I am sure someone out there is about to make a big announcement. Now that the 2008 NSS Convention, it is time to get excited about the 2009 Convention.
I am certain everybody on Cavetex already knows better than me that in less than 12 months, the NSS Convention is coming to Kerrville. And not only that, it is held in conjunction with a much bigger event - the International Congress of Speleology. I will let others explain the importance of that. I will say that Dr. George Veni, spoke to the attendees of the NSS Photo Salon about the ICS. It would be safe to say that he emphasized that it was very important that every caver support and attend the ICS. He also mentioned that normal deadlines for things like presentation papers come much quicker for an ICS. Some of the deadlines are just 4 months away. On the subject of the NSS Convention part of the event, I would like to add the following: For me, I had wanted to join the NSS in 1984, but waited till 1987 in order to save up enough money to buy a life membership. my first real NSS introduction came at a BOG meeting in Houston in 1988 or so. ( Bellaire of all places ?? ) But it was the 1994 convention in Bracketville that made me want to go to more conventions. I decided then to make convention attendance a priority in my life. But recently my life has taken a different direction. I got married to someone who is not interested in caves, got a car payment, a house note, a toddler, and am experiencing employment problems, and an economic crisis with the rise in gas prices and the cost of living. So long range planning of convention attendance seems un-realistic. I hope to volunteer and provide some constructive support to ICS. I hope to attend the NSS Conventions in Colorado and Vermont. However, I am not sure what will happen after that. At the rate things are presently going, I can see that I will have to skip a few conventions. On the otherhand, I also want to attend Karst-o-rama, and OTR and other regional caving conventions across the country. I have not done any of those yet. Hopefully, I will someday land a good paying job where I can attend all these caving events. I can see that there are a handful of cavers who seem to have there entire life revolve around caving. I just don't see that in my destiny. David Locklear arm-chair caver in Fort Bend County
