Occasional Meetings

[RMSteele]

Does anyone have any thoughts about trying an occasional meeting at a venue outside London? I know this suggestion surfaces perennially and that the practicalities are a pain. Edinburgh for example?
Bob

[skyhawk]

I have commented on this many times, it is totally 100% BIAS towards Southerners, there is nothing in Wales where I am, Scotland where I used to live or Devon/Cornwall where I used to live

[PaulB]

There is nothing here in North West England.

It is a great shame they do not have regional sections of the SPA.
The BAA used to do this many years ago but stopped doing it.

It would be nice if we could have regional meetings.

[skyhawk]

I have emailed

SPA telling them this is why I don't join and can not be the only one, why join a society I can never get to

[Cliff]

Skyhawk
With regards to out of town meetings - I recall the SPA held such a meeting one Saturday in spring-time a few years ago (5 maybe?). My Son who only has just a general interest in astronomy himself, also attended the meeting. We both had a very enjoyable & informative time. However, I felt very disappointed because of the diabolically BAD attendance. A great deal of effort must have been put into organising the meeting and very few local SPA members or astronomer non-SPA members attended. (I think there happened to be an "important" football match on that day as well).
The suggestion that the SPA could set up regional sections across the country might be a possibility but there would need to be people (eg like yourself) ready to organise local sections.
PaulB mentions the BAA had regional sections at one time but subsequently abandoned the idea. I suspect in these "modern" days the idea might be a red herring (?). I think there are about 200plus local astronomical societies catering for local astronomers and the SPA having regional groups might be over-kill.
I was a member of three different local societies at one time or another, but getting a bit older I went to fewer local soc meetings - NON now for two years.
If you want to do "serious" astronomy then the BAA might be the right organisation for you ?
Best wishes from Cliff

[Robin Scagell]

The subject of non-London meetings crops up a great deal. In 2013 (as Cliff says) we had meetings in Edinburgh, Cardiff, Preston, Belfast and Cambridge in addition to our regular London meetings. I went to the Preston meeting and as Cliff says it was badly attended. But we do want to continue holding non-London meetings, and the plan is to hold one a year. These will probably be done in conjunction with local societies.

The fact is that if you hold a meeting in London, lots of people can get to it. Just look at a map and you can see why -- all roads and transport routes lead there. But if you hold a meeting elsewhere, both the catchment area and the transport system are against you, so the attendance is inevitably going to be less.

The Cambridge Convention always gets an excellent attendance, as was the 2016 Jodrell event, and the one we held at the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory some years ago was so popular that we had to relay the meetings by CCTV to another hall.

I know that this doesn't help members living in other areas, but we do try and cover all the bases in time.

Robin

[skyhawk]

Skyhawk
With regards to out of town meetings - I recall the SPA held such a meeting one Saturday in spring-time a few years ago (5 maybe?). My Son who only has just a general interest in astronomy himself, also attended the meeting. We both had a very enjoyable & informative time. However, I felt very disappointed because of the diabolically BAD attendance. A great deal of effort must have been put into organising the meeting and very few local SPA members or astronomer non-SPA members attended. (I think there happened to be an "important" football match on that day as well).
The suggestion that the SPA could set up regional sections across the country might be a possibility but there would need to be people (eg like yourself) ready to organise local sections.
PaulB mentions the BAA had regional sections at one time but subsequently abandoned the idea. I suspect in these "modern" days the idea might be a red herring (?). I think there are about 200plus local astronomical societies catering for local astronomers and the SPA having regional groups might be over-kill.
I was a member of three different local societies at one time or another, but getting a bit older I went to fewer local soc meetings - NON now for two years.
If you want to do "serious" astronomy then the BAA might be the right organisation for you ?
Best wishes from Cliff

In other words the SPA is not really worth bothering with ??? any more

[joe]

In other words the SPA is not really worth bothering with ??? any more

You are under no pressure to join the SPA. You have made your feelings known about an apparent lack of meetings outside of the South of England. Robin Scagell has explained the situation in his reply above. We'll leave it there I think.