Notes12April2011

Participants:
 * Bob Hanisch, STScI
 * Elizabeth Griffin, DAO
 * Pieter Degroote, Leuven
 * Jonas Debosscher, Leuven
 * Mansi Kasliwal, Caltech
 * Carole Mundell, Liverpool
 * Tom Vestrand, Los Alamos National Laboratory
 * Howard Bond, STScI
 * Glennys Farrar, NYU
 * George Djorgovski, Caltech
 * Roy Williams, Caltech
 * Keith Horne, St. Andrews
 * Rob Seaman, NOAO
 * Josh Grindlay, Harvard-Smithsonian CfA
 * Arne Henden, AAVSO

Very briefly, it was decided that:

1. Workshop leaders/co-leaders provide an outline or overview of what their workshop could or might include, how it might be organized, and how it can be geared towards something productive (deadline mid-May). If it seems useful, a follow-up Telecon could then happen a couple of weeks later.

2. In designing the content of a workshop, it will not be too early to include some of the outline questions which you think the participants might tackle, particularly with regard to the whole purpose of the Symposium. To that end, it might help if I include the new piece which we have now added to the Poster as per the wishes of the Telecon:

"IAU Symposium 285 diverges from tradition by featuring topical workshops that emphasize discussion, seek cross-cutting technical solutions, and foster new research collaborations."

The discussions could profitably be angled towards suggesting how those goals might be approached.

3. The Symposium Poster will be made available on the Website for you to download and display, as and when. Bob and I have already modified the wording so as to emphasize the break with Symposium Tradition which the workshops represent; the new version will be ready soon, when the Artist in Residence has completed some other current work.

4. The LOC chiefs (Mark Sullivan and Aris Karastergiou) will be asked to place the current list of registrants on the Website, along with a separate list of those who pre-registered.

5. A wiki will be set up, where workshop matters (content, scheduling, etc) can be discussed.

6. Bob and I will put together some Guidelines regarding how we believe the workshops can be formatted so as to yield good return to the Symposium and also to be of value to all who attend. Of course, each workshop will be an exception in some way ...

Best wishes, and thanks again,

Elizabeth and Bob