2007 NSS Convention July 23 - July 27

[wendy]

I hope we can all get together at the Howdy Party. I've been looking at signage.

Something is in the works for a cavechat meet and greet, will post something when plans are hardened.

Also for anyone flying in and not wanting to bring a tent on the plane, I have a tent, sleeps 3-4 folks, that I can bring for ya. Just let me know and I will throw it in the car.

[wendy]

47 days to go!

[mgmills]

I just checked the Convention Website and the "Who's registered" page was updated yesterday at 11:39 am and shows that 799 people are registered at this time. Looks like it is going to be a well attended convention.

I'm saving up now so I can afford the gas to get there.

[caverd]

I'm saving up now so I can afford the gas to get there.

Knock on wood, but the price of gas seems to be falling a good bit recently. Here in southern Indiana (Evansville), the price of regular unleaded went from $3.40/gallon 3 wks ago to $2.96/gallon as of today. That's a positive sign, so keep your fingers crossed.

[Wayne Harrison]

Glad to hear the gas prices are going down. They're still at $3.19 here in Colorado.

Here's a link to an interactive hybrid Google map of the convention venue:

http://forums.caves.org/conventionmap.html

[CaverScott]

Tuesday Evening Acoustic Open Stage and Jam at Indiana NSS Convention

On Tuesday evening, July 24 at the NSS Convention in Indiana, a Caver Acoustic Open Stage and Jam will provide both entertainment for the audience and a chance for musically-inclined or otherwise talented cavers to perform on the Big Stage in the Expo Hall in the same space as the Monday night Howdy Party. Full professional sound and lighting will be available for those who bring their favorite instrument and talents to Indiana. Instruments may be available, but please bring your guitars, banjos, basses, mandolins, fiddles, etc. Some liquid refreshments maybe provided, else it’s BYOB.

The evening will start off with a sign-up period and Jam beginning by 8 pm, with the Open Stage starting around 9 PM and lasting until around midnight. Non electric, acoustic instruments are strongly encouraged. There is also a place for comedians, poets and acapella vocalists. Ad Hoc groups of silly cavers doing a few tunes or skits are also very welcome. Length of performances will vary from a few minutes to 15-20 minutes depending up the type and number of acts. Easy set-ups are key. Early registration and questions are welcome by emailing Kevin Strunk at kstrunk@indy.net prior to July 18, or by finding Kevin at the Convention prior to Tuesday evening.


Regional Favorites to play at Monday Night Howdy Party

The Monday Night Howdy Party will rock to the sounds of Indianapolis-based Tim Brickley and the Bleeding Hearts starting at about 7:45 PM following Opening Act and Indiana Caver Paul Michael Ash who will provide original acoustic sounds during the Howdy Party buffet beginning about 6:30 PM.


Terminal Syphons to play at Campground Party

Caver favorite The Terminal Syphons will be featured at the Wednesday evening Campground Party following the Auction on the Big Stage in the Expo Hall.

[Wayne Harrison]

There is also a place for comedians, poets and acapella vocalists.

Wow. Sounds great. Maybe I'll have to work on my caving monologue...

Also, the Convention Discussion Board has been open a few weeks now, if you have questions about anything at or around the convention:

http://nss2007.com/SMFforum/index.php

Take a look at the software of the the forum, too. SMF is the software I've been looking at to replace the buggy phpBB we are using now. It's also used by the UK Caving Forum. I'll probably put up a test version at some point so you can compare them. Just haven't had the time.

[Cheryl Jones]

Thanks for the tip. Found this good tidbit of information on the convention forum and thought I should post it here...Kriste won't mind!

Attention teachers and graduate students:
Credits are now available for attending 2007 NSS Convention!
For more information, call Kriste Lindberg, Chairman, NSS Environmental Education Committee/Project Underground, at (812)339-7210.

[jwashin]

New this year at Convention, a session with just short talks. Early Friday afternoon. Plan to attend and maybe show off something cool and/or useful.
What's it called? "Lightning Talks". It appears to be called "Lightning Round" on the program, so it's "The Lightning Thing" for now.
Why this session format? It's fun. Take a look at the lightning talk wikipedia entry. Particularly, follow the links in the Links section at the bottom for an idea of what to expect.
What are the topics? Anything related to caving, cavers, or Convention. Examples:

My project
My invention
My close call with death

Time limit? five minutes
How to register to speak? Contact Jim Washington (jwashin@vt.edu) with

Your name
The title of the talk
A short description of the talk. (not much, a couple of sentences)

Deadline for speaker registration? Anytime before Convention would be nice.
Display format? We will have a computer/projector, running OpenOffice.org Impress (available for free for most computer operating systems and mostly MS Powerpoint compatible). Send files to Jim before Convention for pre-loading onto the computer. If you have your presentation on a USB "thumb" drive, that may also work.

[Wayne Harrison]

For those of you who aren't able to attend this year's convention, I hope to be posting pictures (and invite others to do the same) during the convention right here. I'll also be adding selected convention photos to the rotating images displayed on the bottom left of the front page.

[CaverScott]

Only 28 Days to go!

[wendy]

woo hoo!!!!!!

[MUD]

I'ma gonna try real hard to make it....I'm a self-employed builder/renovator and I'm currently busy, busy, busy. Gotta make hay when the sun is shining, right? I'll know just days before.....

[wendy]

wow 26 days til convention, geez i need to start packing!

[CaverScott]

wow 26 days til convention, geez i need to start packing!

25 Days to go!

Fresh from the pre-registration chairman:

Time is running out….to pre-register for the 2007 NSS Convention. Pre-registration (by mail or on-line) ends July 1, 2007. So log onto http://www.nss2007.com and keep those registrations rolling in…..we are up to 874 and counting….