The COVID-19 Pandemic affected the Victoria Centre and its members in many ways, most of them negative. In a positive vein, our weekly Astronomy Cafés were transformed from small in-person gatherings to larger get-togethers on Zoom, and today they are popular hybrid events, although most still attend on Zoom.
A year ago this month we were finally able to resume our monthly meetings at the Bob Wright Centre at the University of Victoria after three-and-a-half long years without them.
The unfortunately long pandemic interruption in monthly meetings has meant that our monthly meetings since then have not been as well attended as they were before the pandemic. I find this very regrettable.
We are losing something important due to the diminished attendance at our monthly meetings. Throughout our history, these meetings were the place for members and friends to get together and chat informally, something that isn’t so easy on Zoom.
Our monthly meetings feature speakers from the UVic Astronomy Department, the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory and elsewhere, with occasional celebrity speakers. These talks often provide the latest information available on astronomical research. One of the most important jobs in our executive involves organizing speakers for upcoming meetings.
Many of the speakers are younger scholars who gain great experience in public outreach by addressing our meetings. It’s a way for us to repay UVic and the DAO for the help they give to the Victoria Centre.
Then there is the human connection. As I mentioned, there’s the chance to spend time with our fellow members. These opportunities are too rare these days, in part because our council meetings have moved to Zoom (maybe it’s time to resume in-person council meetings?). Ideas and plans for our centre need to be discussed both inside and outside formal meetings. We need more informal discussion time.
Even more importantly, these informal discussions are the place where potential members and new members get to know our senior members and get answers to their questions about observing. We need these informal contacts to make our centre attractive to new people.
An important part of our monthly meetings is the informal gathering time after the meeting in the fourth-floor lounge of the Elliott Building. There’s not only discussion, there’s coffee and cookies, and our Centre Library there is open and available to all. At recent meetings, our Librarian Alex Schmid has shown up with a delicious Apple Pie he has cooked. Not to be missed!
In September we enjoyed a terrific talk from Jess Speedie of UVic on the wombs of pregnant stars. On Wednesday October 9 at 7:30 p.m., Breanna Crompvoets of UVic will speak to us about Star Formation. We meet in Lecture Theatre 104 at the Bob Wright Centre.
See you there. And bring your appetites.