KEYNOTE & GUEST SPEAKERS

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Dr. William A. Gutsch, Jr.

Over the past 45 years, Dr. William Gutsch has written and produced over 100 planetarium shows and numerous special programs seen around the world. During his long career, he has held positions that have included: Staff Astronomer at the Strasenburgh Planetarium, Chairman of the American Museum-Hayden Planetarium, Science Correspondent for ABC’s Good Morning America and World News This Morning, President & CEO of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, President of the Board of Directors of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and Distinguished Professor of the College of Arts & Sciences at Saint Peter’s University outside of New York where he has taught in four departments and directed joint projects with Princeton University and NASA. Dr. Gutsch has led group tours to all seven continents and has lectured at leading universities from New Delhi to Shanghai including Harvard, Oxford and the California Institute of Technology. He currently does research on the aurora in the Arctic as well as on astro-archaeological aspects of 9th through 11th century Hindu-Buddhist temples in the jungles of western Cambodia. The author of several books and hundreds of syndicated newspaper columns and scripts for television (ABC, PBS, ITV/ London, NASA), Dr. Gutsch continues to do consulting work for science centers internationally and also continues to write, co-produce and direct programs for planetariums and IMAX theaters that are currently being seen in the US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

GUEST SPEAKERS

Caroline Mitchell Carrico Caroline is the Supervisor of Exhibits and Graphic Services at the Memphis Pink Palace Museum where she researches and curates exhibits on a wide range of topics. She earned a MA in history from The University of Memphis in 2012.

Tony Hardy Tony has spent 39 years involved with motion picture theater management. For the past 30 years, he has been exclusively devoted to IMAX, museums, and the Insitutional Giant Screen Theater network.

SCHEDULE

MONDAY, JUNE 4

7:30 am Breakfast on your own

9:00 am Early vendor set-up; MUG workshop

TUESDAY, JUNE 5

7:30 am Breakfast on your own

9:00 am Vendor set-up/Mini LIPS - Live Interactive Planetarium Symposium (9 am to 4:45 pm)

This all-day workshop will give attendees a sense of what happens at the annual Live Interactive Planetarium Symposium (LIPS). LIPS is a multi-day gathering that focuses on all facets of live programming: presentation skills; sample activities; etc.

As with the full LIPS, ideas and content presented at the Mini LIPS are intended to apply to everyone who does live shows, no matter whether those shows are in a portable dome or fixed, with a digital system or starball. Sessions will include comet model activities; planetarium research; and targeting astronomical misconceptions.

Attendance is limited to 45 people, in order to maximize opportunities for quality interaction. The surcharge of $25 covers lunch and two breaks.

12:15 pm Lunch on your own

1:00 pm Registration/Conference Check-in (Foyer of Central Ballroom) 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm

3:00 pm Hotel Check in

5:00 pm Shuttles to Pink Palace (Front of Hotel)

6:00 pm Dinner Buffet

7:00 pm New-comers meeting

7:30 pm Welcome – AutoZone Dome at the Sharpe Planetarium

8:00 pm Spitz Incorporated

8:30 pm Bowen Technovations

8:50 pm Break & Dome Crawl

My mentor, Dr. Gilbert Lueninghoener, invented a three-projector panoramic projection system he called “Planevista” in 1967. This was NOT a horizon panorama – the combined image covered essentially 1/3rd of the dome. Dr. L. also took his own photographs using his SLR on a mount he designed for the photography. He traveled extensively photographing many of the classic geologic areas of the National Parks of the west. He also took the developed slides and put them in mounts with his own masks for the two side slides – all by hand. I have reconstructed some images for the talk and hope to be able to show a few I have put into Fulldome software.

10:00 pm Phil Groce and Ricky Evans - Camera to Dome: Lessons Learned Shooting Fulldome Movies. Presenters share experiences and lessons learned while shooting Fulldome movies on a $450 Kodak SP360-4K camera. This is a simple way to capture fisheye content for your dome using a camera that produces sharp 2880 pixels x 2880 pixels Fulldome movies at 30 fps. It requires no stitching or software and can go straight from camera to dome with no processing. Examples of Fulldome footage will be demonstrated during this paper.

10:10 pm Announcements – Return to Hotel

10:15 pm Hospitality Suite (Lamar Room)/Show Dome (Holiday Inn University Hotel Lobby)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6

7:30 am – 8:45 am Breakfast in Tennessee Ballroom

Paper Session 1 in Shelby Ballroom

9:00am Jon Bell - Star names, Asterisms and Obscure Constellations

Why is there a head of hair in the sky? Whatever happened to Bufo the Toad? How come Sagittarius aims at Scorpius, but an arrow ends up lodged over in the Summer Triangle? Why do so many star names start with the letters, “AL?” And where exactly is Wasat? Find out the answers to these and many more stellar mysteries in a friendly little contest to see who knows the most about some of the more esoteric stories about the sky. Prizes will be awarded!

9:15am Terry Johnson - Finding a New Niche

When my university opened a new digital planetarium with free school shows, my portable dome was no longer viable. However, I found a mutually beneficial arrangement between local schools and my university that kept the portable in use and provided us with some valuable resources. This talk explores what teachers actually wanted in outreach from us, what we got in exchange, and the future of this program at UCA.

9:30am Adam Thanz - The New iMac Pro and Show Production

Find out how the new iMac Pro performs with modern planetarium show production. Learn about what equipment and specs were employed to create a fun and speedy workflow for content creation!

This paper will describe the NASA-funded kinetic activities done at the Tellus Science Museum this past April. I will show how our human-powered solar system demonstrated the planetary motions of the inner planets. Also this activity demonstrated how the close approach of Mars will happen in July. I will show how we built a human-powered exoplanet system and how our junior astronomers detected possible exoplanet systems in our human-powered star field.

10:00 am Break time

10:15 am Workshop: Hands-on Astronomy Activities – Overton Room (2nd floor Holiday Inn University) – Conducted by Christine Schupla (Ends at 12:15 pm)

Vendor time (Central Ballroom) and Show Dome (Hotel Lobby) (Both close at 12 noon)

12:15 pm Lunch in Tennessee Ballroom 1:30 pm Workshop: Introduction to 360 Photography - Overton Room (2nd floor Holiday Inn University) – Conducted by Derek Demeter (Ends at 4:15 pm)

2:45 pm Vendor time – Visit with vendors in the Central Ballroom (Closes at 5:30 pm)

4:30 pm Break

Paper Session 2 in Shelby Ballroom

4:45pm Dave Hostetter - An Aerospace Lobby for Fun and Non-Profit

With the help of Bays Mountain Park & Planetarium, the Lafayette Science Museum changed its rather ordinary building entrance into an aerospace lobby.

5:00 pm Bob Bonadurer - Dealing with Dark Dome Discipline

Every planetarium educator tries to maintain some semblance of “law and order” under their dome. This paper will look at some recent initiatives here in Milwaukee to combat smart phone use, talking, clueless parents (when a child is crying) and flashing shoes.

5:15 pm Brad Herring

Learn more about the free Explore Science: Earth and Space Toolkits and how planetariums can benefit from these valuable resources. In this presentation, participants will learn about the National Informal STEM Education (NISE) Network’s new Space and Earth Informal Science Education project and how their organization can get involved. In collaboration with NASA, the NISE Network is currently assembling a new set of free, engaging, hands-on Earth and space science toolkits with connections to Heliophysics, Earth Science, Planetary Science, and Astrophysics, and their social dimensions. A total of 350 toolkits will be awarded to eligible organizations through a competitive application process in the fall of 2018. In this presentation, we’ll present a general introduction to the project and provide an overview of the Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkits, including information about how to apply.

5:35 pm Break Time

7:00 pm GOTO Inc. – Ken Miller

7:20 pm Clark Productions

7:40 pm Bob Bonadurer

8:00 pm Seilor

8:30 pm ChromoCove

8:40 pm Break

8:50 pm Constellation Shootout - Jon Bell

10:00 pm Announcements – Shuttle to Hotel

10:15 pm Hospitality Suite (Lamar Room)/Show Dome (Holiday Inn University Hotel Lobby)

THURSDAY, JUNE 7

7:30 am – 8:45 am Breakfast in Tennessee Ballroom

Paper Session 3 in Shelby Ballroom

9:00 am Jay Lamm - Building Your Own Audio Production PC on Virtually Any Budget

The bulk of any discussion surrounding planetarium production will be centered on the visual side of things, i.e., how can we better communicate science with our own animations. But, of course, there’s the audio side as well. Getting started in audio production can be an intimidating prospect… but it’s not as bad as you may think. Here, we will go over how to build your own audio production PC, how to choose the best digital audio workstation software to suit your needs and budget, and how to get the best out of your audio project.

9:15 am Dave Hostetter - A Hunka, Hunka Burnin’ Rock

Meteorites are among the few tangible connections a planetarium visitor can have with the cosmos. A meteorite exhibit can be popular and educational, but there are many things to consider to make it effective.

9:30 am Jim Greenhouse - iPhones and Eyes Kiosks

Two unrelated topics will be covered. In a quest to find endless uses for old cell phones, the planetarium staff discovered a procedure for getting videos onto an iPhone app and then playing them in a loop for temporary displays. In some circumstances, iPhones can also be used to show Power Point presentations with an Apple Watch as the remote. Find out what equipment is needed, which apps work, and details for transferring the presentations. Additionally, my museum received a Smithsonian Affiliate grant to develop an exhibit kiosk which will allow visitors to explore the resources of the NASA Eyes software. This project is in progress, so any information gathered by the time of the presentation will be shared.

9:45 am Jack Northrup - Hyperspheric to Hemispheric Camera Tricks

10:00 am Vendor Time (Closes at noon for lunch)

10:15 am Workshop: David Dundee – Human-Powered Orrery and Exoplanets – Tennessee Ballroom

This workshop will have participants build a solar system (out to Mars). We will then, using human planets, demonstrate the motions of the planets. Then this human-powered model will show how the close approach of Mars will happen this summer. Then we will create a human-powered star field and our selected team of astronomers will observe the star field looking for possible exoplanets. Finally, we will construct the exoplanet system of Trappist 1. Participants will receive electronically everything they need to repeat this activity at their home institution. (2 hours)

11:00 am Workshop: Karrie Berglund - targeting different learning styles – Overton Ballroom

This workshop will briefly introduce attendees to the seven basic learning styles identified by The Institute for Learning Styles Research. After the overview of the seven learning styles, attendees will work in small groups to create a set of planetarium activities targeting each learning style. These activities will be compiled after the conference and emailed to all workshop participants for use in their domes. (1 hour and 15 minutes)

12:15 pm Lunch – Tennessee Ballroom

Paper Session 4 in Shelby Ballroom

1:30 pm Dr. William Gutsch - Creating Planetarium Programs for a Wide Variety of Styles and Formats Including Multi-lingual Productions

A look at the unique needs of scripts and corresponding production requirements for a variety of program formats including: planetarium voice over documentaries, dialogue using famous characters with lip synch, live theater in a planetarium setting, integrating video of actors on sound stages with animation… and special considerations for writing and producing shows to be adapted to different languages and cultures.

2:00 pm Patrick McQuillan - Dome of Doom: The Art of Avoiding Errors When Renovating Your Planetarium

Even when you have a very detailed vision of what your final renovated theater should look like, physical and operational defects can force their way into your completed project. Spend some time looking at areas to focus attention on when renovating from the perspective of a theater that got most everything right. But...on some things...missed it by that much!

2:15 pm Jason Dorfman - 3D Printing a Solar Filter

Bays Mountain Park received a 3-D printer as a donation in 2016. As we were in production on our new eclipse show, the printer sat unused for several months. Once we finished our production, I took on the task of learning how to use the printer. I began to look for something to model myself and print. With the solar eclipse coming up in August, creating a solar filter for my telescope was already on my mind. In my presentation I will explain how I designed and modeled the filter using our 3-D modeling software. I’ll cover some of the design flaws that became evident after the printing process. Finally, I’ll present the final product, which we also now use on a different scope for solar observations at Bays Mountain Park.

2:30 pm Lindsie Smith & Duke Johnson - Maintaining Relevance

What are you doing to keep audiences coming back? Is the experience you’re offering garnering new audiences? What evidence do you gather to inform your approach and strategic planning to ensure that your planetarium remains a relevant and impactful member of your community? Please join us for a brief overview of conversations and approaches that have made a difference for Clark Planetarium in recent years both pre and post renovation.

2:45 pm Panel Discussion in Shelby Ballroom: Butts in Seats and Repeat

Panelists: Derek Demeter, Lindsie Smith, Duke Johnson, Liz Klimek

A discussion of issues and techniques involved in encouraging repeat visitation.

3:30 pm Vendor time (Closes at 5:15) / Show Dome (Closes at 5:15)

5:15 pm Dinner on your own – Board Shuttle Vans to nearby dining options

6:45 pm Shuttle to Pink Palace

7:00 pm Laser Fantasy 20 min.

7:20 pm Evans & Sutherland 30 min.

7:50 pm AVI and Bill Gutsch - Planetarium show: OUR VIOLENT PLANET 30 min.

We live out our lives on our planet’s fractured crust, “plates” that pull apart, collide, producing violent earthquakes, volcanoes eruptions and tsunamis.

8:20 pm Break time

8:30 pm ASH Enterprises 30 min.

9:00 pm Digitalis 20 min.

9:20 pm Jon Bell: SEPA’s production The Planets produced in Fulldome digital 41 min.

10:01 pm Announcements – Shuttle to Hotel

10:15 pm Hospitality Suite (Lamar Room)/Show Dome (Holiday Inn University Hotel Lobby)