ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

I have to agree with Nina, about what a great place ASTC is to learn and 
come away with new ideas.  Alot of my early ASTC years were shaped by 
YouthALIVE!  Our meetings, which were always a few days before the 
actual conference began, were always intense and non-stop.  We were 
exhausted before the conference actually began but we were also quite 
energized and reinforced with ideas ready to take back to our own work.
One of the early conferences I remember was in Portland, Oregon.  I 
think it was because there sessions were divided between a couple of 
sites and you were always meeting people on the street and stopping to 
talk - it really felt like ASTC was its own town.

Lynn Baum
Senior Exhibit Developer/Educational Programs
Jan Crocker LLC
www.jancrockerllc.com


On 10/21/10 11:36 PM, Nina Simon wrote:
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related 
> institutions.
> ***************************************************************************** 
>
>
> My first ASTC was 2004 at The Tech, and Jonah, you were one of the 
> most memorable folks from it for me. 2010 was the first year I've 
> missed since then.
>
> In 2004, I was 22 and had been working for the Spy Museum for just a 
> couple months as a low-level deck hand when I went to my boss, Anna 
> Slafer, and proposed going to ASTC. She agreed to split the cost with 
> me 50/50 and gave me the time off to attend. I can still remember her 
> saying, "I'm investing in your future with us and with the field here."
>
> For the first three years, I attended alone and was painfully shy. I 
> listened and learned from people who became my role models and heroes. 
> In 2006, when I heard Kathy McLean talking about the idea of a 
> "wikimuseum," I figured it was an idea I could play with and started 
> writing the Museum 2.0 blog as a personal research project and a 
> potential vehicle to start conversations with the people who inspired, 
> impressed, and completely overwhelmed me. It worked out, though not at 
> all how I expected.
>
> I've learned a lot from the ASTC community and have been incredibly 
> grateful for all the mentors, friends, and inspirational forces it has 
> sent my way. But I want to most especially honor and remember Anna's 
> kind and generous act in 2004 that helped set my whole career path in 
> motion.
>
> So if you're one of those gray beards or pink hairs or whatever who 
> get a lot out of ASTC, and there's someone new to the field who you 
> can help send to a conference, for goodness sakes: do it.
>
> With love,
> Nina Simon
>
>
>
>
> On Oct 21, 2010, at 10:47 AM, Jonah Cohen wrote:
>
>> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology 
>> Centers
>> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related 
>> institutions.
>> ***************************************************************************** 
>>
>>
>> With 2010's festivities in Honolulu, I realize that I have now been to
>> 10 Annual Conferences of ASTC. There are two conclusions to draw from
>> this:
>>
>> 1) I am old. Really old.
>> 2) Especially for someone at a small museum, like mine, it has been
>> unbelievably valuable to meet up with and exchange ideas with my cohorts
>> from the science center world. So to everyone I say, as they would in
>> Hawaii, Mahalo.
>>
>> And now, a trip down memory lane. Here are a few of the things I recall
>> from the hosts of our last 10 shindigs:
>>
>> 2001, Arizona Science Center: the freaky psychology exhibit, the video
>> display with the 3 second delay
>>
>> 2002, Discovery Place: an awesome chemistry demo area, the terraced
>> exhibit space, lots of robots
>>
>> 2003, Science Museum of Minnesota: Cell Lab, Experiment Gallery,
>> Collector's Corner, the terminator pigs, the demo where they dropped
>> stuff off of a balcony
>>
>> 2004, The Tech Museum: The Tech Challenges, the drawing robot, the
>> high-tech kids area, The Revolver
>>
>> 2005, Science Museum of Virginia: The earth + moon kugels, Newton in
>> Space, rat basketball
>>
>> 2006, Louisville Science Center: World We Create, the waterless stream
>> table, maze-like design of every building in town
>>
>> 2007, California Science Center: Big Lab, the rose garden, Tess the
>> giant robot, the chick hatchery
>>
>> 2008, Franklin Institute: the heart, the sports exhibit, pirates, the
>> kids area
>>
>> 2009, Fort Worth Museum of Science & History: the noise-making pinball
>> game, the activity rooms, the construction
>>
>> 2010, Bishop Museum: meet me at the hot spot, the ocean/volcano exhibit
>> combo, the main hall in Hawaii Hall
>>
>> And a few superlatives, IMHO, from the last decade:
>>
>> BEST NEARBY MUSEUM: Have to fudge + go with a tie - The Exploratorium
>> (close to San Jose) & The Sonora Desert Museum (close to Phoenix).
>> Honorable mentions to Monterey Bay Aquarium/SJ Children's Discovery
>> Museum/Lawrence Hall of Science (San Jose), the Baaken Museum (St.
>> Paul), Louisville Slugger Museum (Louisville) & The Mutter Museum
>> (Philadelphia)
>>
>> BEST FOOD: Philadelphia, hands down. Thank you, Reading Terminal Market.
>>
>> BEST CONFERENCE SPEAKER: Has to be Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem
>> Children's Zone. (Los Angeles). Honorable mentions to astronaut Mike
>> Melville (Richmond), biologist EO Wilson (Louisville), author Steven
>> Johnson (Philly) + the Mythbusters (LA)
>>
>> MOST NOTABLE WEATHER: Holy smokes, it was cold in St. Paul.
>>
>> BEST TOYS IN THE EXHIBITOR HALL: I liked the hurricane booth, that
>> buffeted you with 80 mph winds. Props also to the strobe-powered OI that
>> made it look like water was dripping upwards.
>>
>> BEST ANIMAL GUEST STAR: Close call. Smithfield the painting pig
>> (Richmond) had artistic talent, but like all artists was kind of
>> temperamental. Sticker the longhorn steer (Ft. Worth) was friendlier,
>> but had some drool issues.
>>
>> BEST ENTERTAINMENT: They Might Be Giants (Ft. Worth.) I'm impressed.
>>
>> BEST SMELLING PARKING LOT: Science museum of Virginia. Really, it smells
>> like cookies.
>>
>> BEST CONVENTION SWAG: In Philadelphia, everyone's conference tote
>> included one of the plushes from Giant Microbes. I got the T-4
>> Macrophage.
>>
>> WILDEST DEMO: OK, a few contenders---
>>     Sherry Marshall of the Oklahoma Museum Network, whose LN2/ping
>> pong ball explosion in Honolulu won't be forgotten soon
>>     The London Science Museum, their outreach live presentation in
>> LA on the digestive system wowed everyone with actual footage from
>> inside the human body, and made jokes I didn't know you were allowed to
>> make in a school
>>     Steven Walvig of The Baaken, for the Thunder-house demo he set
>> off in Fort Worth
>>     The traveling science crew of The Franklin Institute, who added
>> to their host-party with an extended, fire-and-LN2 affair dubbed Random
>> Acts of Science
>>     William Katzman of the Catawba Museum, who fascinated/frightened
>> attendees in Richmond by walking barefoot on glass shards
>>
>> BIGGEST SERENDIPITY: As ASTC'ers were enjoying open house at The Bishop
>> this month, they were treated to a huge rainbow above Honolulu.
>>
>> My friends, thanks for all the Manao (sharing of thoughts), and I hope
>> to see you next year in Baltimore.
>>
>> Jonah Cohen
>> Outreach & Public Programs Manager
>> The Children's Museum
>>
>>
>> ***********************************************************************
>> For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers 
>> and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.
>>
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> ***********************************************************************
> For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers 
> and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.
>
> Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at 
> www.exhibitfiles.org.
>
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