Astronomy Irelands so-called 'fundraiser'

Guys,

Thanks for the advice there, i will attend the star-b-q with an open mind, and i hope there will be clear skies.

Dave Gr - Thanks, but its ok, we will survive without hot drinks if it comes to it, its not too much trouble for us to bring a flask. It seems you have your work cut out on this forum as it is!!

Albert - Thanks and Yes, i was thinking the same thing, in fact i did manage to get her to look at the Leonid meteor shower last november, and we both seen 1 meteor in a break in cloud, and she was amazed and very impressed! In fact, it the first time she had ever seen one, can you believe that! But i don't think i helped by driving around 3 counties for the following 4 hours looking for a break in cloud. I think the meteor shower in August(forget the name of it) will be ideal.

And to the rest of the guys - i'll definitely be keeping an eye out for your observing nights in your respective clubs.

Thanks,
Ray

Seanie, is that true about ripping off another lecturers talk? Unbelievable. THAT kind of stuff should be circulated, and NOT in AI's favour.

Guys a word of advice here, be very careful. You are making very specific allegations.

True, but an allegation I am most willing to stand by! I have the bloody webpage saved on my computer! And when I emailed DM about it, he coyly says "yes, I think the article is a very good one, don't you? blah blah blah it has served its purpose and will be removed". It was removed within hours.

Joe Soap doesn't have a clue when it comes to getting value for money at a star party. That is, not until they go to one and experience it for themselves. Judging by forums online (as newbie Derek mentioned) AI has not had as good a success with the public at their public events as they would like one to think.

Dave G, I know you say 1 club now charges to its observing session, but its the first since AI. And, if I may say so, its the cock and bull with regards to HOW AI/A&S do their observing session that gets everybodys noses out of joint! To charge to an event, and (well, up to very recently anyway) STILL CHARGE TO LOOK THROUGH A SCOPE is not right. Then to look for donations... Come on! He's got volunteers around Ireland collecting for HIM, not the club or company!

Dave G, I am not getting on your back, I am just backing up my arguments here. But have you ever heard of the story why the Galway arm of Astronomy Ireland broke away and went defunked? Does anyone else want to know? Maybe I'll PM the person on these boards who can fill us in all of that, so you have it from the horses mouth. I'll do my best.

Bart, keep a carefu eye on this before I really loose my cool.

:x

Seanie.

Thanks for the advice there, i will attend the star-b-q with an open mind, and i hope there will be clear skies.

Ray, I look forward to meeting you there. If there is anything I can do to make you and your good ladies evening more enjoyable on the night please do let me know.

Wow! I think I must apologise for some reason, but I didn't think my post would draw such a debate out of people!

You havent read the archives much have you

Seanie, is that true about ripping off another lecturers talk? Unbelievable. THAT kind of stuff should be circulated, and NOT in AI's favour.

I believe this was discussed at length in the archives also. IIRC the issue was with text on the webpage being a verbatim copy of work elsewhere but not credited to the original source. I may be wrong of course but its all been discussed before...

Dave Grennan, are you affiliated with AI in some way? You seem to be on his defense a lot. Can Moore not come here and talk to us, or stand up for himself? I really do not mean any offence to you (or any one else, who is a member of AI here)

Dave has explained his position clearly. He is one of many members of this board who are members of AI, he is one of the very few who constructivly engage here to listen to peoples concerns and provide his point of view. In fact most readers of the board will simply not bother reading this thread at all since they know from the title exactly the points we are going on about!

As for DM not reading these boards. Well why should he? If you want to complain to David about aspects of AI/A&S then you need to mail him directly at info@astronomy.ie.

Has anyone even complained publicly about them/him? I did see somewhere here about a stupid remark he made on light pollution, but sure the likes of RTE seem warped by his 'charm' that they don't take notice of anyone else.

I think every online astronomy forum in the country has had discussions like these! Including the Astronomy Ireland one on boards.ie that was subsequently closed down. David puts a lot of work into presenting AI to the media, this is a full time job for him, andI dont think anyone can match him on the same scale. RTE get the press releases and can be sure that he will always be able to give a comment. I doubt they care too much whether he mentions the club shop during the interview, or would care that it isn't really the club shop.
What you can do, if you think you can, is to contact your local radio station and offer them the same service that they get from DM - regular press releases, availble to do interviews at short notice on a wide range of topics etc. This is hard to do when you have a normal job, and radio stations tend not to want to mess with something that is working. Seanie has recently become the resident astronomy expert for Midlands radio for example, so if you are determined enough you can do it!

If the light pollution comment is the one I am thinking of you will find some mention at irishastronomy.org/ilpac/news.php

Cheers

If there is anything I can do to make you and your good ladies evening more enjoyable on the night please do let me know.

Did anyone else, on reading that the first time, wonder what the hell actually goes on at AI SBQ's

Did anyone else, on reading that the first time, wonder what the hell actually goes on at AI SBQ's

ROFLMAO!! Maybe I should rephrase that one!!!!