October 2012

I am composing this letter a couple of days after the close of our 60th AstroAssembly so it is appropriate for me to open with that topic.

An event such as AstroAssembly doesn’t just happen, it requires the coordinated effort of many volunteers. The 2nd vice president is tasked with planning and executing the convention. This year that position is occupied by Kathy Siok. Kathy is such a skilled organizer that she makes a very difficult task appear easy. Backing up Kathy was a brigade of volunteers, whom I will leave it to Kathy to thank in her report. I hope each of you will join me in congratulating the entire team on a job very well done.

What’s that you say? You weren’t there so why should you congratulate them? All members benefit from AstroAssembly because it produces a profit which is a source of operating funds for the Society. For those of us who attended, this was an exceptional convention. The theme, citizen science, was an excellent choice and the presenters could not have been better. We all learned of multiple ways that amateur astronomers can do real science to the substantial, and sometimes, essential benefit of important professional astronomical research. Just one example is in the search for extra solar planets, where the work of 700,000 amateurs has had a crucial impact on discoveries.

Several times I have alluded to volunteers and the rest of this letter is devoted to that subject. Skyscrapers, Inc. does not have a paid staff. All the work of the Society is performed by volunteer effort. The officers and Board members are volunteers. The Trustees are volunteers. The lawn at the Observatory is cut by volunteers. The refreshments are managed by volunteers. Star parties are put on by volunteers. Member presentations are done by volunteers. And so on. If it were not for volunteers none of the work of the Society would be performed and there would be no Skyscrapers.

The key to a successful organization such as ours is to spread the work across a large enough number of people that making the organization function is not a burden on any one individual. We are failing at that.

I overheard someone say “the same people are always in charge ...”. That’s right. The reason is that it is very, very difficult to get qualified people to run for Board or Trustees positions, hence the uncontested elections. There are too few volunteers for these positions. This president and the last are exceptions in that we were both members for a relatively brief time before being elected. So it is not impossible, or even difficult, to get involved.

Most people quite legitimately cannot devote the time to the major management positions of the organization. This is not unique to Skyscrapers. But there are lots of jobs that require very little time or effort. Here is an example: publicizing AstroAssembly has always been a shortcoming of the convention. It would have been wonderful if we had a member with some professional experience in public relations who could have advised the committee on how best to get the word out. Not someone to take on the task, but just to consult. There may be a member like this but none of us know of one (see an earlier President’s Letter about the failure of most of us to return Dave Huestis’ Skills Inventory).

I could cite dozens of other examples but let’s just say that there are jobs as easy as the one just described, or ones that may be harder but only for a few weeks duration, or jobs that are easy but span months or years, etc. Won’t you please consider whether you could help out in one of these forms or another? As with most societies, what you get out of Skyscrapers is directly proportional to what you put it. Ask any of the volunteers if you don’t believe that.

Thanks for all that you do for Skyscrapers.