Hi Michael
I think your idea has merit but Doug points out some good points. What
I would suggest if you were able to arrange this, first, I'd have
presentations and talks more during the evenings after dinner time.
Second, if you were to have a list of topics that were going to be
addressed along with a time line, well ahead of the Tucson Show, so
people could attend areas they were interested in. Maybe post the
topics a week ahead of time before the show and post them again just
before and during the show, I think you would get a steady group of
people that would attend.
Things like this cost money, but a fee to cover and off set costs would
be fine as long as it wasn't too much or you would loose people.
Perhaps a fee for each talk people want to attend. You might also offer
some refreshments for a modest fee to off set the costs. I'd see if you
couldn't get a hotel to donate a room for the talks. This could be all
or part of the cost of the meeting room.
I wouldn't appreciate dealers making an info commercial but if they
gave solid science type of program, then fine. I have organized sizable
conventions before (over 300 attendees) and it can be a lot of work but
there is a lot of great scientist that are in the area or attend and I
am sure that some of them would be glad to offer informative talks for
the troops during the show. Good luck and hope you are able to succeed!
Best!
--AL Mitterling
Mitterling Meteorites
Quoting Michael Doran via Meteorite-list
<meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com>:
In my previous life as a systems librarian at a university, I
regularly attended conferences and user group meetings. An
integral
aspect of these conferences/meetings were educational presentations
done by attendees. It occurred to me that presentations are
something
that might enhance the experience of attending the Tucson Show.
For example, while I know that there's nothing I can teach the old
hands, there are a number of things I'm figuring out as a newbie
that
I think would be of interest to other newbies. Here are examples
of
presentations I would be willing to do, if the opportunity
presented
itself:
1) Meteorite collection development plans: what they are and why
you
should have one
2) Meteorite storage and display solutions for small (< 40
specimen)
collections
And as an *attendee* I would really be interested in presentations
from people doing actual meteorite science about the work they are
doing (geared towards an educated lay audience). Also, I would be
interested in presentations from dealers about various aspects of
meteorite acquisition, classification, and preparation.
To make this work would require:
A meeting room
--------------
A meeting room at one of the main meteorite venues at the Tucson
Show
that for certain times/days could be devoted to presentations. The
room would need to have a basic presentation set-up: a speaker's
table and/or podium with a way to connect a computer to a projector
and chairs for the audience. The Tucson show lasts two weeks, but
I
would anticipate that the presentations part would only be for one
or
maybe two days.
Organization
------------
Someone to:
- Put out a call for presenters, and
- Based on response, determine how many time slots were needed, and
- Assign presentations to time slots in schedule and notify
presenters, and
- Put out a presentation schedule with titles/abstracts prior to
Tucson show
- Prepare meeting room for presentations
- Assist presenters with use of meeting room equipment
While the organization of this could be done by volunteers (I would
be willing to volunteer my time), reserving a meeting room would
incur a cost. Perhaps the IMCA would have funds in their budget to
subsidize this and would consider taking this on. Another option
would be to charge a nominal registration fee to attend this
"seminar" portion of the show. Again, I think this would only last
a
day or maybe two.
If you think this idea has merit, I have some questions for you...
As an attendee, what topics in meteoritics and/or meteorite
collecting would you be interested in learning about?
Would you consider being a presenter? If so, what topic(s) would
you
consider doing a presentation on?
Would you be willing to pay a registration fee to attend a short
meteoritics/meteorite collecting seminar during the Tucson show?
If you would rather respond directly to me rather than the list, I
can compile/summarize those responses for the list.
Thank you,
-- Michael
ps I've spent a fair amount of time going through the Meteorite
Central list archive. I've not seen any proposals like this, but
it's possible I have missed those threads. If so, I would
appreciate
hearing about any "lessons learned" from previous attempts.
Michael Doran
Fort Worth, TX
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