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AAS Cancels National Conference

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
October 16, 2012
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American Astronautical Society Cancels 2012 AAS National Conference
“Integral to our planned program in November was the presence of key government speakers from NASA and other agencies that would provide the high level of program and policy information expected by attendees. Due to the unexpected increase in government budget restrictions on travel and support for conferences, none of these NASA speakers who originally intended to participate will attend. In this regard, AAS is hardly unique – a recent American Meteorological Society conference lost 100 out of 130 NOAA attendees at very short notice and this past summer, a large number of NASA attendees had to cancel attendance at the first annual ISS Research and Development Conference due to restrictive travel policies implemented by the Office of Management and Budget after an egregious misuse of taxpayer funds in Las Vegas by the General Services Administration.”

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

16 responses to “AAS Cancels National Conference”

  1. Todd Austin says:
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    This is a great loss. It also seems like an unnecessary loss. There are a plethora of videoconferencing technologies available these days. Certainly something could have been done to provide the means for these government employees to speak from remote locations and thus allow this conference to go forward.

    • Steve Whitfield says:
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      Todd,

      If these video conferencing technologies were a little more stable and a little less hardware intensive, then we could dispense with the gathering all together and do the whole conference with everybody electronically “present.”  Obviously it would not be as effective as face-to-face, and it would be harder to have “private” conversations, but it would certainly be better than either no conferences at all or conferences with key people missing for money policy reasons.

      Personally, I see the whole cut back as overkill and unrealistic.  Just as a business operator knows that certain expenses are necessary costs of doing business, governments need to realize that certain costs are necessary to keeping in touch with and being competitive with the rest of the world.  Like any expense, conference attendance costs need to be monitored, justified and kept within their allocated budgets, but to simply slash them severely is unrealistic — unless your intention is to turn your technically advanced nation into a poor, helpless, third world country.  This is just one more reason why rich, senile old men should not be running governments (with all due respect to experience).

      Steve

      • Todd Austin says:
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         Steve,

        Trying to recreate the conference in virtual form is dramatically more complex and expensive than simply bringing a significant number of speakers this way. They would be talking heads in the room – on screen or at the lectern.

        This can be done simply and cheaply with something like Skype, but Skype often fails to perform up to basic quality standards.

        It would be pretty simple and cheap to set up a cloud service link to a speaker, who could talk on his or her laptop to the audience. Big fancy H.323 rigs aren’t needed for this and it can be done quickly and easily for not a lot of money.

        • Steve Whitfield says:
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          Todd,

          Agreed.

          I think that video conferencing, for all that’s already been done, can still be considered as an immature technology from the perspective of quality/price/ease-of-use.  Like pretty much all electronic communications applications, it has the potential to go through iterative performance/feature enhancements and significant cost reductions, once it hits the competitive marketplace.  All of the current solutions I’ve seen (which is not all of them) are pretty clunky performers, expensive to buy or use, and often finicky to get working.  Additionally, the user’s interface and feedback/status information they provide is not well thought out.

          Once somebody introduces the first really friendly and functional system and offers it for sale (not on-line pay by the second use) at a reasonable price, then I think we’re going to see the market competition begin, and performance and cost will improve.

          One catch: This is not a market that companies like Microsoft are going to capture because it needs to be easy to install on any computer, and it needs to operate  well on every computer (including laptops), not just the latest generation machines and operating systems and needing huge amounts of RAM.  It needs to be quickly and easily installed (or properly uninstalled) on a computer by an average user, not requiring an IT specialist, and it must not require you to install other (bloated) software first to get it to work (no latest service packs, no Windows updates, no .NETs, no half dozen ActiveX controls, no dedicated networking system, no disabling of anything else, etc…)

          Personally, I’d like to see an option to using cloud technology.  One alternative is to, on a conference basis, assign the conference originator’s computer as the software “server” for the duration of the conference (server can optionally be run-from-disc).  Added functions like meeting minutes, overhead displays, etc. could be automatically downloaded to a secure web site (specified by the conference originator, and not an on-line pay site) when the conference “server” ends the conference.  The system would email participants this site information and anything else they needed.

          Given the trends in budgets and dwindling natural resources, I think it’s just a matter of time before this sort of video conferencing is not only readily available (with high quality and a low price), but is a standard fixture in every company of any size, seeing daily use and saving both time and big money.

          Steve

      • Helen Simpson says:
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        I agree with both Steve and Todd here, but I would like to add a few thoughts. We’re in an age when “boots on the ground” at a conference is hardly the only way to stay connected. It used to be that way. In fact, just for hearing and seeing presentations, it’s a damned inefficient and expensive way to do it. The conference could be webcast, and slides put online. Or the conference could be offered up for telecon access, with slides again available online. There are several ways that questions could be effectively submitted. In fact, it’s almost criminal that major conferences are NOT done this way routinely these days. Yes, the sponsoring organization needs to get compensation for the event, but online access could be sold at a fraction of the cost of in situ access, and travel expenditures would be zero. I can make my own coffee! There is nothing about any of this that is difficult to implement. If you want a smaller group with everyone being “virtually present”, there are many very inexpensive and high performance commercial platforms that will allow this. I’d better not be specific and do any advertising.

        The world has changed. Why, just thirty years ago it cost an arm and a leg just to get connected by telephone! Now it’s pretty much free.

        Let’s face it. At many conferences, there are only a subset of talks I want to really be fully “present” at, and the rest of the time is largely to be “killed”. Were I participating remotely, I could time share vastly more efficiently. For students, killing time by going to hear new material is highly educational. For more senior people, not necessarily so.

        Now, that being said, such conferences are an important way to do networking, and it can be difficult to network remotely. We’re not used to going to have a wink, smile, and beer over the phone. That being the case, it wouldn’t bother me if there were fewer “boots on the ground” meetings per year that demanded my presence. Of course, facetime networking can be done with some effectiveness with online tools, and this should be encouraged. I’ll just get my own beer, and you get yours. While it’s disappointing to hear about the AAS conference, it may be the tip of the iceberg of a much needed evolution of professional engagement.

  2. Gonzo_Skeptic says:
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    Are those 50 or so NASA employees and managers still going to Naples, Italy, for that international boondoggle, er, conference?

  3. JonM73 says:
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    This is indeed disappointing.  One correction though… It was not the American Meteorological Society (AMS) that had lost a number of Gov’t attendees; it was the National Weather Association (NWA).  But the point is the same: professional organizations that hold conferences provide important opportunities for scientific or techncial dialog, exchange ideas, and enable networking.  And they are understandably concerned.  (Comment from immediate past-president of AMS and also, a few years earlier, of AAS)

  4. Michael Spencer says:
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    Isn’t this where we hear our esteemed host with something like ‘If I could do it from Everest…”? 🙂

    • Steve Whitfield says:
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      But, of course, our esteemed host would be absolutely right if he did make that point.  With a camera equipped laptop and a satellite internet connection, you can send streaming video from anywhere on (or under or above) the planet that doesn’t experience EM interference.  In one case that I read, it was even done from a submarine using a LF relay buoy (of course, it had to be saved and sped up again at the reception point).

      Steve

      • Michael Spencer says:
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        exactly so.

      • kcowing says:
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        OK OK I’ll chime in.  I used a Mac laptop and a BGAN phone and (other than the expense for sat time) I never had a problem sending video back from Everest Base Camp. I have done webscasts from NASA Desert RATS out in the middle of no where using a Sprint pocket WiFi unit and the same laptop.  The technology is no longer an issue. Besides, when you go to these meetings, the NASA people are already websurfing, emailing, etc on their laptop/ipad/iphone while speakers are talking.  It costs next to nothing to set up a WiFi router inside a meeting room.

  5. Brett Weeks says:
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    Good!  I hope every major conference & meeting gets boycotted by all agencies and then cancelled, just to demonstrate how totally absurd the OMB rules are.  Maybe if a project didn’t show up at the pad for their launch campaign for lack of travel “allocation” the point would really get driven home…

  6. Mizwedo says:
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    The NASA Astrobiology Institute routinely makes use of technology for remote conference interactions. International reach, no travel required. Read this article in PLoS Biology:  http://www.plosbiology.org/… 

    • kcowing says:
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      NAI is a trend setter in this regard and has been one since its inception as a “virtual institute” since its first organizing meetings in 1997.