Robotic Telescopes, Student Research and Education Conference (RTSRE)
Hilo, Hawai'i, USA. 23rd to 25th of July. 2018
and
The International Astronomy Teaching Summit (iNATS)
Hilo, Hawai'i, USA. 25th to 27th of July. 2018
In this mailout we provide you some important details and updates on the VENUE CHANGE for the co-located Robotic Telescopes, Student Research and Education Conference (RTSRE) and the International Astronomy Teaching Summit (iNATS) held in Hilo, Hawaii in July 2018.
A longer update email for attendees will be sent out in the middle of this week.
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Our conference venue has changed to the neighbouring Hilo Hawaiian and the Grand Naniloa Hotels, presented in the header image of this email. The conference is now fully airconditioned and we no longer need to shuttle attendees between the hotel and the venue.
To make sure we cater sufficiently and successfully, please RSVP for the social events and for lunch at the conference using this form: https://goo.gl/forms/zmEjHmbKlZRQgi0J2
More details about this late change and the nature of the lunch and social events are provided below.
A longer update email for attendees will be sent out in the middle of this week.
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Aloha kakou!
I’m writing to you as a member of the local organizing committee for the Robotic Telescopes, Student Research and Education (RTSRE) Conference and Astronomy Teaching Summit coming up in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. I hope this message finds you doing well and getting excited for your upcoming visit to our beautiful island.
As you almost certainly know, the Earth is alive and well here on Hawaiʻi, with the increased activity of the lava flows coming out of the Puʻu Oʻo rift zone. More than 60 days after the eruptions began, over 6,000 acres of the island has been resurfaced by lava, and over 700 homes have been lost. While our community is mourning many losses, we are also celebrating the creation of over 400 acres of new land, and we have found a great deal of joy in the ways in which people here have come together in the care of each other.
For our part, the school district that offered to host the conference is attempting to find ways to provide meaningful experiences to local students who have been displaced, having lost access to their homes and schools to the volcano. In response, we are ceding our conference space back to Hilo Intermediate School so that they may accommodate the record number of students who need safe, free, educational activities over the school holiday.
In turn, the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel and the Grand Naniloa Hotel have found space for our conference in their facilities. These two beautiful hotels are providing us with meeting rooms and refreshments, and have offered to provide quick, inexpensive lunches for our attendees. They have gone above and beyond, with little notice, and with a dramatically reduce fee for their services. For our team, this has been a wonderful aloha experience, and weʻre looking forward to sharing in that aloha with all of you.
For most of you, the change in conference location should not be noticeable, with the exceptions that you will no longer have to take a shuttle to the conference site, and you will now experience conference sessions in air conditioning, with a view of the ocean.
Another change involves our Wednesday night tour to Volcano National Park (VNP). VNP is now closed, with no re-opening date in sight. We are playing our Wednesday night plans by ear, and will let you know more as we get closer to the conference (with our fingers crossed that the road to Kalapana may be reopened by then!)
Queries:
It would be very helpful to the committee to have a better idea of the number of people who will be attending specific events, and to know if you will be purchasing the hotel lunch. Please read over the following, and then respond in the provided form:
Lunches:
A lunch for Monday through Thursday will be available through the Hilo Hawaiian. It will be a simple bento box, which is a local plate lunch of a Pacific-basin style meat (e.g.: shoyu chicken, char sui), rice and side vegetables. We are able to provide this for $5. A vegetarian version of the bento will be provided on request.
A hotel lunch on Friday will be available from the Grand Naniloa. It will be a “make your own sandwich” affair (with side salads and deserts). We are able to provide this for $10.
(In addition, the hotels are providing a light continental breakfast, and two or three tea/coffee breaks!)
RSVP for Evening Events:
We would also appreciate knowing how many will be in attendance at the Opening Ceremony on Sunday (5-7 PM) and at the luau on Friday (4:30 until pau).
Please let us know your plans for lunches and events by responding to the form in the following link.
https://goo.gl/forms/zmEjHmbKlZRQgi0J2
Mahalo nui loa for your understanding about the changes, and for your quick response to our request for information.
For the entire local organizing community, and with thanks for the tourism trade that you are bringing to our island during the Great Lava Eruption of 2018.
Stephanie Slater, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Astronomy & Physics Education Research (CAPER) Team
stephanie@caperteam.com
520-975-3826
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