Gday
Ive had the idea for a while and Jases recent postings re AIC in the US have prompted me to put it to you guys amongst others to judge interest
I am a Engineering Lecturer at Griffith University on the Gold Coast and we run between 2 and 4 conferences / workshops per year - my point here is that we have experience running conferences and facilities such as lecture theatres and computer labs for workshops etc.
I know Australia doesnt have the population to support something the size of AIC but there are a lot of people imaging now and we may be able to support an annual conference of our own.
My idea is to run an imaging conference in the school holidays later next year on the Gold Coast (allows for family holidays at the same time). I would intend to cover a wide range of topics from beginner to advanced with both paper presentations and workshops with both the papers and workshop manuals published in a conference proceedings. I have already had positive intention to particpate from a few international people (Japanese and NZ at the moment) and I have enough to invite and pay for 1 or 2 internationals to deliver keynote papaers. I dont want to mention names because I havent contacted them yet but the people I am thinking about are the ones whose web pages we visit to learn processign tips such as MLDB etc etc - now theres a give away and i'll have to definately invite him now. I am sure if I am going to pay for them to come to Aus I will easily be ably to get at least 1 or 2 to participate. Obviously we will need papers from people in Aus and not necessarily just adnvanced processing papers, but also things such as case studies, equipment reviews, innovations etc etc.
So what I am looking for is feedback - would it be supported by the amateur community in Aus? With airfares the way they are now it would provide a good excuse for a Gold Coast holiday to keep the family happy. I also have tenative verbal agreement for support from 2 suppliers and would intend to have a display area for equipment suppliers.
BTW - It is intended as a not for profit conference - any profit after paying for facilities, meals and reimbursement of the keynote speakers airfares etc (im an optimist) would go to inviting and paying for keynote speakers etc in future years
Anyone want to come to the coast for a couple of days and talk astrophotography while learning from some of the best
If not i'll just go to AIC next year
Mark Bolton