May 2005
From RmmsWiki
General Meeting - May, 2005
In attendance; Brian E., Tony M., Dewey A., Brad J., Eric B., Ray M., Jim Walker and Jim W.
Dewey, as a student at CU and therefore a representative of the Boulder chapter of RMMS (which entitles him to student organization privileges), will check into the reservation of rooms for the conference (though the Stadium Club is reserved already) if Farin has not already done so. (BLE: Farin and Dewey have this task under control, and they've reserved several good, close rooms.) Maggie Zubrin's request for early registration for the conference was reiterated so as to give the Society some operating capital to get things started; in addition we need a volunteer(s) to set up the conference web page to facilitate online registering and logistics for out-of-town and-country guests.
We discussed how to start lining up volunteers for the conference itself to man the registration tables, information booth, audio-visual technicians and support (of which CU will provide mostly), room monitors, talk moderators, and go-fers to handle the various problems that inevitably crop up at an event of this size and complexity. We decided to send out an e-mail to the entire RMMS mail list of a few hundred as a start and will need a dedicated twenty or so people per day to handle the needs. Maggie will give us a list of specific tasks and assignments so that people can pick and choose their opportunities to participate which will be posted on the RMMS and Conference websites for sign-ups. The need for walkie-talkies or cell phones to coordinate inter-crew communications will also be addressed.
For local promotion, it was suggested that we put up flyers/brochures in high-traffic venues in Boulder, Denver and Ft.Collins as well as the area universities and colleges; using mass media interviews and press coverage could be considered too for free advertising.
Brad J's talk (which he will also be presenting at the Conference) for the June meeting (and will be a world premiere since we'll be the first) was highlighted and will look at the limits of human growth and expansion in the galaxy given current real-world constraints and holds some surprises for us -- be there to find out.
As we didn't have a scheduled speaker the group started to discuss the reasons and rationales for human space exploration and colonization and wandered into science, technology, ecology, spirituality, sociology, psychology, economics, philosophy, biology and other arenas in what proved to be a wide-ranging and stimulating conversation. The role that religion and/or spirituality would play in space was particularly (if politely) contentious and interesting--food for thought there.
