About Bill Conner Associates
Bill Conner, ASTC Associates
Principal and Owner
Bill Conner's professional training allowed him to combine college teaching with work as a professional lighting designer for five years early in his career. He taught at SUNY Potsdam, Bates College, and Colby College. While teaching in Maine, he designed lights for the Felice Lesser Dance Theatre Foundation, New York, and for Maria Jimena Lasansky. During this time, Bill was appointed to the Maine State commission on the Arts and Humanities Dance Panel. In 1982 he became a full time consultant, specializing in comprehensive systems planning and facility design services for performing arts programs and worship facilities.
Bill graduated from SUNY Potsdam with Honors in 1974 and earned an MFA from the Yale School of Drama in 1979. Bill is a member and codes officer of the American Society of Theatre Consultants since 1989; a member of the Entertainment Services and Technology Association and member of its Technical Standards Committee and Rigging Working group, a member of the United States Institute of Theatre Technology. Bill is a member of the National Fire Protection Association and recently was honored with the 2008 Special Achievement Award from the National Fire Protection Associations (NFPA) Standards Council. He participates actively in the development of the national model building and fire codes as the senior member of Technical Committee for Assembly Occupancies and Membrane Structures of NFPA 101, the Life Safety Code, serving since 1988. Bill also is on the committee for NFPA 5000, The Building Code and frequently testifies at the code change hearings for the International Building Code. He has been a member of the Special Occupancies sub-committee for the ADAAG Federal Review Advisory Committee representing ASTC; and author of proposed changes submitted to the Access Board regarding sightlines and distribution of wheelchair locations and is a member of the ANSI A117.1 committee, the Standard for Accessibility.
Bill Conner is a Certified Rigger - Theatre, being one of the first class to take and pass the examination prepared by the Entertainment Technician Certification Program.
Paul Sanow
Consultant
Paul has been involved in theatre in one form or another since well before high school. He earned a BFA in Theatre Design & Production from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, concentrating in Lighting Design and Technical Production. During his university career he worked at various summer stock theatres in the east before heading to the New Mexico Repertory Theatre, working in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Later he returned to Ohio and started working for Vincent Lighting Systems as a Field Technician first in Cleveland, then later in the Cincinnati area. During his time with Vincent he advanced to Project Manager and eventually a technical sales specialist designing systems and working with lighting representatives in the Indianapolis market. Paul is an ETCP Certified Entertainment Electrician.
After some time considering a move into consulting, the opportunity presented itself and Paul is quite pleased to have joined Bill Conner Associates LLC.
When not working on theatres, Paul can often be found in his workshop building custom and period reproduction furniture. Otherwise he tries to spend time with his wife Maryanne and young daughter Tamara. If he’s especially lucky, he gets to a few Reds games during the season. If that’s not enough there is always a project in the home to keep him busy.