Hi All,
A big thank you to everyone who attended the SPSP this year and I really hope you had a great time despite the conditions.
I spent 5 nights there (Wed-Mon) without a single hour of observing, but still found it an enjoyable event.
If you have any feedback you can send it to the organising committee via
http://asnsw.com/info/contact.asp. We really value any feedback, so I would encourage you to send any thoughts, positive or negative. Praise us, or rip us to shreds, it is all important to plan better for next year.
My obviously biased thoughts on the event:
The new "Mens" toilet block really cut down the queues this year. We only just got it up and running in time (as you might have been able to tell from my duct tape wiring job), but we will have that fully working for next year. We are going to put a screened area around the new showers to give a bit more privacy.
The speakers were all excellent, especially the impromptu ones and it was a real treat to spend some time with Charlie after the talks. (Though we did have a little panic attack when Fred Watson did not arrive until about 3 minutes before his talk was due to begin).
I didn't get a chance to have a look at the entries for the astrophoto competition, but the winning photos were really stunning. Judging the Telescope Making comptetion was a highlight. In these days of cheap mass produced dobsonians, it is great to see that amateurs are still innovating in this area. We gave quite a few awards this year and they were all thoroughly deserved.
As to the weather. Well it was not really that cold out of the wind, and there was little rain to speak of. But the wind!!! That is the worst wind conditions I've experienced at Wiruna in all my time there. But everyone seemed to stick it out in good humor.
Another highlight for me was the Saturday night roast. Delicious!!
And lastly, the Kandos Scouts. They do an excellent job each year and this year was no exception. There is nothing like hot donuts on a cold, windy night or a big breakfast to get you started again the next day.
From my side of the fence, it seemed like a great success, despite the weather. I hope you agree and that we will see you next year.
Cheers,
Paul Hatchman