Bob said:
> It was all this talk of GSSP and the facilities (defined any way you want) that caused me to
> register today. You don't want to lose anyone else who might need the little extra push, do ya?
Right you are Bob! I'll continue it...
While the event is doing very well for attendance, way ahead of the pace for any prior year's
sign-ups, what is astonishing is, as I said before, the first-timer to returnee ratio. First
timers are in for a big treat, especially if they've only been to places that are affected by
light pollution from big population centers. What I am somewhat surprised by, is it seems a large
number of past year attendees are not yet signed up. I know, its still early. There are people
telling me and others they will... what I have been concerned about is that some people may feel
hesitant because:
1. Extra driving distance. Well, it is longer, but the drive is gorgeous and interesting. If you
are coming up highway 299 from Redding, you leave civilization behind pretty quickly. And, it is
a good road all the way. Its also a part of the state that is so big and unknown, there's a bit
of adventure just getting out there and seeing it.
2. Its not Lassen. True, Lassen's setting is spectacular. I know I'll return. But let's be
honest, its no place for a large star party. It was just an interim place to go until we secured
the best dark site we could, that would allow as many people as wanted to attend to camp by their
telescopes, without daily set-up, take-down, 3 a.m. drives back to camp, etc. And the new site is
a great fit for imagers and RV attendees, bringing the entire "astronomy-community" together
again! We sure missed people last year at Lassen, but this year looks to be like old times,
except with lots of new people, and what we feel is an outstanding location - both for its sky,
and the setting itself.
I expect that soon there will be a sight-map showing the layout at GSSP. There's been a lot of
thought put into it, in order that everyone is comfortable and there's plenty of room. To steal a
pretty good phrase, I'd say its an intelligent design! The layout is "group" oriented, think
CalStar, so we won't be spread out in different areas, or a quarter mile away from each other. The
observing field should be quite a sight this year.
Although Ken Lum mentioned it, I'll finish by repeating that registration fees increase on April
15. If you enjoyed the dark sky star parties we've been at in prior years, this one looks to be
'da bomb".... I know you'll have a great time.
If you have any questions, and would rather not post publicly, you can certainly ask me, post to
the GSSP Blog, or send a private e-mail to info@No-Spam .... we're all happy to
help. Or, post here, so others can see the discussion...
Mark
--
GSSP Blog for questions, suggestions: http://gsspdiscussion.blogspot.com/
Who's observing where? - http://observers.org/OI-calendar/
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Received on Wed Mar 26 15:41:14 2008