Hi all,
I was just looking through this thread and I thought I would put my 2 cents in.
First I was under the impression that SPSP was going a lot longer than 2001, I seem to recall several members of the BAS attending Illford in 1993, but that is not what I really wanted to talk about.
The Queensland Astrofest came about when a group tried to unite the various clubs in SE Qld in an activity. The organisers of the first Astrofest eventually eventually evolved into the Combined Presidents Meeting, which largely does not organise the astrofest currently. This is now undertaken by a subcommittee (or is that sub-committed
) of representatives from each of the 5 local clubs (don't ask why there are so many clubs... there is only so much cyberspace). I don't have all the insides of the origins, but I hope to piece a large proportion of it together and post it onto the website in the next year or so.
One of the questions that is asked of us is why the QA is held in July/August, and mostly it has to do with tradition (we always did it then
) but in my opinon the main reason has to do with the weather and the sky. You can't beat winter Milky Way, and ususlly this time of year allows us to have at least 2 or 3 nights clear during the week. We have had QA in September but I think this is largely remembered as the Year of the Bugs, as it was quite warm and the lights during the meal attacted every bug within several k's. Sure it is cold, but generally this clears the air, at least that is the theory.
Another problem we have is burn-off of the land, too late and all the cockies are trying to recreate Hiroshima. In principal the burnoff is not time related... they can do it at any time with a permit, it just happens they do it around Show time and after. The joke is that the farmers throw a match as they drive to the Ekka.
If you are keen to organise something, you will need to have a core of dedicated organisers, at least 4 will share the load adequately in the leadup, but a few others at the time will help in the enjoyment for all. Very likely this core will remain at the helm for at least the first few years, but soon others will step forward to join the organisers. In the start the QA attacted only about 30 or 40 by the weekend, but as it has gained in popularity we are now getting over 150 through the week. Astrofest was over organised in the beginning, until there was a clear understanding how the beast would react, so to speak. After a few years it becam less formal as there were 40 to 50 attending and most everybody knew everybody else and we couldn't fill all the beds. Now all the beds a filled by the weekend and so accommodation has to be tightly ordered.
Your Starparty will very likely start smallish, but as it becomes part of the Astronomy calendar, it is almost certain to grow. Your venue will have to accommodate this. This year Camp Duckadang was very close to "critical mass"... not many beds left, parking at a premium, and camping spots starting to become scarce.
So out of all that rambling I had hoped to make these points:
- Weather determines when to hold it
- A group of people to organise it
- A suitable venue to grow into
I haven't mentioned anything about insurance etc, but I think that Anne-Louise is tapping something out at the other computer regarding this theme.
I have just read Robs post, and seem to see some echos of my thoughts.
Cheers