Talk:Winter AAS Visit 2011

Bold textWow, I like the sound of free food for the banquet night! :)

As for the sessions, the ones I think look good:

Monday - 3:40 (Dark Matter/Black Holes), 4:30 (Exoplanets)

Tuesday - 3:40 (Pulsars)

Wednesday - 8:30 A.M. (Black Holes), 3:40 (Stellar Astronomy)

As for the Exhibit Halls are we going to stop in in between the presentations? Because some of those seem really interesting. And for the Special/Oral Sessions, we may have to choose those as a group because there seem to be a lot of cool ones happening at the same time (if I'm reading the schedule right). --Joey Romero 23:08, 30 December 2010 (PST)

 These 50 minute "Invited" talks are usually the best bet for learning something. They are I think [a] 8:30 - 9:20, [b] 11:40-12:30 and then [c] 3:40-4:30 [d] 4:40-5:30. The speaker is supposed to be addressing a broader audienece and has time for an introduction to the topic, etc.  Many of the sessions that may sound good [or "cool"]-beware-are in fact a series of rapid-fire 15 minute oral presentations that are too short generally to be of any use except to people who are specialists.  Then there is another type of session that is in between [an intro to a topic by one speaker followed by 2 or 3 20 to 30 minue talks-I haven't found these in the program yet.] and can be pretty interesting.  I plan on attending the 8:30, 11:40 and 3:40 sessions on Monday in addition to the 4 pm special Neptune session on Sunday.  Neptune is back to where it was when it was discovered, i.e., it has completed 1 orbit of the sun.
 In between, there is generally a break sometime in the morning and afternoon for coffee and maybe light, very light, snacks that disappear rather quickly.  The idea of the break is to wander through the exhibit hall anl sample the exhibits and the posters.  The poster sessions are in the exhibit hall and scattered about in a sometimes random and sometimes rational manner.  The break/snacks are in the exhibit hall as well.  NOTE: YOU need your badge everywhere you go at the meeting.  Guards are posted all around to enforce this.  
    We will want to pick up our badges soon after we check in on Sunday, before the glut of last-minute Charlies on Monday.

--Richard DeCoster 14:11, 31 December 2010 (PST)