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IOTA at NEAF 2013 The IOTA Booth At The 2013 Northeast Astronomy Forum

Learn about the IOTA booth at the 2013 Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF) and its goals, activities, and feedback received, including hands-on demos, volunteer efforts, and future plans for improvement.

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IOTA at NEAF 2013 The IOTA Booth At The 2013 Northeast Astronomy Forum

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  1. IOTA at NEAF 2013 The IOTA Booth At The2013 Northeast Astronomy Forum Bruce Berger, Ted Blank, Al Carcich, Ken Coles, Steve Conard, Bruce Holenstein IOTA 2013 Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada

  2. North East Astronomy Forum • Co-hosted by Rockland Astronomy Club and Sky&Telescope • 4000+ attendees over 2 full days (Sat. and Sun.) • All major Astro vendors, Magazines, Clubs, Imagers, etc. • Founded by Allan Green (RAC president) and Al Nagler (TeleVue) • Also: Northeast Astro Imaging Conference & Solar Star Party

  3. Goals New: NEAF Pro-Am track: Offer a class on “Introduction to Occultations” Exposure for IOTA New Members IOTA-VTI info/sales Feedback from NEAF attendees on IOTA Ideas for improving future booths (NEAF, Arizona Expo, etc.)

  4. IOTA-VTI Activity Walt Morgan againoffered a $15 discount offer for units purchased within a week of NEAF.

  5. Outreach:E-MAIL Signups A BatchGEO map of booth visitor home towns was generated and sent to IOTA members, to make it easier to meet and mentor new members. (See next slide)

  6. Geo-locations of 2013 Visitors to the IOTA table at NEAF

  7. Outreach:Hands-on Demos and Real Equipment Volunteers brought their own occultation kits and made them available for examination during the weekend. Advantage: real gear, ability to show visitors how everything actually “connects up” Disadvantage: potential for damage or loss Result: No damage or loss Bruce Berger demonstrates a Canon ZR recorder to some visitors.

  8. Outreach:Handouts etc. Visit IOTA on Yahoo Groups! Please visit us on our Yahoo Group, IOTAoccultations@yahoogroups.com. Feel free to join the group and post a message telling us a little bit about yourself, your geographic location, background and equipment and we will try to connect you with a more experienced member in your area. Beginner questions are welcome!

  9. Ten-Inch Travel Scope The 10” travel scope was again assembled and displayed to visitors.

  10. Activity:“Analyze an occultation video” Each visitor was offered the opportunity to analyze an existing recording on a laptop with Limovie.

  11. Ted Blank and Bruce Berger taught two classes of “Introduction to Occultations” (pics by Bruce) Saturday 2pm – 3pm, 20 students Sunday 10am-11am – 9 students Covered hardware, software, web sites, using LiMovie, Occult Watcher, etc.

  12. Budget NEAF Booth charge: $430 Booth: $175 (non profit rate @ 50%) Extra 8’ table: $50 Extra chair: $5 +3 admissions @ $25: $75 Power: $125 Handouts: $20 Banner and storyboards – re-used Total: $450 IOTA donation: $300 Other donations: Donations from attending members and their companies covered the remaining costs Display Equipment: provided by the volunteers (personal equipment)

  13. Feedback / Results / Recommendations Ted Blank followed up with an email to each person who left their contact information (33 total) 8 responses, one working with Scotty, one with Ted Blank, April Russell attending and presenting this year in Toronto Multitude of IOTA websites can confuse first-time visitors. Need a single web point of contact geared more toward the “first contact” visitor. Elizabeth Warner has offered to put up a consolidated front-end website Need list of IOTA members by geography who are willing to be mentors to new members or those just interested in learning more (i.e. future members) Need a single IOTA person willing to connect new members with local mentors Application deadline for NEAF 2014 is March 1 We have been offered a free booth in the non-profit area at Arizona Science & Astronomy Expo (ASEA) in 2014, or we could pay $250 to be “on the main floor.”

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