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SAGAS - The Southern Area Group of Astronomical Societies

 

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SAGAS Committee Meeting 30th July 2010 - Summary

 

3rd August 2010.

 

A number of items were discussed at the committee meeting held on the 30th July 2010. The following are some brief notes prior to more detailed notes being produced.

 

The subject of what is and what is not covered by the FAS insurance policy is still not clear. Keith Brackenborough is to seek clarification on the scope of the cover at the FAS council meeting next Saturday. He should report back to the October business meeting.

 

Societies should be aware that SAGAS has purchased a set of display boards as well as a Moon globe for the use of member societies for exhibitions or public events. We are now considering what next to buy on your behalf. Two items have been suggested

 

  • Buy a large portable projection screen for use at large meetings. It is expensive to hire these for a day and a lot are too large to transport in a car. The proposal is to buy a screen of 1.8m x 2.4m which is about the largest you can get in a car with a folding rear seat or ski hatch.
  • The second is to buy a Dark Sky meter which can be borrowed by societies so that they can record how dark the sky is at their observing sites. The aim is to build up a list of darker sites in the South of England. In return for the loan of the meter member societies will be expected to contribute results showing the location and the dark sky reading. This would also allow us to record how high the light pollution is in urban areas.

 

We intend to firm up on these proposals and ask member societies to vote which one they favour at the October meeting. We can probably only afford one or other unless we receive any donations. If you have any ideas for assets we could purchase on behalf of the group and loan out let us know.

 

The meeting confirmed agreed that the SAGAS secretary will be the custodian of the location and bookings for the SAGAS assets (Display Stands & Moon Globe at present). Contact him to borrow them.

 

Three societies have not renewed their SAGAS membership, these are:

  • Orpington
  • South Downs
  • Richmond & Kew

 

We are intending to produce 2 more SAGAS guides:

 

  1. A guide on how to run a regional meeting such as the SAGAS summer meeting
  2. A guide to the requirements for Fire Risk assessments following the change in the law

If you wish to contribute to these or write any other guides please contact any of the committee.

 

SAGAS will have an un-manned display stand at Herstmonceux in September. If you have a poster and leaflets you would like displayed please contact the committee. SAGAS will provide a list of member societies with their contact details & web sites for visitor to take away.

 

We still need a volunteer society for the 2011 SAGAS summer meeting. Is your society willing to host it ? On that subject we agreed that the SAGAS committee should be more pro-active in assisting the organising society and should be more involved in the day itself.

 

The SAGAS speakers list is progressing but needs your input - contact Brian Halls with details of your speakers.

 

The committee are concerned about the poor treatment of speakers by some societies - poor treatment by a society may result in speakers not being willing to speak any more so we all lose out. We intend to provide some information on the does and dont's in due course.

 

We also discussed how easy it is to contact your society from the information on your web site - particulaly if the press are interested in a local event. The survey we have done showed that some societies seem to like to keep their contacts secret. If we have difficulty finding them how do you expect the press or prospective members to contact you ?

 

 

 

John Murrell - SAGAS Webmaster

 

sharing the same sky

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