Astronomy Irelands so-called 'fundraiser'

I find it VERY confusing that when I sign up to AI my money seems to go to A&S and the bit that really gets me is that the form asks for a donation, where does that go? Are people donating to A&S or to AI?

Sorry if I wasnt clear enough Bart. Its really simple when you sign up to AI all of that money goes to AI and into AI's bank account. None of that money goes to A&S. When you buy something from the shop all of your money goes to A&S and none of it goes to AI. It really is that simple.

But does A&S Ltd not publish Astronomy and Space Magazine? Hence I presume at least some of my money must make its way to A&S Ltd unless they are in the business of giving away free magazines? What I really want to know is how much?

Astronomy Ireland is not a company it is a registered charity as defined by something called the 'mcnaughton act' or something like that!!

Nitpicking I know but... if its a registered charity (or organisation granted charitable tax exemption as the lingo goes!) shouldn't it be listed on www.revenue.ie/doc/sn45.doc

I think there is a difference between a registered charity and one granted tax exemption. I think the purpose of the charity says whether it gets on that list or not. e.g a medical research charity would be eligable but a leisure activity such as astronomy wouldn't. I'll ask about that too!

But does A&S Ltd not publish Astronomy and Space Magazine? Hence I presume at least some of my money must make its way to A&S Ltd unless they are in the business of giving away free magazines? What I really want to know is how much?

I think I already mentioned this. But my clear understanding is that A&S gets reimbursed for the cost of printing those magazines which go to AI members and thats all. So A&S ends up with zero revenue from the transaction.

Ray - I would sincerely hope that no-one would assume that my personal experience of an event would be likely to happen to them. I'm not even offering advice - just a personal account and a personal opinion.

And by the way, my other half came along too and she was even more disappointed than me! She had great expectations but luckily, I took her to a KAS meeting and those lovely folks there steered her back into the land of reality

She loves it now, nearly as much as she loves me :oops: !

Anyhow, I dearly hope that your money will be well spent and you will enjoy the evening. After my complaints at the time and since, hopefully it will be an improved event. Buy her (and yourself) a woolly hat and a good pair of warm boots - that'll do the trick!

One piece of advice I *would* offer is to go along to an IFAS event - like anything else, it helps to try before you buy. And we're not a bad bunch really although we get onto these discussions every now and then. Which keeps us all on our toes!

Anyhow, good luck with the star-b-q - I sincerely hope it works out for you.

Cheers

Dave McD

I have just booked two tickets for the upcoming Star-b-q, and i am trying to persuade my other half to come along with me, as i thought this would be a good opportunity to get her interested in astronomy. My previous attempts at this have failed, usually because she complained of being too cold or too something or other! But i am having doubts after reading your account of last years event - i certainly hope they will at least have hot drinks there. Well. i have handed over my 50 quid now, so i'll just hope for the best.

There used to be food and a can of coke/orange when I went years back. I hope they have hot drinks for you now, but you can always bring a flask of tea just in case!

Getting the other half out to observe or even to got out with you observing is a very hard thing to accomplish!

Meteor showers are your friend! When you go out observing meteors with a group you need to bring a couple of comfortable camping chairs, and a rug/sleeping bag. Everybody just sits around looking at the sky and chatting. No telescopes, no cool gizmoz for you to get interested in and forget about the gf. You all just sit and chat and look at the sky. The flask of tea is also required here!

The TAS persied bbq in tullamore was the only other successful occasion. This was basically observing meteors (obviously) but Seanie and co. did have a nice warm bbq set up also. The comfortable chair, rug, and tea are also required, but the fire makes it more cozy.

These type of events will get you past the "too cold" complaints!

Now getting the other half actually interested in astronomy is something I have yet to manage


Cheers,
~Al

Something else that comes to mind that I really think dramatically muddies the water is that David Moore is both AI and A&S. He is the man who holds the reigns in both.

I also think that a big factor is that things are never clarified to the shop. I used to genuinely belive that if I bought stuff off A&S that all the profit from that went to AI. I also distinclty remember the literature saying "support your club, buy from our shop". That not only doesn't tell users what the real story is but in fact implies that things are different to what they really are. It is this sort of thing that leave a really bad taste in my mouth, like I said before I am used ot working within the transparent and highly regulated world of University Societies so all this smoke and mirrors just seems plain wrong to me.