It was my intention to stay off this thread, but Chuck, Rich and Bruce have made strong valid points about the greying of SLAS and clubs in general and what the future of such organizations may be. The recent appearance of Neil DeGrasse Tyson suggests all is not lost. Kingsbury Hall seats 1,700 people and it was sold out. The overflow auditoriums made available were at capacity, suggesting another thousand. Standing in line, waiting to get in to the Marriott Library auditorium, I saw people of all ages, including teenagers and kids, men and women. They are out there - and they are interested. Yeah - headed for something corney - If ya build it, they will come. :) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bruce Hugo via Utah-Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2014 11:57:21 AM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] SLAS Pres 2015 You are correct Chuck.  I've seen the "greying" of clubs too.  The Lake County Astronomical Society in IL (my former home) and the Utah Orchid Society also have the same problem.  I fear it will only get worse as kids and adults feel the Internet is the access to all knowledge and don't understand the benefits of Clubs like ours.  The social aspect of the club exposes you to topics and knowledge you never think to search for on the Internet.  Every time I attend a club meeting or star party I "accidentally" learn something new! I also notice that I don't see kids outside playing in my neighborhood.  I know we have a ton of kids, but where are they?!  When I was a kid, my parents had to drag me in at the end of the day. I'm afraid the next generation will want to stargaze though the TV or computer, no urge to venture outside or be social in a club! Bruce Hugo   Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 07:34:39 -0600 From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] SLAS Pres 2015 Message-ID:     <CAHmuOYq-VKAKZQ4kbC1mp+YjOSWLWhAFnu_s3mZe6MBteHAPaw@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Lack of willing people to run for office may be a sign of the times.  To be active in a club like this requires a certain amount of free time on a regular basis.  More and more, the main demographic for people who have such time are those who are retired or whose jobs have flexible hours with regular access to paid time-off.  Most new jobs I've seen don't have flexible hours, at least around here, in my line of work.  We take our time-off during slow periods or between contracts- when they happen. Time-off can't be scheduled in advance, typically a few days notice is all you get.  Such is the nature of custom manufacturing.  We don't build inventories.  I've also seen the workday start gradually earlier over the last 30 years, from 8AM to now 5AM in many related industries.  That precludes weeknight meetings, period. The club has greyed over the years (most astro clubs across the country have, from what I read).  As the economy shifts and jobs change, it's likely that the average worker will have less and less regular free time as the 21st century progresses.  I've read that Americans have the longest workweek in terms of hours on the job, of just about any developed nation. The pool of potential candidates is probably only going to get smaller over the next few decades. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".