All:
Here (a bit belated) are the meeting notes for August:
August meeting and National Convention: We had 7 members at the August 29th meeting. We had a discussion of the 13th Annual National Mars Society Convention at Dayton, Ohio in early August.
The convention was well attended, with over 200 attendees, and many national known speakers, including ex-NASA chief Mike Griffin, and hot off the satellite results from the Kepler telescope -we heard the latest results before anyone else! There was much discussion and concern about the administration’s new direction in manned space flight, and what action could be taken to move it into a better direction.
There was a new activity at this year’s convention, Marscamp, which was a great success. Marscamp was an interactive youth oriented activity held on Saturday. Local aerospace and technology related groups (but not necessarily space or Mars related) groups came and put displays that were designed to attract, educate, and excite youth of different ages, creating well over a dozen exhibits and activities.
And we sold our local chapter T-shirts, raising about $800, more than recouping our investment. Thanks to all who pitched in at the last minute and helped make the T-shirts happen!
Overall the Dayton chapter set a new standard for hosting the convention, a bar we will need to meet and exceed, as many of you may already know, our application was successful and Dallas was chosen to host the next Mars Society Convention, in 2011!
In our local meeting we discussed the overall needs and structure of the convention, and laid out the general plan for the convention planning. We want to keep the ball rolling so that we don’t get too late when the time comes! In particular, local outreach to related and like minded groups and local advertising were areas that Dayton excelled in that offer opportunities for us.
Other areas that will need to be worked include AV equipment, local group outreach, signs, and themes and slogans. A separate planning group will begin meeting to work on convention plans.