Volunteer Network
The Planetary Society's
Global Volunteer Network Newsletter
Spring 2004
April - June
Dear Planetary Society Volunteers,
It has been my pleasure to serve The Planetary Society and You these
past nine months as Global Volunteer Leader. When first asked to consider
the job, I was rather overwhelmed by the idea of coordinating volunteers
from every corner of the globe. This is a position that I would not
have considered a few years ago, but with the advent of the computer
and the internet, the world has shrunk to the point where I feel as
though you are all my neighbors. I'm often surprised to send a message
to some far-flung corner of our beautiful planet and get a response
a few minutes later from a volunteer who's working late into the night
or in the early morning hours.
This is the first of what I hope will be a regularly issued Volunteer
Newsletter. I'd like to include activities of our volunteers, recap
recent Society news events, provide a few web sites you might have
overlooked, and let you know, in general, how the Global Volunteer
Network is prospering. The success of the Newsletter will depend,
in part, on you, our volunteers. I would appreciate your questions,
feedback on what you liked or didn't like in an issue, suggestions
for improvement, and especially any articles you might have for possible
inclusion.
We currently have 155 volunteers in 23 countries and 24 states of
the United States. Some are more active than others and I hope that
with the guidance of active Regional Coordinators, or with my assistance
where there are no coordinators, the Global Volunteer Network will
continue to grow.
- Lonny Baker, Global Volunteer Leader
Some of the highlights of this Newsletter are:
Reports From Volunteers:
News from
our Brazilian Volunteer, José Roberto de Vasconcelos Costa - Saõ Paulo,
Brazil
Involving
Young People in Planetary Exploration, Paul Keery - Oakville, Canada
The BBC
Salutes a Society Volunteer, Andy Lound - Birmingham, United Kingdom
Irish (Student) Eyes are Smiling…, Kevin Nolan - Dublin, Ireland
New
York City Society Members and staff bring the Solar Sail
to the public
SPIRIT lands and we were there!
Regional Coordinators
Regional Networks
Materials and Resources: The Planetary Society can help YOU make
it happen!
Useful Internet Resources
REPORTS FROM VOLUNTEERS
News from our Brazilian Volunteer, José Roberto de Vasconcelos
Costa - Saõ Paulo, Brazil
When asked to contribute a short piece to our first newsletter on
what being a Planetary Society Volunteer means to him, José wrote:
“Working as a volunteer with The Planetary Society is a remarkable
opportunity and a privilege. However, many of us, members of the Society,
have not fully realized this yet.
The most obvious membership benefit is our chance to play a role
in this unique time in the history of human space exploration.
Remember, only 100 years ago we were not able to make a controlled,
powered flight and just in the sixties, a human being orbited the
Earth for the first time. Today, we have already been on the Moon
and sent spaceships to other planets and beyond.
As Society members we take part in this adventure-we are the largest
group around the world interested in space. But as members AND volunteers
we can do a lot more.
We can engage people in our countries (or just in our cities or neighborhoods)
in educational activities that can contribute to increase the awareness
about the importance of space exploration.
Here in Brazil, in just two years of volunteer efforts, we made possible
a number of great events - and without any expenses! In lecture rooms
lent by a public observatory, we had lectures about the Solar Sail
Project and a series of presentations about the 25 years of the Voyager
Mission. As they were non-profit activities of public interest, these
events were advertised at no cost by local TVs and newspapers.
The Planetary Society also participated in the most important national
meeting on astronomy in Brazil-the ENAST (Encontro Nacional De Astronomia).
This meeting is a public event and I participated by presenting a
poster and by delivering a short lecture. I will surely participate
in the next ENAST and I look forward to that!
A Society banner was displayed and I also distributed folders and
had the chance to have exciting informal conversations with participants
of a regional star party. As another low cost initiative to promote
our goals, we have a Brazilian web site. I invite you to learn
more about our activities by visiting us.
Considering that each lecture gathered about 50 people and that approximately
400 people attended the ENAST meeting, I have, without much effort,
spoken about The Planetary Society to more than a thousand people!
A single Society member can make it happen. What about a small volunteer
community?
You are a Planetary Society member? What are you waiting for? Join
our Volunteer Network. Believe me, We can really make it happen!”
Involving Young People in Planetary Exploration, Paul Keery - Oakville,
Canada
In July, we welcomed our most recent Canadian volunteer, Paul Keery,
who lives in Oakville, Ontario, near Toronto. Paul teaches a high
school course in Robotics using the LEGO Mindstorms for Schools. He
wanted to build the course this year around the Mars Exploration Rovers,
Spirit and Opportunity. Wanting to get his students and other teachers
involved in following the landings, he organized an event at his school.
While The Planetary Society offered moral and material support, Paul
developed an amazing schedule of events. Mars Day was held at the
school and was open to the public on January 24, 2004, the day Opportunity
bounced down onto the surface of the Red Planet.
Paul wanted to expand Mars Day beyond the science and computer departments
to look at Mars from across the curriculum. He created an imaginative
event, and it was so successful, he's going to repeat it in the spring.
Grade 5 students demonstrated Red Rover, Red Rover, with software
supplied by Emily Lakdawalla, Society Science and Technology Coordinator,
while older students used Robolab. They built a simulated Mars
terrain for the robots to explore.
Additional activities included:
• a debate by the Debating Club on the topic "Should humans fly to
Mars by 2020?"
• a historical retrospective on Martian exploration, looking at some of
Wernher von Braun's plans
from the 1950s and ask “What if this had happened?” and “Why
didn't it happen?”
• videos, such as "Bouncing to Mars" and an eight-minute
video from Cornell University showing the
launch and flight of the MERs.
• art displays and science projects on the theme of space exploration.
The Planetary Society supported this event with Mars posters, copies
of The Planetary Report and a notice posted on our web site. The event
was a great success - Paul is a volunteer who “Makes it happen!”
The BBC Salutes a Society Volunteer, Andy Lound - Birmingham, United
Kingdom
Our long-time volunteer coordinator in the United Kingdom, Andy Lound,
has recently been featured in an article on the BBC's (the British
Broadcasting Corporation) homepage regarding his volunteer activities
on behalf of The Planetary Society. You can read
about Andy's volunteer efforts.
We are very grateful to have enthusiastic, energetic, and dedicated
volunteers such as Andy!
Irish (Student) Eyes are Smiling…, Kevin Nolan - Dublin,
Ireland
When I contacted long-time Irish volunteer Kevin Nolan to introduce
him to new Dublin volunteer, John Sheridan, Kevin couldn't have
been more enthusiastic. "I'd be grateful if you would refer anyone
who wishes to be a volunteer toward me as I am in the middle of a
lot of Planetary Society activity and there's no point being uncoordinated
about it." He also sent a note to bring us up to date on his
activities on behalf of the Society:
Recent highlights include developing and co-writing an entire page
on Mars for the newspaper, The Irish Times, and several high profile
lectures in both Dublin and Cork, paid for by his government, but
representing the Society!
Kevin's been giving regular high profile lectures representing The
Planetary Society, and took part in Ireland's Astronomy Expo in November,
representing the Society.
Other events where Kevin has represented The Planetary Society are
a series of space talks to 6- and 12-year-olds for Ireland's science
week in November, and a new high-profile science series on Irish TV
which will be aired on a regular basis in coming months.
New York City Society Members and staff bring the Solar Sail to the
Public
In July, 2003, Vilia Zmuidzinas, Events and Project Coordinator,
sent a letter to all New York City area Members (including New Jersey
and Connecticut), inviting them to participate in a volunteer opportunity
by staffing our Cosmos 1: The First Solar Sail exhibit held July 29
- August 18 as part of the GE Centennial of Flight exhibition at Rockefeller
Center in New York City. Over 50 new volunteers responded and participated!
Suspended from the soaring lobby ceiling, the replica of one of the
eight 47-foot blades that make up the Cosmos 1: The First Solar Sail
spacecraft gave the public their first opportunity to see a technology
that may one day fly missions throughout the solar system and to the
stars. The spacecraft is slated to launch later this year.
The volunteers served as representatives of The Planetary Society
and provided information on the Society to visitors. We were
very pleased at the response from our Members, the enthusiasm of the
volunteers, who worked side by side with Linda Wong, Planetary Society
Development Coordinator, for the entire 2 1/2 weeks of the exhibit. We
would not have had such an impressive presence at the exhibit without
these volunteers!
At the end of his stint, Ken Hart of New Jersey wrote Vilia, "It
was wonderful to be able to explain the Cosmos project and to hear
the genuine awe and appreciation for its technology and its goals.
It certainly invigorated me much more than I could have anticipated.
Thank you for the opportunity!"
Click
here for information and updates on Cosmos 1: The First Solar
Sail
SPIRIT lands and we were there!
Over three thousand people attended Wild About Mars, The Planetary
Society's two-day event at the Pasadena Convention Center celebrating
the landing of the rover, Spirit, on the surface of Mars. Over 60
volunteers, coordinated by Vilia, made it possible. From stuffing "goody
bags" to selling tickets and memberships, from explaining our
exhibits (the Solar Sail and a full sized replica of the Mars Exploration
Rover) and assisting visitors run the Mars Station to escorting our
celebrity guests (Ray Bradbury, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Robert Picardo
and John Rhys-Davies), many volunteers worked seven-hour days. The
event was a great success and would have been impossible without our
dedicated volunteers!
Pasadena was only one place where Mars celebrations took place. In
Seattle, Washington, the Museum of Flight held a two-day MarsFest
'04 (Jan 10) and a few weeks later The Pacific Science Center organized
Mars Mania (Jan 24-25). The Society was well represented at both events
by Ron Daigle, CoCo and Bill Podawiltz, and Tom Trimbath. Ron made
a MarsDial and posters for display. Check his web sites to see the
results: http://homepage.mac.com/rdaigle/MarsFest/index.htm http://homepage.mac.com/rdaigle/MarsMania/index.htm.
If you haven’t already read it, please see Paul Keery’s
report, earlier in this newsletter.
REGIONAL COORDINATORS
Applications for Regional Coordinator have been arriving in Pasadena.
As announced in the Nov/Dec '03 issue of The Planetary Report,
all volunteers are invited to apply, and current coordinators are
invited to reapply. To read the Regional Coordinator Guidelines
and find a copy of the Regional Coordinator Application, go to http://www.planetary.org/participate/volunteer/guidelines.html
REGIONAL NETWORKS
Currently there are Regional Networks in Boston, the San Francisco
Bay Area, Pasadena, and the United Kingdom. It is our aim to form
new networks as more volunteers sign up. Soon we hope to form networks
in Chicago, the New York City area, the Washington, DC area, South
Florida, and Southern California.
Recently, the first new network was formed. Congratulations to Ron
Daigle, Regional Coordinator of The Planetary Society Seattle Area
Volunteer Network! This group will serve as a model as new networks
come on-line.
MATERIALS AND RESOURCES
When planning an event, keep in mind that the Society will provide
you with materials such as The Planetary Report, bookmarks, and
posters. These items are one way to spread the word about our many
worldwide projects, and offer visitors to our events the opportunity
to become better informed about what we do. Several volunteers have
made their own posters or banners (see web sites above), which attract
visitors to our display table.
USEFUL RESOURCES
I'm sure you are familiar with The
Planetary Society's home page, but have you spent time looking
at other pages? The
home page will generally lead you to other pages with current
information, but you may want to bookmark some of the following links
so you can go to them directly:
• Find out more information on Mars,
pictures from
the Rovers, how to make
a MarsDial, Student
Astronaut diaries,
and Astrobot
diaries
• Cosmos 1: The First Solar Sail updates
• The Learning Center for student activities ideas
If you do not receive monthly email updates from the Society, sign
up.
•••••••••
Well, dear volunteer, this concludes our first Global Volunteer Newsletter.
It's longer than I intended, but with so many volunteers doing so
many wonderful events on behalf of the Society, I just didn't know
where to stop. If I left you out, send me a note that I can share
when I write the Spring Newsletter.
Now I'd like to hear YOUR thoughts about this Newsletter. What did
you like/dislike? What features would you like added/deleted? But
most important - please let me know what you are doing on behalf of
the Society, how you think the work you do benefits our long-term
goals of promoting the Society, and any creative display or presentation
ideas you'd like to share with other Volunteers.
Finally, my thanks to all of you for the wonderful contribution you
make on behalf of The Planetary Society. It's been such a pleasure
to work with you!
A Bientôt, aloha, cheers, ciao,
Lonny Baker
Global Volunteer Leader
Click here to return to top of the page.
Read
more newsletters »
|
[ what is this? ]