[meteorite-list] Educational presentations at Tucson?

[Michael Doran]

In my previous life as a systems librarian at a university, I regularly attended conferences and user group meetings.  An integral aspect of these conferences/meetings were educational presentations done by attendees. It occurred to me that presentations are something that might enhance the experience of attending the Tucson Show.  

For example, while I know that there's nothing I can teach the old hands, there are a number of things I'm figuring out as a newbie that I think would be of interest to other newbies.  Here are examples of presentations I would be willing to do, if the opportunity presented itself:

1) Meteorite collection development plans: what they are and why you should have one

2) Meteorite storage and display solutions for small (< 40 specimen) collections

And as an *attendee* I would really be interested in presentations from people doing actual meteorite science about the work they are doing (geared towards an educated lay audience).  Also, I would be interested in presentations from dealers about various aspects of meteorite acquisition, classification, and preparation.

To make this work would require:

A meeting room
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A meeting room at one of the main meteorite venues at the Tucson Show that for certain times/days could be devoted to presentations.  The room would need to have a basic presentation set-up: a speaker's table and/or podium with a way to connect a computer to a projector and chairs for the audience.  The Tucson show lasts two weeks, but I would anticipate that the presentations part would only be for one or maybe two days.

Organization
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Someone to:
- Put out a call for presenters, and
- Based on response, determine how many time slots were needed, and
- Assign presentations to time slots in schedule and notify presenters, and
- Put out a presentation schedule with titles/abstracts prior to Tucson show
- Prepare meeting room for presentations
- Assist presenters with use of meeting room equipment

While the organization of this could be done by volunteers (I would be willing to volunteer my time), reserving a meeting room would incur a cost.  Perhaps the IMCA would have funds in their budget to subsidize this and would consider taking this on. Another option would be to charge a nominal registration fee to attend this "seminar" portion of the show.  Again, I think this would only last a day or maybe two.

If you think this idea has merit, I have some questions for you...

As an attendee, what topics in meteoritics and/or meteorite collecting would you be interested in learning about?

Would you consider being a presenter?  If so, what topic(s) would you consider doing a presentation on?

Would you be willing to pay a registration fee to attend a short meteoritics/meteorite collecting seminar during the Tucson show?

If you would rather respond directly to me rather than the list, I can compile/summarize those responses for the list.

Thank you,

-- Michael

ps I've spent a fair amount of time going through the Meteorite Central list archive.  I've not seen any proposals like this, but it's possible I have missed those threads.  If so, I would appreciate hearing about any "lessons learned" from previous attempts.

Michael Doran
Fort Worth, TX