[AANC Contacts] Want a pass to SETIcon?

[KENNETH FRANK]

Happy Summer AANC Membership!

Along with summer comes many opportunities to represent your club in  
the community with star parties and more. Here's your chance: Barbara  
Vance <bvance at seti.org > of the SETI Institute requests some volunteer  
assistance from the Greater Bay Area amateur astronomy community for  
this exciting convention. Also, if you'd like to set up a telescope  
for solar or nighttime viewing please let me know.

Thanks and see you in the dark,

Ken Frank
AANC <kennethfrank at planitarium.net>

Hello everyone,
SETIcon, the science and science fiction convention about the search  
for life in the universe, is going to be held in Santa Clara, Aug. 13  
- 15, and we would like to find some local volunteers who can help us  
with the many tasks that are needed.  We anticipate between 1500 and  
2000 attendees and need people to help with guest orientation, badge  
checking, a-v, the education room, handouts, information booths, set  
up, messages, etc.
The latest information about SETIcon is in the news release below.
For a four hour volunteer shift, you are given a day pass for the rest  
of the day you work; for 8 hours, you are given a weekend pass.   
Generic volunteer information can be found on the SETIcon website page  
for volunteers:
http://www.seticon.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18&Itemid=14

If you can help us out, we need to know the following by July 7: your  
name, what day(s)/times(s) you are available to volunteer, and your  
preferences in tasks - I'll make every effort to have you doing what  
you'd like best.

Thanks to everyone who will help make this event a success!

Best regards,

Barbara Vance
SETI Institute                              bvance at seti.org
515 N. Whisman Road                650-960-4531
Mountain View, CA 94043         650-961-7099 (fax)
http://www.seti.org                      http://radio.seti.org

SETIcon
======
The Search for Life in the Universe in Science Fact and Science Fiction
August 13 - 15, 2010
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Santa Clara, California
Only $20 per day or $35 for a weekend pass. Go to:
http://www.seticon.com for more information and tickets.

Space is limited!  Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served  
basis!
______________________________________________________________________________

SETIcon features:
·           Noted scientists explaining new developments in everyday  
language
·           Stars of science fiction TV series and movies, plus the  
advisors who help with the science
·           Panels to air controversial issues and compare perspectives
·           Special sessions where you can ask questions of your  
favorite guests in a smaller setting
·           A family room with hands-on activities (for kids 12 and  
older)
·          An inflatable star theater like the one the Obama family  
enjoyed during the recent White House star party

Some of the confirmed guests so far:
·           Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart, on saving the Earth  
from asteroid impacts
·           Frank Drake, the astronomer who undertook the first  
project to listen for alien radio messages
·           Jill Tarter, the SETI scientist on whom Jodie Foster’s  
character in Contact is based
·         Michael Brown, who discovered several large worlds beyond  
Pluto and whose work helped kick Pluto out of the planet club
·         Seth Shostak, SETI Scientist and the host of the “Are We  
Alone” radio program
·         Debra Fischer, one of the top planet hunters in the world,  
co-discoverer of the first system of planets around another star
·           Astronomer and California Professor of the Year Andrew  
Fraknoi on the "Top 10 Tourist Sights in the Solar System"
·           Tim Russ, Star Trek actor and amateur astronomer
·           Kevin Grazier, scientist on the Cassini Mission and  
science advisor for Battlestar Galactica
·           David Morrison of NASA on “Doomsday 2012" and the new  
notion of "cosmophobia" -- fear of the skies
·           Astronomer Alex Filippenko, who helped discover the dark  
energy that is speeding up the universe
·           Award-winning science fiction writer Robert Sawyer
·           Gibor Basri, world-renowned expert on brown dwarfs (failed  
stars)
·           Margaret Race, one of the scientists working to protect  
Earth from alien microbes and other planets from Earth microbes
·           Best selling writer Mary Roach, author of the forthcoming  
"Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void"
·           Cosmologist Sean Carroll, author of "From Eternity to  
Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time"
·           Jennifer Ouellette, Director of the Science &  
Entertainment Exchange, fostering creative collaborations between  
scientists and the entertainment industry

Make contact at SETIcon with other fans of science fact and science  
fiction in a comfortable setting. It will be a weekend when science  
and the imagination meet!  Enjoy a wide range of mind-expanding  
activities, an evening party, lots of time for discussion, plus a  
banquet where you can rub elbows with the speakers and other  
enthusiasts.  The banquet will honor Dr. Frank Drake on the occasion  
of the 50th anniversary of the first search for radio signals from  
extra-terrestrial civilizations.  See the web site for full information.
(Teachers who attend the entire weekend and participate in some of the  
educational programs will be able to receive credit through San Jose  
State University.)

SETIcon benefits the non-profit SETI Institute, and its programs in  
science and education.