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[TomT]

Treasurer, Equipment Manager, Outreach Coordinator, and all,

Do we raffle anything off for Astronomy Day at Camino Real Marketplace?  Or just have handouts?
Raffling usually involves handing out tickets and having a 3pm prize announcement gathering for those present.

I think we could do this "drawing" style, where we have a fixed number (what total $$ value?) of small giveaways, SBAU patches, shirts, and ?, and assign raffle ticket numbers to them (need to get raffle tickets...maybe Javier still has some?), then let folks grab from a bucket of 300 to see if they win anything on the spot so early folks are treated as well as those who come by at the end.  Everyone wins a 4cent bookmark! We just need to put the effort in to tear up the tickets ahead of time and assign numbers to prizes.

How does this sound?
TomT


On 4/12/2016 3:28 PM, Paul Winn wrote:
> Also I need a listing of any the raffle items for Astronomy day

>     From: President SBAU [mailto:president@sbau.org]
>     Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2016 2:35 PM
>     Subject: SBAU planning meeting notes April 9, 2016
>     Upcoming Major Events (see Outreach calendars, website, google, NightSkyNetwork, SBMNH):
>     -May 14, 2016, Saturday, Astro Day @ Camino w/ raffle? 3p Plan Meet. Eve Star Party session at Museum.
>     Excellent work by everyone!

[Tim C]

I'd like to think on this awhile. Since we are going to the evening session at the Museum, it sounds like handouts and small prizes throughout the day may be better so it's not so complicated.

We could have the drawing later in the year at the Astrovaganza.

[Jim Williams]

Well I think a small scope is a great thing to raffle. Maybe there would be more interest at the Astrovaganza but I suspect we'd need the Museum's permission. Sounds like something they may worry about.
We've always had the notion that we are a non profit with a mission to share Astronomy. Our money should be to promote that goal and if a $300 telescope raffle in both or either place helps that goal I think we should do it. I'd say both places or just Astronomy Day if the museum objects.
Jim W

[TT (wasPW)]

I'm thinking that we should at least give away a telescope as we have done so every year so far. Last year we gave away a 4.5" Dob from Orion. We could raffle it off at 3pm and then tell the winner if they want to bring it to the museum that night. We can then show them how to use it.

I guess my big Question because I need to get the Website setup showing what the events are that day and what Items we will be giving away. I was also going to donate one of my large prints again.

[TT (wasPW)]

Orion has a killer Deal right now on the Orion XT8 Classic Dobsonian Telescope & Beginner Barlow Kit $399.

•The included Beginning Stargazers Toolkit provides plentiful reference material for nighttime observing and a handy red LED light to see them with
It comes with one 25mm Eyepiece and Barlow in the Kit. I think that we could come up with at least one more eyepiece.

http://www.telescope.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=102029

[TomT]

Yes, an 8 inch Dob is the smallest telescope to give away and $400 ain't bad for that.  However, I think there has been one winner (that John Boyd knew?) that started getting into astronomy after winning in the last 10 years, but no one local that became a member of the SBAU.  Maybe we should require a $20 new membership to get in on a big telescope raffle so we guarantee a new astronomer will be born and stay local?  However, I do not think we can ask for monetary donations at Camino Real Marketplace, so as not to be competing with the stores there.  And I think Art just gave all the 4" small telescopes to RubenG for tonight's Norte Dame elementary school Astro night, so nothing reasonable in the shed left to bring to Astronomy Day.

On the other hand, I think a lot of little prizes gets our club name into more people's minds.  Our SBAU coffee mugs are highly prized and would be used on a regular basis, but only is seen in the home.  SBAU shirts/jackets are a good prize if a person can get the right size. That would be worn outside and spread our club name farther.  We could hand out any of those every hour, or even half hour, from 10-3pm.  How to pick the winner?  First one to answer an astronomy related question?  Sometimes only allow a kid to answer?

Seems easiest (and more fair to early arrivals vs. only 3pm folk) to let folks get one ticket out of a bowl and look at a sheet of what prize they won out of a chance at 30 different prizes.  If we get 300 people pulling raffle tickets, that is a 1 in 10 chance for a nice prize, Paul Winn astrophotography as well, better odds than the lottery!  Must take a photo of winners to make the prizes seem even more special.  And everyone wins a SBAU bookmark!  I think small prizes make Astronomy Day fun enough and give more people warm feelings about the club and astronomy.

Might be nice to have prizes in the evening at the Astronomy Day Museum Star Party (7-10p) as well?

It is always easy to say what to do, but getting members time to handle the details (gathering prizes, getting tickets, handing them out, preventing cheating, etc) is the key to making it work smoothly.

[TomT]

Art rec'd a nice Meade ETX-60AT with a tripod that is almost new in a box.  This could be the major prize at Astronomy Day that would necessitate a photo to document the winner.  I have a good used 4" newtonian, manually operated that might be assigned to a winner as well.  Hard to carry all this stuff with my telescope to the event.  Maybe I will let others do the telescope stuff while hanging out with Max at the raffle table?  I need to put out the list of typical event tables and see if we have the awnings as well.  Hope the Museum will carry the tables for us...need to contact everyone to line up volunteers, but hopefully will get this info from all at the May 6 meeting?

[TomT]

Prize status is this, 60 prizes over the 300 minutes: 20 $4 kids space reading booklets, 10 $10 Audubon constellation guide books, 10 $20 free SBAU memberships, 20 SBAU items (mugs, shirts, pins).  Javier has tickets numbered from 6548 to 8000 and I have generated 60 random numbers from that range.  We will hand out tickets from SBAU members at various tables and telescopes and kids/folks can go to the prize table and see if they won. 

They can choose from any of the items, but  I will instruct prize awarders to only put out one more expensive prize (constellation book, clothing) out every 30 minutes.  If Paul donates an astrophoto, we will keep that on display but not put it out as a prize until the last half hour to show it off.  Hope to push kids into choosing the little books that way.  Should be able to hand out 300 tickets per hour, which is 5 tickets per minute, so lots of chances if visitors check out several areas.  Crowd density will go up and down, but hope it averages out to dispose of the tickets and prizes by the end.

The Star Party 7-10 at the museum, we plan to have another giveaway, a Meade ETX-60AT w/ tripod that will be more tickets drawn from those attending by 9pm.   Will 100 people visiting stick around for that?  Maybe we need to have people list their name, email address, phone #, on a registration sheet so we can contact them for pickup of the telescope in case the early folks leave and the late folks have a chance? 

I better make up a numbered star party sign up sheet.  Could send everyone on that sheet a thank you note for attending if they do not win.  This is good social outreach to stay in contact.