|
Post by Ron Walker on Aug 30, 2022 20:47:49 GMT -7
Posted by: mrgare5050 Jul 16 2014, 05:24 PM QUOTE(Ron Walker @ Jul 16 2014, 06:31 AM) * Things keep adding up. July started with a total of 122 official visitors. another show added 22 more for a total of 144. I have two more shows for later in this month and another private show for the beginning of August. Then the new show for August if I can get it written in time. The interest is outstanding.
remember our 'starting a club from scratch' board, you can do it, or at least get some newsletter recipients maybe? is there some way you can keep in touch with alla these guys?
|
|
|
Post by Ron Walker on Aug 30, 2022 20:48:51 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Jul 16 2014, 06:32 PM I have an e-mail sign up board for anyone interested in future shows. I believe the total is approaching 50 e-mails.
As for a newsletter...there is only one newsletter...and it shall remain the one and only newsletter.
|
|
|
Post by Ron Walker on Aug 30, 2022 20:49:19 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Jul 16 2014, 06:37 PM QUOTE(moonmagic @ Jul 16 2014, 04:13 PM) * You bet that's good. I've given shows for only 2 people in a 50' dome with nearly 200 seats. INDEED, 144 people in total is GREAT!
I would think one more "Tonight's Sky" type show would be good for the fall, and then your Christmas show ready so that you can dry run it the week before Thanksgiving and keep it through early January.
One might think that people would be "worn out" with "everything Christmas" right after the 25th, but many people actually enjoy the program AFTER the hectic pace of the holidays are over.
You will need considerable production/preparation time for this show for the number of visuals and special effects that would be helpful, but not necessarily mandatory. After all, this being a hobby, there are no rules.
Everyone has always liked this show. It is a tradition and one that you will enjoy as well through sharing it with friends, family and others. It also works well with a combination of live sections and pre-recorded portions. It would be great if you could create at least a partial panorama and at least two slide units that can do cross fades/dissolves. Just some thoughts from this end. mm
Trying to find all the proper visuals could be a problem. At first I was thinking about trying to find or make slides, but last night I thought about a computer power point slide show with video sections to add interest. Now I must work on that idea as well and get some kind of video projection up on the dome as well. I will start first thing tomorrow.
|
|
|
Post by Ron Walker on Aug 30, 2022 20:51:19 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Jul 23 2014, 06:11 PM July 23rd and private show for three ladies who brought their grandchildren. This started with one lady who saw my opening day show and set this "private" show up on a date that all of the grandkids were visiting. This is the first time that I had more kids then adults and it was a great show. One of the boys looked exactly like "Berry" from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and I had the best "Ohhhhh" since I started giving shows when the stars came out full blast. I really think the youngsters liked this kind of simple old fashioned star show. I know some of the adults did as one comment I heard when they were leaving was, "What a relaxing time it was". I, again, forgot to bring a camera out to take crowd pictures. So 42 folks so far for July with one more private show coming up on the 29th. Perhaps I should encourage these private shows.
Since I got the projector up and running, it has clocked 50 hours and has enlightened 164 people so far. All of this from word of mouth between neighbors. I am flabbergasted to say the least.
Also added four more e-mail addresses to my e-mail list.
|
|
|
Post by Ron Walker on Aug 30, 2022 20:52:33 GMT -7
Posted by: mrgare5050 Jul 24 2014, 02:54 AM
better get some spare projector bulbs!
|
|
|
Post by Ron Walker on Aug 30, 2022 20:53:10 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Jul 24 2014, 10:50 AM I have spare bulbs for the main star globes, the Sun projector as well as the constellation projectors. I do not have one for the Moon projector but plan on converting it over to an LED. The planet projectors are already converted to LED's and should last a long time but I do have a bunch of replacements as I plan to convert many others. I do not have replacements for the Milky Way projectors but they run at a much lower voltage then normal so they should last a long time. I really need to find some back ups for them. I would love to find an LED, but the lamp must provide an 180 degree source which is hard for an LED. I also need to find some replacement bulbs for the meridian, ecliptic, and celestial equator projectors as I am borrowing from other less used units. The main dome illumination as well as Moon blue dome lighting use a replacement lamp that I converted the sockets to and which I have several replacements. Thankfully all of the various projector lamps are bought up slowly and a benefit is to not shock the filaments which adds greatly to their life.
However, I must continue to search out various either original lamps or come up with replacements. I have found a three watt LED that looks perfect for the Moon projector which is my greatest concern. Right now it is using a 20 watt incandescent bulb which is rather dim (in my estimation) and has a rather low color temperature. The experiments with the LED show not only a much brighter image but one that looks bluer like the real Moon.
This work continues along with writing new shows, rebuilding the laser projection system, and building up some kind of all sky projection system. Oh yes, trying to get some time laps pictures of clouds if we ever get any clouds this monsoon season.
The work never ends.
|
|
|
Post by Ron Walker on Aug 30, 2022 20:53:39 GMT -7
Posted by: moonmagic Jul 24 2014, 04:49 PM I know this all has to be very comforting after all the time, work and expense. Glad you are continuing to have a blast with this. mm
|
|
|
Post by Ron Walker on Aug 30, 2022 20:58:36 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Jul 29 2014, 07:16 PM Another show. I'm not at all sure where this group originated from but I had them on my calendar. There were six people in all, two of which didn't want their picture published so I just cut them out of the picture. It's always great to have some kids in the audience as they tend to have good input as well as good "ooohs" and "ahhhs" which I love. Kids love the constellation outline projections and want more and more. I guess my work is cut out for me now. The show for next month is "Reason For The Seasons" and I am going to set up some A3P line projectors so that I can place a line at the summer and winter solstice as well as the equinox. Being able to compare the length of time and the height of the Sun from winter to summer will help all to understand why things heat up in the summer. I also plan to do a hands on demonstration with a beam of light and an Earth globe to show how a given amount of sunlight is spread over a larger area in the winter thus less concentrated heat energy than in summer. I really very curious as to when the interest in this will fall off. I cannot believe that my small dome continues to do as good as it does. At first I thought today that people were really tired of my show because just as I was about to wind things up someone said they had to go for another appointment. At first I thought my style had finally caught up with me until I noticed that I had gone over my standard hour by twenty minutes. I guess I should keep more of an eye on my clock.
|
|
|
Post by Ron Walker on Aug 30, 2022 20:59:45 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Jul 29 2014, 07:17 PM QUOTE(moonmagic @ Jul 24 2014, 04:49 PM) * I know this all has to be very comforting after all the time, work and expense. Glad you are continuing to have a blast with this. mm
You have that right!!!
|
|
|
Post by Ron Walker on Aug 30, 2022 21:00:16 GMT -7
Posted by: mrgare5050 Jul 30 2014, 03:04 AM
Ride the wave as long as possible! And yes I would use this time to be as creative as possible, later when the inevitable doldrums set in a bit you can pull out lists of things to do maybe. I always walk in the star chamber at odd moments because you never know when an idea will come.
Theres a balance here I think, between hobby and showman and teacher. Everyone maybe has a mix, a ratio if you will, and it may even shift over time.
I think mine has always been about 60-20-20 60 percent hobbiest, 20 percent showman (i may seem crazy but a little goes a long way) and 20 percent teacher (it has its satisfactions)
so maybe thats the home planetarium ratio - have we done that before .. 60-20-20. whats yours? are there major categories missing?
the gift shop lives!
|
|
|
Post by Ron Walker on Aug 30, 2022 21:01:41 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Jul 30 2014, 10:47 AM That's an interesting mix. I'm not exactly sure how to measure this kind of thing. As I look back over the years of planning and construction then I must admit that I was 100% hobbyist. Since I wasn't operational I couldn't be much of the other two. Then, like throwing a big knife switch, I suddenly became the entertainer and educator. I'm thinking there might be one major section left out and that is builder. One can be a hobbyist without actually building anything. But we of the poor planetarium class are forced to construct things to get our hobbies to just work. Then I would suppose that we could add technician to the mix as we need time to make sure all of the mechanics of our shows are properly set up for any given show.
Now the question becomes what time period do we use to measure our results to get useful results. Is it a day, month, year, decade? Or do we keep info for all the time periods or do we just keep adding for an average result. While in dome purgatory I know I was at least 95% builder and only 5% hobbyist. But what exactly is hobbyist? Is it playing with the projectors we play with and does that include the construction of new parts, or is that building? It is mind boggling! I know I'm only a showman and/or educator when I'm giving a show. Do I measure things by the hour or day? Certainly to be accurate at all I need to measure by small increments. However trying to measure and record anything less then an hour would put me over the edge.
Yesterday I did what I would call an average private showing. One, one hour presentation. I probably spent one hour total setting things up for the presentation. So for that day I was 50% hobbyist/technician and 50% showman/educator. The showman/educator part is very hard to separate so I'll just give each one 25%. So I have a 50%-25%-25% for that kind of day. Fairly close to your numbers. But that is a day basically just repeating a preset show that has all of the bells and whistles already built and working.
On a show day I give three shows. Again probably an hour before the first show and then a maximum of fifteen minutes reset time between shows, So on show days I have 34% hobbyist/technician and 66% showman/educator. So on your scale I have 34%-33%-33%.
Then there are the days when I am again the hobbyist/builder making new parts for whatever to get new projectors operating. And where do I put days like Monday where I spent five hours going around to metal dealers to try and find some good scraps of aluminum rod 1 1/4 inches in diameter to build a new LED lamp holder for my Moon projector. I needed a piece about three inches long and came away with a piece about three feet long, the smallest I could find. It will probably take a good day to machine the part and build what needs to be built before I can even think about the changes required for the power supply. Now all that extra rod will not go to waste as I have plans to build more constellation outline projectors of which one can never have enough.
I would have a hard time deciding if this kind of work would go under hobbyist or builder (I actually tend to lean toward hobbyist as builder is more like pounding nails in a 2X4 or things like that) but building a projector is more of a hobbyist thing, the two categories should be separate. I'm thinking that I probably spend something like sixteen hours every week on the hobbyist thing and perhaps five hours on giving shows. So 64/5 or roughly 93% hobbyist and 7% showman/educator which on your scale would be 93%-3.5%-3.5%.
Just looking into the future I can see the numbers going either way. I have a gut feeling that I will always be spending lots of time in the hobby end doing what needs to be done to prepare new devices for new exhibits. The main variable will be the number of shows given in any given month. My plan is to always have one day a month as a show day. The number of shows now stands at three. This month I gave three shows but only one had anybody in it. That show was a repeat of the intro show and still had a respectable 21 people. Next month is a new show and there are people signed up for all three shows but the total is only 14 so far. It is still a week and a half away and people tend to sign up late so who knows how many will eventually come. Also I have no idea of how many "private" shows I will have in any given month. I believe I have one coming up this weekend for a small group of four or so. It will again be the intro show (at which I'm getting fairly good at doing) and while minor things change like what to look for in the sky that night and in the month to come, it is basically just a tour of the sky that night.
I am keeping a few statistics just for my own curiosity. I have not kept any total of the hours put in to the hobby/construction part, but I am keeping track of how many people come to each show and how many shows. Also if there is any donation to the cause (so to speak). June was grand opening week and in the five shows given, 81 people showed up. In July, three shows were given in which 48 people showed up. It is interesting that in the grand opening month each show averaged 16.2 people and in the next month with the same show, each averaged 16 people. I'm actually surprised that the numbers per show actually held up that well.
I must now get to work in setting up some line projectors to show the Sun's path at the various times of the year as well as start building the new Moon projector LED lamp house. But first I need to replace a few roof tiles that blew off in the 40+mph winds that came through the other day.
It never ends!
Anyway, my numbers right now are 93%-3.5%-3.5% on your scale.
|
|
|
Post by Ron Walker on Aug 30, 2022 21:02:24 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Jul 30 2014, 12:06 PM As I look back over this thread I see a had two shows on June 21st with something like forty more people. For the life of me I can't remember doing these shows. I need to check around and see if anyone remembers me doing them as I would need to add the people to my grand totals. I should have done this chart right away from the start and not try to reconstruct things.
Well I just talked to my dear wife and she reminded me that indeed I did have two shows on the 21st which added another 41 people. Wow, it all just blends together. That means that I've had 170 people total so far see the shows. I wonder how many other shows I've given and forgot about. blink.gif All this in just a month and a half. Actually, this fits in more with what I would have thought as the opening month would indeed bring in a lot more people then a second month with the same show. Something like a 50% fall off makes much more sense to me.
That does throw off the numbers scale a bit so I'm now something like 90%-5%-5%.
I just got some feedback from the neighbor that had told my last group about the planetarium (that's how they found out about me) and the lady was so impressed that she is telling the teacher at her daughter's private school all about it. The entire family appears to have thoroughly enjoyed the show. So my worry about bombing was just that. I actually ran over by twenty minutes and as any modern family they had every second of the day accounted for. Come to think about it, they said they would love to stay but they had some prior commitment that afternoon. That actually brings up another point and that is the death of the hour planetarium show. Most shows now don't go over 40 minutes and a lot of them time in at 30 minutes. Here I had a family with two young kids that sat through 80 minutes before they were forced to go because of a prior commitment. Couple that info with the comment I overheard from the previous show that it was the most relaxing time they had in years, makes me wonder why shows have become so short.
|
|
|
Post by Ron Walker on Aug 30, 2022 21:02:51 GMT -7
Posted by: moonmagic Jul 30 2014, 02:05 PM A couple of thoughts here:
While there ARE NO RULES, I have found from experience in teaching for years, that even for adults it is best to limit shows to 45-55 minutes. There is something to the adage of "leave them wanting more."
As far as percentages of time used, vs. percentage of various types of jobs....I think this is why I've always liked working around planetariums was due to the VARIETY of different things one can do. It allows ones creativity to play in many different areas. One day I am the lecturer, one day the writer, one day the photographer, one day the audio guy and so on. My weakest area is in repair and building things, which is why I maintain only obtaining things in working condition to begin with.
Again, as long is it all remains fun there are NO wrongs. mm
|
|
|
Post by Ron Walker on Aug 30, 2022 21:03:51 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Jul 30 2014, 03:55 PM That is why I have been holding shows to an hour. For some reason my show clock didn't work right and thus my show went over. Originally I was terrified that I wouldn't even be able to make a show 30 or 40 minutes long but that no longer appears to be a problem. I'm actually surprised that the group didn't start to "complain" long before they did. Perhaps I should cut the show back and/or make sure I don't make any of the new ones longer. Sometimes there is just a lot to see in the night sky. It will be interesting to see how I feel in a years time and/or after I've had 1K people through the dome. It's going to be interesting.
|
|
|
Post by Ron Walker on Aug 30, 2022 21:06:15 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Aug 2 2014, 12:34 PM Another first! Thank you notes. I actually never thought that I would ever get anything like a thank you note but these are from the family that had to leave before I finished but only after I went over by 20 minutes or so. If I keep up at this rate I might become one of those "institutions" Gare talked about.
|
|