Conference Descriptions: 1980-1989
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NO.
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LOCATION
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YEAR
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PRESIDENT
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SECRETARY/TREASURER
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16
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East Lansing, Michigan
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1980
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Lee Shapiro
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Dorothy Angeloff
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Spitz Lecturer: Ken Perkins
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Attendance: 69?
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| October 8 - 11, 1980 | 1980 Group Photo |
| Here we are back in Lansing, site of the very first meeting of planetarium personnel that led to the formation of GLPA on that blustery day 16 years ago, back in November 1964. It was 10 years ago that ISPE, the forerunner of the very vital and ever growing International Planetarium Society, was also born here. So this city and this institution—which incidentally has one of the first Spitz STP projectors and was one of the first to introduce unidirectional seating—have a significant place in the history of this fascinating profession in which we are all so fortunate to find ourselves. |
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NO.
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LOCATION
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YEAR
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PRESIDENT
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SECRETARY/TREASURER
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17
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Columbus, Ohio
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1981
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Lee Shapiro
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David Parker
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Spitz Lecturer: George Lovi
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Attendance: 61?
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| October 21 - 24, 1981 | 1981 Group Photo |
| A hastily put together meeting in Columbus, Ohio turned out to be quite successful despite some organizational problems and a last minute change in locality. The turnout was small by GLPA standards, but enthusiastic. It was hosted by Sandy Hallock and his friends at the Columbus Center of Science and Industry. |
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NO.
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LOCATION
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YEAR
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PRESIDENT
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SECRETARY/TREASURER
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18
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Peoria/Normal, Illinois
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1982
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Eugene Jenneman
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David Parker
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Spitz Lecturer: Don Hall
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Attendance: 54
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| October 13 - 16, 1982 | 1982 Group Photo |
| This was the Peoria convention hosted by the inimitable Sheldon Schafer. This is where the world was introduced for the first time to Suluna and it has never been the same since. I’m sure that the delegates must have been greatly impressed by the marvelous astronomical facilities in the area, and with the City of Peoria itself. |
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NO.
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LOCATION
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YEAR
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PRESIDENT
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SECRETARY/TREASURER
|
|
19
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Rochester, New York
(with MAPS)
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1983
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Eugene Jenneman
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David Parker
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Spitz Lecturer: Frank Drake
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Attendance: 163
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| May 20 - 23, 1983 | 1983 Group Photo |
| That was the second combined MAPS-GLPA meeting, the first having been at the same location (Rochester, NY) almost 15 years earlier. Host Don Hall and his highly creative staff did not disappoint. It was nice to see that Don had not lost much more hair between the two meetings. I had a good excuse that year. This was the first time in its history that GLPA had had a spring meeting. Judging from the below-par participation on the part of our membership, it might well be the last. |
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NO.
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LOCATION
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YEAR
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PRESIDENT
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SECRETARY/TREASURER
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20
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Milwaukee/Wauwatosa/
Waukesha, Wisconsin
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1984
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Sheldon Schafer
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David Parker
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Spitz Lecturer: George Reed
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Attendance: 70
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| October 24 - 27, 1984 | 1984 Group Photo |
| Milwaukee, the city of suds. The meeting was quite good, with a nice variety of activities and an emphasis on the problems of school planetariums. Milwaukee has no major facility, but is blessed with several excellent though smaller planetariums at surrounding schools and colleges. It seems we were forever on buses, including a memorable trip to the famed Yerkes Observatory. |
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NO.
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LOCATION
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YEAR
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PRESIDENT
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SECRETARY/TREASURER
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21
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River Grove, Illinois
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1985
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Sheldon Schafer
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David Parker
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Spitz Lecturer: Richard Knapp
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Attendance: 85
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| October 23 - 26, 1985 | 1985 Group Photo |
| Chicago, the windy city, and the season of Halley’s Comet, with a tail shaped by the solar wind. Steve Bishop and Bart Benjamin were our congenial hosts in the new Cernan Earth & Space Center of Triton College. Amidst trips to Fermilab and Adler, between invited talks and paper sessions, we were treated to planetarium shows in the tilted dome and enjoyed a Halley’s roundtable as we described our various plans for pleasing the impending crowds of comet-seekers in the months ahead. |
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NO.
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LOCATION
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YEAR
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PRESIDENT
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SECRETARY/TREASURER
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22
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Cleveland, Ohio
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1986
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Gary Tomlinson
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David Parker
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Spitz Lecturer: Don Tuttle
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Attendance: 97
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| October 22 - 26, 1986 | 1986 Group Photo |
| Eleven years (one solar cycle) later, we were back again to Cleveland, guests of the infamous CRAP (Cleveland Regional Association of Planetariums). With a variety of bus rides and an in-flight meal (a.k.a. sack lunch on the bus), we saw many of the school planetariums that give Cleveland its rich cluster of educational domes. At the Natural History Museum, long before "Jurassic Park," we had dinner near the dinosaurs and rollicked to a Halley retrospective slide show by Wes Orloff and Dan Francetic, as we bade the comet goodbye. We saw a sampler of NASA’s work at the Lewis Research Center and sampled apples at the hotel courtesy of Leona Helmsley years before the law caught up with her. |
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NO.
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LOCATION
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YEAR
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PRESIDENT
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SECRETARY/TREASURER
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23
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Merrillville, Indiana
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1987
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Gary Tomlinson
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David Parker
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Spitz Lecturer: Jack Spoehr
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Attendance: 100
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| October 28 - 31, 1987 | 1987 Group Photo |
| The first of three consecutive years of staying at a Holiday Inn. Our hosts were the dynamic duo of Gregg and Barbara Williams, who proved that a single small school planetarium can stage a first-class conference, though for the next decade only museum and college facilities would host a conference. Workshops made their debut at this conference and have been a staple ever since. Jack Spoehr inspired us with a memorable Spitz Lecture emphasizing the human value of our work. |
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NO.
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LOCATION
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YEAR
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PRESIDENT
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SECRETARY/TREASURER
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24
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Bowling Green, Ohio
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1988
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Steve Bishop
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David Parker
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Spitz Lecturer: Mark Littmann
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Attendance: 113
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| October 19 - 22, 1988 | 1988 Group Photo |
| A tough conference to describe since this writer was conference host. President Reagan was in town the first day of the conference, but didn’t attend. No bus ride exceeded five minutes (except the van to the Thursday evening campfire). We saw a couple live school programs and heard the first annual astronomy update lecture. Many of us met Mark Littmann for the first time as he gave the Spitz Lecture. This conference had the most cramped vendor area (an observatory lobby) and most memorable invited speaker: 82-year-old Clyde Tombaugh recounting his discovery of Pluto to a hushed audience. |
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NO.
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LOCATION
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YEAR
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PRESIDENT
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SECRETARY/TREASURER
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25
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Champaign, Illinois
|
1989
|
Steve Bishop
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David Parker
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Spitz Lecturer: Roy Gallant
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Attendance: 135
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| October 18 - 21, 1989 | 1989 Group Photo |
| Dave Linton, a Bowling Green alum, welcomed us to Parkland College. He also set a tradition in motion: Jim Kaler as the astronomy update speaker. We managed to negotiate the labyrinth of the campus hallways and heard a record number of invited speakers—seven, including IPS President Terence Murtagh and future IPS president Bill Gutsch. The nature of December shows was a topic again and Tom Wujec wowed us as he turned the dome square with his computed-scaled all-skies. |