NSA Non-schedule

[P3D Bill Davis <bd3d@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Sam Smith wrote:
>
>Is there any list ANYWHERE as to when these slide shows are? I was at
>last
>years show and STILL missed most of them.
>
>I now know WHO is being featured, but I have no idea WHEN.
>
>PLEASE!!!!!!

Mary Ann replied:
>Sam...this is decided upon by the convention committee and put into the
>written program which has not yet gone to the printer. 
>
>I can tell you from past conventions that most of the projections are on
>Friday (July 4 this year).  They also run over onto Saturday and Sunday
>but most of those are done by folks not at the trade fair.

I was only on the committee for Rochester so don't have a lot of insight to
this, but I can say that the Stereo Theater Schedule is the toughest to
stick to.  The "final schedule" I got from Dick Twichell and Bill Duggan a
week or two prior to the Convention had already been changed by the time I
had the programs printed four days later.  On the Wednesday before
showtime, I found it had changed again, when some of the presenters arrived
in Rochester with different programs than those scheduled, so even the
printed program is an approximation, sometimes little more than wishful
thinking. :--)  

In '96 I was too busy to see but one program and a piece of another (*that*
sucked big time), but I don't think they were "on schedule" either.  This
off-schedule condition reflects my experiences at previous Conventions.
Presenters bring programs which run long, technical difficulties add more
delays and before you know it, some programs are postponed till the next
day.  Other times a presenter isn't ready at the scheduled time and they
"leap-frog" to the next show, picking up the other one later. This plays
hell witrh any attempt to keep shows with similar equipment requirements
together.  Unlike club programs where you often just have one format, one
projector and occasionally one presenter , NSA has 2x2 paired Carousels,
Realist, View-Master (tm), anamorphic and sometimes even large-format
projection. Did I miss any? Then there are the audio requirements...
Ideally every program would be previewed prior to Convention-time, but this
doesn't often happen.

I don't know what to tell you.  They're all volunteers with more to do than
time to do it, and Stereo Theater is easiest to rearrange. The Stereo
Theater crew (sometimes a one-man crew) also has to make sure the screen is
up correctly, the projection platform is stable, all the projectors up to
snuff, sound system ready, light baffles in place, chairs where they should
be, slides and tapes matched to each other, etc.  LOTS to do!    

As Mary Ann says, in general you can expect the best shows to be scheduled
for Friday, some carryover on Saturday and leftovers or repeats on Sunday.
About all one can do is show up Friday AM and hope for the best.

Sorry that this still doesn't tell you where's the beef, but might explain
why the milking schedule is off. 
Best regards,
Bill Davis
mailto:bd3d@xxxxxxxxxxxxx



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