Volunteers needed for 2014 General Assembly!

Posted by as Special Events

The 2014 General Assembly is coming up quickly in late June, and our organising committee needs your help! Ideally, they would like to see every member of Victoria Centre contribute to the success of this event. Not only are we hosting our fellow astronomers from across Canada, we are also celebrating the 100th anniversary of Victoria Centre!

Job Descriptions – Additional Volunteers Needed (50 positions)

February 10, 2014

 

CHAIRPERSON COMMITTEE – Reports to Paul Schumacher and Mark Bohlman ( 10 positions open)

IT Chair (1 needed)

  • Identifies A/V needs, equipment and sourcing for all GA events (mostly UVic Sourcing)
  • Manages IT needs and infrastructure during all GA events

Music Night Coordinator ( 1 needed) Co-Coordinator Dr. Jim Hesser

  • solicits talent -coordinates venue requirements with Felicitas Pub
  • coordinates drink coupons to go in Goody bags
  • keeps liaison with talent, makes sure ready to go
  • deals with unexpected issues

First Aid Personnel (3 needed)

  • deals with any emergency that may come up (one on-call each day)

Signage / Umbrella Guru (1)

  • Arranges for design, production and installation of directional signage during event on campus, at airport
  • Arranges for umbrellas during rain days

UVic Telescope Liaison (1)

  • Works with Russ Robb to set up and manage evening viewing at UVic rooftop scope during GA

Photographers / Videographers (3)

  • Members to record events of all GA activities

 

REGISTRATION COMMITTEE– Reports to John McDonald, Chris Purse and Reg Dunkley (2 positions open)

Lodging Coordinator (1 needed)

  • Liaison with UVic for all lodging issues prior to and during event- rooms lists, room assignment issues

Collateral Coordinator (1 needed)

  • Responsible for Production and Distribution of Nametags, vouchers and distribution of registration packets/info books (working with Reg)

 

FINANCE COMMITTEE Reports to Nelson Walker (1 position open)

Assistant Controller (1 needed)

  • Back up to Nelson, assists with record keeping and money handling during GA

 

HOSPITALITY COMMITTEE Reports to Deb Crawford (14 positions open)

Check–in Desk Personnel (6 needed)

  • Greets arrivals at Cadboro Commons desk location
  • Souvenir sales and distribution

Catering/Meals Coordinator ( 1 needed)

  • Liaison with UVic Catering to confirm meal counts, coffee breaks all scheduled meals run smoothly

Meeting Room Coordinator (1 needed)

  • Liaison with UVic to see that all rooms are correctly booked and no issues arise during GA

Tours Coordinators (2 needed)

  • Makes sure all tours go as scheduled- Whale Watching, Butchart, Maritime Museum, Shopping Tour, Historic Tour
  • Assists Deb with head counts and preplanning and vendor liaison
  • Coordinates with Transportation Committee for drivers where needed

Welcome BBQ Helpers (4 needed)

  • Help with planning set-up and liaison for outside catered meal at DAO
  • Help with running BBQ during event

 

TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE – Reports to Charles Banville (21 positions open)

Transportation Assistant (1 needed)

  • Back-up to Charles to help with planning, bookings, driver coordination, outside transport providers if needed

Drivers (20 needed)

  • to drive guests to and from airport, bus terminal, ferries, DAO, tours
  • drivers will be reimbursed for their gas mileage for driving delegates to and from lodging to arrival/departure location and from to RASC organized events/tours

 

A/V SERVICES COMMITTEE – Reports to TBD Chairperson (2 positions open)

A/V Coordinators (2 needed)

  • back-up to TBD Chairperson
  • assists with A/V needs list, special music tracks, additional A/V requests, UVic Liaison

 

Mathematics and understanding our universe – Nazim Açar

Posted by as Meetings

Nazim-math

Monthly meeting speaker

Feb 12, 2014 7:30PM, A104 – Bob Wright Building, University of Victoria

Event info

Presentation – 6.3Mb pdf

Bio: Nazim was born in a perfect astronomy center: a remote Anatolian village with no electricity. For the summers he slept on the roof and fell asleep watching the sky. He teaches Math and Theory of Knowledge at Pearson College and enjoys living on campus.

President’s Message – February 2014

Posted by as President's Message

The hard-working organizers of the upcoming GA 2014 are concerned about our member response, or lack thereof, to their cries for volunteers.  They assure me that it will take almost all of the active members of the Centre to put on this event.  PLEASE get in touch with Paul or Mark and sign yourself up for something.

For a number of reasons, most of which I have forgotten, it was necessary to change the date of our Astronomy Day event, to be held this year at the Royal BC Museum, from May 10 to May 3.  Please call Sherry to get on the list for this one.

The last bit of news concerns our annual RASCals Metchosin Star Party.  As of 2010, the CVSF group has scheduled its annual gathering, now at Bright Angel Park, on the weekend closest to the August new moon, and have now done so in advance for the next several years (as I understand it).  This leaves us in a bit of a quandary about what to do about our event.  The August new moon date is best for those of us in the Pacific Northwest.  The July new moon is less than ideal, as the nights are too short, and the sunset too late, but more importantly, the Metchosin wind in July, can be, and usually is, horrific.  The September new moon is too cold for most (many?) observers.  We have considered at least three other options: abandoning the event altogether, or scheduling ours at the same time as theirs, or scheduling ours also in August, but on a different akun pro uganda weekend (this would be referred to as a “Moon Party”).  Each of these five choices has proponents on Council.  This year we have decided to try an August weekend other than that of the new moon (and CVSF Island SP): August 15 through 17.  This is the weekend of the last quarter moon.  Hardly ideal, be we have asked Metchosin if the field is available and will keep you posted.  If you have any input on this, drop me an email.

First evening of observing by the RASCals of Cattle Point

Posted by as Events

RASC Victoria Centre: Cattle Point &emdash; Joe and Bruno at Cattle PointAfter several months of being skunked by bad weather, the RASCals of Cattle Point finally had a good night to offer observing to the public from RASC’s newest Urban Star Park.

Our Treasurer Bruce Lane coordinates this event. Here is his report from the Feb 7, 2014 event.

This Friday was the first time the weather has cooperated for monthly astronomy at Cattle Point! Joining me at Cattle Point were Dorothy and Miles Paul, Chris Purse, and Alex (new member). Owing to snow shock (from weather earlier in the day) and cold conditions (still several degrees warmer than being up at the VCO) there were very few people out and about to interact with. The sky was clear, but winds were gusting at about 20km per hour, to add a bit of windchill. There were only two members of the public to have a look through the telescope. I finally packed it in at 9:15pm.

Congratulations to the group, and special thanks to the volunteers who braved the freezing conditions to make this happen!

Asteroid named after Betty Hesser

Posted by as News

An asteroid was recently named after Betty Hesser, a long time and well-known RASC Victoria Centre member.

(378204) Bettyhesser = 2006 YF49
Discovered 2006 Dec. 26 by D.D. Balam at Mauna Kea.

Betty Hinsdale Hesser (b.1938), passionately curious about, and gifted in languages, music and science, generously shares in an easily accessible manner her extensive knowledge, particularly about astronomy and reptiles, with people of all ages to address common misunderstandings and stimulate broader comprehension of nature.

MPC 86718