There is a magenta Star Party binder in Brittnay's Old Old office (41" tower), on the wooden shelves, with instructions and samples in it.
The Public Event Planning Checklist has a step by step timeline for when things need to be done.
Notes on Adding to YEO Collective Knowledge
This page is not meant to be static—it should keep growing and evolving as Yerkes Education Outreach advances. As more activities are discovered and invented, more tricks discovered, and more events held, these things should be added. These things should also be added to the magenta Star Party binder: this webpage and the binder should always be kept in sync. Relating files should be placed in the ‘Outreach Documents’ folder on Google Drive (accessible by sofiaoutreach and yerkesassist, among others), and on the File Manager under stars>Outreach>Outreach Docs. These two places should also be synced. For more info, see Adding to YEO Collective Knowledge.
- Google forms will allow you to create an easy-to-use sign-up form that will track responses as they come in. You can start from scratch, or use the template in ‘Outreach Documents’ on the sofiaoutreach Google drive.
- You may also want to include other questions, depending on the event: allergy information, T-shirt size, school or institution affiliation, or whatever is appropriate.
- Set the form response sheet so that it will e-mail you when there are new responses. Always check to these to make sure that you promptly answer any questions people may have.
- Make sure to close the form when the event is over.
- First Aid: Ed and Brittnay Struble, and James and Christy Cudworth, are certified--find out who else working your event is. First aid kit is in the front office. Everyone should know the locations of the First Aid Kit and Fire Extinguishers, as well as the nearest exit from each room they'll be in.
- Lighting: for after-dark events, make sure there are lights on the steps (front and back, if you'll be using the back lawn) and a glow ring on each telescope on the lawn. The Molleigh Dome entrance needs to be lit enough (both top and bottom, usually with glowsticks) that people don't trip/bang their heads.
- Make sure you know if any attendees have any serious medical conditions you need to be aware of (allergies, etc.)
- Pre-college students who are not accompanied by an adult need to bring a signed medical waiver.
- Send e-mail announcement to star party list yo-starparty@lists.uchicago.edu. This is important: These people have specifically asked to be notified of Yerkes events. See Brittnay for sending pretty FlashIssue e-mails.
- Local newspapers: write up a press release, and send it to Richard Dreiser with instructions to send it to the local papers
- Local Park & Rec departments: look online for current contact info
- Facebook: write up an announcement, and send it (with a picture, if possible) to Maggie Trussler with instructions that it be put on the Yerkes Facebook page.
- If your event is for students, flyers and posters can be sent to the local schools
- Flyers and posters can often be posted in the local libraries, village halls, and post offices. Make sure to ask permission at each place, each time!
- Always check the Yerkes Calendar first to be sure that there isn't another event scheduled at the same time. If there is, find out what spaces that event will be using.
- Make sure to close any doors that you don't want people going through. Plate Vault should be locked. Chain off the hallways to both small domes, the copy-room hallway, and perhaps the library. Then people can pretty much wander through the rotunda, hallways, and Quester museum.
- Possible event spaces are the Morgan room, library, upper classroom, upper hallway, and skylight classroom. The rotunda may be used, but check with tours to see if they're using it. For events using the south lawn, you can also use the south building. You can have the gift shop open if you have a qualified clerk.
- Telescopes: you must sign up for time on any of the three main telescopes. Only about seven adults should be on the floor of the 24" at any one time; only 12 adults on the floor of the 40". Sirius B (Molleigh dome) and the Dobsonians can be used for most events. The Dobsonians are located downstairs, under the 41" dome.
- Food or drink should be served in the Morgan room or in the downstairs space under the rotunda. Avoid having food or drink in the library
- For go-to activities see Outreach Activities.
- The activities will, of course, depend a lot on what sort of event you're organizing: an observing night, a school field trip, etc. Below is a list of some of the go-to activities that you can consider. As well, the book The Universe at Your Fingertips can be very helpful--there are a couple of copies in Brittnay's old office (in the 41" tower) and in Kate's office.
- Check whether there will be any ISS passes or iridium flares
- Satellite picture (to see the cloud situation): check the wisgifloop
- You can use Stellarium to find good targets.
- Find out which planets are around, and whether the moon is out (both as a possible target, and because it will brighten the sky, making faint targets harder to see)
- Likely summer targets: Albireo, M13, M57, Mizar, M27, NGC 457, M5, M4
- Likely winter targets: M42 (Orion nebula), M1 (faint in dobs), M31 (Andromeda galaxy), NGC 457, Double Cluster (NGCs 884 and 869), Mizar
- Most YEO supplies are in the upstairs storeroom. A supplies list is attached.
- Food-related supplies (paper plates, cups, plastic silverware, etc.) are downstairs in the closet near the men's room (the closet with a spectrum poster on the door)
- Everything ought to be properly put away after the event.
- Batteries: Are in the student office, for checkout instructions see Battery Instructions Google Doc.
- Parking: Ed and Larry know how to manage it. Lawn parking is needed if a large number of people is expected.
- Several tasks can fall under the heading of registration. Only some of them will be applicable to any given event, but make sure that you don’t forget any that are necessary.
- Signing people in (checking them off a list, or writing them into a list)
- Taking payments
- Getting waivers signed (for pre-college students who will not be accompanied by an adult)
- Obtaining photo releases (if not done on sign-up form, or if there are walk-ins) (form in ‘Materials and Samples’)
- Distributing ‘No Photos, Please!’ tags to anyone who does not want to be photographed.
- Giving out punch cards and explaining how they work
- Giving out flyers that tell about the event
- Giving out flyers about future events
- Giving out prizes at the end of an event
- Giving out raffle tickets (to everyone, or only to those who come on time)
- Giving out name tags
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- Gift shop clerks: Maggie Trussler, Stephen Trussler, Richard Dreiser, Meta Dreiser, Deb Kaelbli, Brittnay Struble, James Cudworth, Christy Cudworth, Dan Koehler, Richard Huttas, Tiffany Kiepert
- 40" Operators: Dan Koehler, Kyle Cudworth, Ed Struble
- 24" Operators: Vivian Hoette, Frank Mills, Ed Struble, Dan Koehler, Kevin McCarron, Ed Sadler, Kate Meredith, Ozzie Osborn
- Sirius B/Molleigh Dome Operators: Kevin McCarron, Kate Meredith, Richard Huttas, Ed Sadler, Dan Koehler, James Cudworth, Christy Cudworth, Briana Thompson
- Other teachers and students (especially the Stars@Yerkes teachers and the McQuown Scholars) may be willing to be volunteers.
- Especially if you're working with new volunteers, you may want to write out instructions for certain jobs (telescope pointing, registration, etc.). Either way, you'll want to walk through the plan for the event with everyone (you may want to send out the agenda via e-mail), and make sure they all know safety procedures.
- Don't forget to thank everyone, both in person and via e-mail, for their help!
Giving the Volunteer Intro
- ALWAYS start by thanking everyone! Be sincere; give heartfelt thanks.
- Get them excited about the event. Again, the key is to be sincere. Don’t exaggerate, but tell them exactly why this is a worthwhile event and why it’s going to be good.
- Tell people approximately how many attendees you’re expecting.
- Give the safety rundown: where the first aid kit is, protocol if something goes wrong, lighting expectations. Remind people how important it is for them to be always paying attention to what’s going on.
- Make sure everyone has nametags. If applicable, make sure anyone else (e.g., Night Sky Guides, and especially Damage Control) is identifiable.
- Go over the agenda
- Give out setup tasks
- Give any special instructions to the whole group.
- Remind people to have fun and enjoy the event.
- Give any special instructions to individuals after the intro.
- Make sure you know if anyone needs a crash course in anything.
Time: 8:30–10pm
Fee: None
Coordinator: Brenna O’Brien
Helpers: Adam Huber, Briana Thompson, Carrie Volpert, Christy Cudworth, Elinore McLain, James Cudworth Kara Rowbotham, Kate Meredith, Kathleen Roper, Kevin McCarron, Kyle Bunne, Lindsay Berkhout, Luca Frez-Albrecht, Mikael Lewis, Priya Lingutla, Rebecca Chen, Samantha Raymond, Teddy Vollman, Ximena Morales
Telescopes: 24”, Three Dobsonians, Molleigh Dome
Activities: For any given night, some combination of: IR Camera, Star-wheels, Constellation Cards, Stellarium, Hallway Dob, Tours.
Planning notes: We used punch cards and prizes (star and planet finders). Dob and Molleigh Dome operators were given free reign over what objects they wanted to look at.
Notes for Next Time: Don’t let the tour group be too big: they may stay as a big group throughout the rest of the night and mob each station. Always have a partly-cloudy plan, as well as clear and cloudy ones.
Date: July 7th, 2016
Time: 7–10pm
Fee: None
Coordinators: Connie Gartner, Christy Cudworth
Helpers: Dan Koehler, Ed Sadler, Elinore McLain, James Cudworth, Kate Meredith, Kevin McCarron, Lindsay Berkhout, Mikael Lewis, Sam S. (interpreter), Stephen Trussler, Steve Diesso, Teddy Vollman
Activities: SJS project videos, building tour (Kevin, Dan), WSD SJS discussion, UWM/WSD/Yerkes Collaboration discussion, Aurasma demonstration, observing with the 24” (Lindsay) and Dobs (Elinore, James, Christy, Steve)
Description: This was an observing night for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. Nearly all of the attendees were deaf. We only had two interpreters, so most people used notepads for communication. People who were outside had flashlights on lanyards so that they could light up their notepads.
Outcome: The attendees loved it! The weather was partly cloudy, but the attendees got to see several objects through the telescopes.
Thoughts for the future: Small whiteboards might have worked better than notepads for communication. More interpreters would have be helpful, of course, also.
Solar Eclipse Event 10/23/14
Date: October 23rd, 2014
Time: 4:00pm–6:00pm
Fee: $5 per person, or max. $15 per family
Coordinators: Christy Cudworth, Brenna O’Brien, Bekah and Stephen Trussler
Helpers: Brittnay Struble, Ed Sadler, James Cudworth, Kyle Cudworth, Lynne Zielinski, Maggie Trussler, Marc Berthoud, Vivian Hoette
Activities: Paper-craft Eclipse Model (Bekah and Stephen), How Eclipses Work (Ed Sadler), Eclipse Streaming (planned: Sirius B, Solar Boxes, Earth-Sun-Moon model). Gift Shop open. Gave people Eclipse Glasses.
Weather: Cloudy
# of Attendees: 80
Advertising: “On October 23rd, a relatively rare astronomical wonder will grace our skies: a partial solar eclipse. This phenomenon occurs when the moon passes almost directly between the earth and the sun, appearing to partially block out the sun. Due to the danger of looking at the sun, this event can be difficult to observe at home.
Yerkes Observatory (at 373 West Geneva Street, Williams Bay, Wisconsin), is inviting you to join them in safely watching this natural wonder. The program will be held on October 23rd, from 4:00–6:00pm (the eclipse itself begins just after 4:30). Various solar viewing instruments will be available for safely observing the eclipse. Some eclipse related activities will also be provided.
People are encouraged to arrive promptly at four, but this is not required; we will be open throughout the event. The event will be held regardless of the weather.
The cost for this event is $5 per person, of a maximum of $15 per family. Children must be accompanied by adults. No pets, please.
Please register for the event below. We look forward to seeing you soon!”
Outcome: Very good! People enjoyed the event and learned a lot: not bad at all considering that we couldn’t see the sun at all throughout the event.
Thoughts for next time: I don’t think we’d change anything (except the weather!).