You may have noticed a few changes happening at ISTA recently. We've been working behind the scenes to make it easier to find information, manage bookings and access everything available to you through ISTA.
Now, we're ready to share the next step with you.
Alongside our refreshed ISTA website, STAGE Manager is evolving into a central place for managing more of your ISTA experience, bringing together bookings, membership, professional learning and resources.
A fresh look at ISTA
We've given our website a refresh to make it easier to find your way around and explore what's available.
Whether you're looking for student arts events, IB workshops, professional learning opportunities or creative resources, we've made it simpler to discover what ISTA offers and find what interests you.
We've also created more space to share stories from across our community, celebrating the schools, educators, artists, students and partners who are part of ISTA.
Whether you've been involved with ISTA for years or are discovering us for the first time, we hope you'll enjoy exploring the updated website.
Introducing STAGE Manager
You might remember us talking about STAGE Manager when we first started using it behind the scenes to help manage our events and bookings. Our artists have also been using the Artist Portal to manage their profiles and information.
Now, we're taking the next step, opening up more of STAGE Manager to our wider community.
STAGE Manager is becoming a central place for managing your ISTA account and accessing more of what we offer, without having to move between different platforms and logins.STAGE stands for Student, Teacher and Artist Global Events Manager, and it's designed to make the practical side of being involved with ISTA a little easier.
Through STAGE Manager, you'll be able to:
- Manage your membership – view your membership, benefits and renewal information.
- Explore and book events – find upcoming opportunities and manage your bookings.
- Connect with your school – keep your organisation's details and team connections up to date.
- Plan your hosting experiences - request to host, collaborate with your Event Manager and keep your event details all in one place
- Access the ISTA Hub – discover more resources, opportunities and connections available through your membership.
- Explore Encore – access ISTA's on-demand professional learning through your connected account.
- Keep everything organised – find your purchases, invoices and account information in one place.
Built around our community
We know that everyone engages with ISTA a little differently. Some people join us for a single workshop, while others return year after year for student events, professional learning or opportunities to work and connect with educators and artists around the world.
As ISTA has grown, so have the different systems and processes that support these experiences. We wanted to make things more straightforward, bringing more of them together in a way that works better for everyone.
STAGE Manager gives us the opportunity to do that, while also giving us room to keep improving and adding to what's available in the future.
What happens next?
STAGE Manager launches on Monday 26 October 2026.
If you already have an ISTA Guest or Membership account, you'll receive an email explaining how to access your new STAGE Manager account. Your existing membership and account information will be carried over into the new system.
Once you're logged in, we'd encourage you to have a look around, check your details and explore what's available.
New to ISTA? You're welcome too! You can create a free Guest account to start exploring our events, opportunities and wider community.
We know that getting used to a new system can take a little time, and there may be a few things we need to fine-tune along the way. Our team will be here to help, and we'd really welcome your feedback as you start using it.
Ultimately, that's what these changes are about: making the practical side of being involved with ISTA a little easier, so you can focus on the experiences and opportunities that brought you here in the first place.
We hope you enjoy exploring the changes, and we'd love to hear what you think.
Start exploring on Monday 26 October.
