AAIC Update

[Bolts_Tweed]

Sorry for the delay in providing info but I have had a hell of a time trying to finalise the program and with sponsors pulling out (Apogee - I told you all about that) and a work related overseas trip - I have been going crazy

As I have told you before Adam Block is not coming because of health problems but Jay Gabany Ron Wodaski and David Malin as well as a heap of other Aussie presenters are still committed to providing us with their knowledge. Ron Wodaski is also providing every attendee with a copy of his book the Zone Process (An excellent book on processing in PS that I paid over $100 for a while ago). If he can (his is not in the peak of health at the moment either) he is also writing an ebook on PI processing that every attendee will get for free. If like me you have been dragged screaming into the PI world then this will be huge.

Because I havent advised of the final program I have extended the earlybird registration period to 1 July - dont worry what the website tells you - you will only be charged the earlybird rate. In fact I just changed it again to 1am on 15th July.

Mark Bolton

[Octane]

Fantastic news!

H

[DavidTrap]

I'm just grateful for all your efforts Mark, regardless of who is presenting! Continually amazed by the big names you can attract down under.

I hear Kerry wants you to shift your dome out of his paddock after last night's storm??

DT

[Bolts_Tweed]

Thanks guys. Trap I heard he is using the dome as a cattle trough. 30 Klms is too close for what was a nice little tornado. Bocky rang Kerry and apparently everything is fine. I can't go out this weekend anyway - a friends 60th - damn I am getting old

[PeterM]

That's an excellent list of presenters you have pulled together Mark.
Thanks for all your effort. Those who were there in 2011 will remember how we'll organized the conference was and the professionalism was up there with the best. Looking very much forward to this one.

[Bolts_Tweed]

Thanks Pete - More developments tonight - hope to make another announcement in an hour or so

[pvelez]

Sounds good - I signed up today.

The PI guide will come in very handy

Pete

[Bolts_Tweed]

Great news more are attending. I look forward to meeting those that I haven't met before and renewing old friendships.
Pleased to announce that Terry Lovejoy will be presenting on Saturday. He will be giving comet hunting tips and sharing experiences. We all owe him a big thank you for the great show he organised for us with his comet.
That should just about finalise presenters and to account for presenters that couldn't attend I will be shuffling the program (with minimal impact) this weekend.

[Visionoz]

Hi

Would like to know if anyone can point me in the right direction to look at costs/best locations for accommodation - being unfamiliar with the scene on the Gold Coast any assistance would be greatly appreciated as I definitely am very interested in attending and the "Queen of the Castle" has given the green light plus funds for it! :D

TIA
Cheers
Bill

[Visionoz]

Anyone? Hey I neeeeeeeeed heeeeeeeelp please! :D

Awaiting a response ad I have to make flight arrangements in advance

Once again TIA
Cheers
Bill

[DJT]

Am staying at the same location as the conference. Gotta deal from Sydney for $600 including 2 nights accommodation via webjet. I cant help you re deals from Perth but can recommend webjet but only because it was easy and seemed reasonable. fairly sure someone else got a better deal but I upgraded my room..

Surfers is all easily accessible from the crown if thats what floats your biscuit.

[Visionoz]

Thanks David

However that still doesn't give me a clue as to good/cheaper places to stay at - tried looking at the venue on Google and located a Crowne Plaza Gold Tower Surfers Paradise - is this the same as the Crowne Plaza Hotel location listed on the AAIC2013 website?

Well my interest is waning fast - never mind if I can make it that's fine otherwise I would not worry too much about it anyway

Will try to PM Bolts_Tweed later

Thanks anyway
Cheers
Bill

[Visionoz]

Damn! :(

Tried sending an email message off the website using the "Contact" button - Eeeek! An error message as shown in the attachment is self-explanatory

The Gods are definitely against me attending this event!:help:

Well off to the PM method then!

Cheers
Bill

[bert]

Hey bill,

I spoke to bolts recently and was going to be out of communication, i cant remember when that was so....I think this is why you cannot contact him. He is usually excellent at getting back.

I stayed with my family at cascade gardens apartments, I found it inexpensive and comfortable, and is around 100m from the conference.

http://www.cascadegardensapartments.com.au

And please attend: I want to pick your brain with sitech.

[Bolts_Tweed]

G'day - I just ran a check on last minute.com. there are hotels ranging from.100 and up per night. Depends on quality you want. There is even a youth hostel just down the road which would be the absolute cheapest, the problem recommending one is that there are probably about a hundred in the immediate area of the conference. You really want one at Broadbeach - then you could walk to the venue. Surfers would require a taxi. Royal Pines sometimes has deals but that is about a 20 or 30 minute taxi ride. I would suggest watching lastminute.com as the venue even had some rooms about 150 a night in the week preceding the conference. wotif is also pretty good for deals. I would be happy to check one out for you if you find ne that suits the budget.

Mark

[cventer]

I just booked today and was charged 175 per day, not early bird rate. :(

[peter_4059]

Is there a Sat night dinner this year Mark - didn't spot that in the booking form?

[Visionoz]

Done the deed Brett - thanks for the tip about the apartments - however a bit disappointed that I had to pay for 3 nites and for two rooms! But anyway I hope that I still get the conference at the cheaper rate of $142 instead of the $175 shown when I made the payment online through the registration process!

Looking forward to attend and learn! :thumbsup:

Cheers
Bill

[peter_4059]

Got my accomodation booked in at the Crowne Plaza this morning so all set to go!

[pvelez]

Flights and accommodation booked now and ready to rumble

Looking forward to this

Pete

[jjjnettie]

I'm looking for someone to share a 2 bedroom apartment at the Cascade Gardens, close to the Crowne Plaza.
Due to unforeseen circumstances my roomies are not able to attend.

You would have your own room with ensuite , cost $45 a night.

[Octane]

Sorry for having to pull out at the last moment, Jeanette.

My old man has lymphatic cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. I'm doing the whole family thing at the moment.

If someone was looking for great accommodation, please message Jeanette -- she got a great room.

H

[pluck]

Can someone confirm the actual address of the conference hotel? Is it the Crowne at 2807 Gold Coast Hwy?

Cheers,

Paul

[PeterM]

Yup, look forward to saying hi.
http://m.ihg.com/hotels/crowneplaza/us/en/hoteldetail/oolsp

[alocky]

Any other west Aussies going to this who are flying qantas Thursday afternoon QF594? I'm hiring a car to drive to the GC and would be happy to give anyone a lift.
Cheers,
Andrew.

[jase]

I wish I could have made it this year but due to work commitments, I'm out. Hope everyone has a great time.

[cventer]

Be interesting to find out what current participation levels are looking like ? Anyone know ?

[cybereye]

Andrew,

I'm returning to Brissie on Virgin's Wednesday night's redeye. I look forward to catching up with you on Friday down the Goldie unless you happen to be coming to WABS for a look see - then I'll see you earlier!

Cheers,
Mario

[DavidTrap]

Thanks Mark et al for putting on such a great conference. Informative and inspiring.

Hope the 2015 conference in the "undisclosed location" becomes reality!

DT

[RickS]

Ditto from me... thanks Mark! The talks were all extremely good and it was a great social event. It was also nice to catch up with a bunch of IISers face-to-face.

[cybereye]

I too would like to thank Mark and the team for putting together such a wonderful event. Although only there for the Friday, it was great to catch up with people like peter_4059, alocky, bird and of course JJJ.

It was also fantastic to see Jay GaBany and one Prof. Malin discussing the merits of differing colour intensities in images. The suggestion from the floor of putting them in a cage to sort it out leaves Mark with some possible options for the next conference! :lol:

Cheers,
Mario

[Paul Haese]

Just sitting down in the airport lounge after what has been a big weekend.

Firstly, let me congratulate Mark and his team for putting on a great conference and for the welcome. So much hard work to put this together and I am sure 2015 will be a blast.

One thing that I really took out of the conference is my own personal need for further precision. Several key aspects of Martin Pugh's presentation highlighted how much further I need to develop in terms of data collection and image processing of DSO imaging. He is stratospheric by comparison. I am also going to change all my filters to Astrodons and get a OIII 3nm filter with not so wide Ha and SII.

I really enjoyed presenting and I am sorry Brett that my presentation went longer than we thought. It was great that both Anthony and I could present at the conference and that our talks did not overlap too much so as to give a full frame of reference (no pun intended) to those interested in planetary and solar imaging. To my surprise there was lots of interest on the subject and was flattered that Don Goldman was very keen to learn from both of us about planetary imaging. What a hoot.

It was also fantastic to meet the guest from America (in particular Don Ron and Jay) they presented very informative workshops and there was plenty of collaboration planned for the future. Very exciting stuff.

Also it was excellent to catch up with old friends (thanks to Greg and Pete and both of their lovely wives), newer friends (JJJ, Martin, Mel, Greg, Anthony and anyone else I met on the weekend) and to finally put a face to names. It was great to meet so many people after spending so much time conversing with them over the internet. In particular my entire afternoon conversation with Phil and Pete yesterday was excellent and filled with great laughs. Great to meet Rick too. I had a really great time if albeit a little under the weather each morning.:eyepop:
A special thanks to my partner in crime Fred. Man I got to go home just to sober up again. You can drink like a fish and still get up and go again like nothing happened. I am sure the FLI guy thought we were amusing too; to his credit he heckled the hecklers really well and that made for some funny conversations the next day.

Finally a special thanks to all the presented at the conference. I am sure everyone had a good time presenting and sharing information. Well done.

Looking forward to the next one already. Great stuff.

[Octane]

So sad I missed out this year.

H

[strongmanmike]

Sounds like it was another even greater event :thumbsup:

Colour arguments? Gotta respect the colour too now huh? :lol:

Mike

[DavidTrap]

Dust comes in different colours, according to the pros! ;)

DT

[jjjnettie]

Well, it all depends on where the dust is doesn't it. :)
If it's close to Antares, I'd expect it to be reddish, if it's near Alnitak, I'd expect it to have a different hue.

[Bolts_Tweed]

G'day guys and girls - another one down. Great to meet new friends and reacquaint with old ones. Sounds corny but if you all had a good time it makes it worthwhile, will read the comments and answer questions ASAP. Had to lecture bloody statistics at 8am this morning and am I ever struggling now. Time to hit the cot and will post something of a reflection soon. A huge thank you to all sponsors, presenters and attendees - you guys made it a success. Got the bottom line today from the hotel and while it was red it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and I only mention that because I can probably put it over my boss to back us financially in 2 years time again.

Thanks to you all

MB

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Bolts_Tweed]

I almost forgot - don't forget Chris Malikoff who did a great job under trying circumstances on the web page and the booklet. Mate it wouldn't have happened without you. A soon as I get a weekend free I am using some frequent flyers points to come down and feed you and get you drunk.

[peter_4059]

Great effort again Mark. Really enjoyed it and it was great to meet some more IIS members.

Thanks,

Peter

[CDKPhil]

What a great conference!!!!

Thanks to Mark for all of his effort. Job well Done.

It was so great to meet so many people who are passionate about astro imaging in all of its forms, and to put a face to some of the IIS members. I wish there was more time to have met all that were there.

A real highlight for me was having a one on one conversation with Prof. David Malin who's images inspired me to get involved in astro photography when I was in high school. ( 20 odd years ago ).

Having lunch with Jay Gabany was a real treat, I just hope he is not scarred to come back to Australia after hearing some of Greg's snake stories. :lol:

Dinner last night with Ron Wodaski, was great, It was good to see Paul behaving himself, probably just lucky that Fred was not there.

A big thank you to all of the presenters, for taking so much time and effort to prepare the quality presentations. Without you there would have been no AAIC, you guys did a fantastic job.

keeping it real?

Phil

[PRejto]

Mark,

Many thanks for a great effort! I learned a lot 2 years ago, but this time exponentially more! Your choice of presenters was absolutely top and if you have the same presenters in 2 years I'd come for sure. It was great to meet so many IIS members! Wonderful way to enjoy to enjoy this shared passion.
Peter