipients of the award are Gene Jeffers (2012), Judith Rubin (2013), and Karen McGee (2014). 
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