Notes from Monday's Summer Preparation Meeting

Hello Troops,
I met with our simulator Set Directors, Flight Directors and Education Staff yesterday to discuss the Space Center’s summer season for 2010. You’re wrong if you’re thinking January is too early to be thinking about summer. Stop for a second and think about everything it takes to prepare for the summer.

• Every simulator needs a new story to tell. That includes a story script, video and tactical programming.
• The curriculum for the class session must be outlined, planned and practiced.
• The calendar must be decided upon (days of camps and classes).
• The summer flyer must be prepared, printed and distributed, giving everyone enough time to enroll for camp.

You see, it takes planning. Think of all the problems that can be avoided if you plan and prepare ahead of time.

This is what we’ve decided so far.

• We will take 45 in a camp, not the normal 62. We had 45 last summer and we liked the smaller numbers. It was less stressful.
• Our EdVenture Camps will primarily run Monday to Wednesday, like last year.
• Our Overnight Camps will primarily run Thursday night into Friday morning.
• We will run one Extended Overnight Camp in June, July and August.
• The Voyager will tell “The Grand PooPah”
• The Odyssey will tell “The Plague”
• The Phoenix will tell “Razor’s Edge”
• The Galileo will tell “No More Secrets”
• The Magellan mission is in development and is unnamed.
• Swimming will be at PG Pool as in the past.
• We will offer one Leadership Camp for our older 15 - 17 year olds.
• The price for the three day camp will be $160.00
• We will offer two Super Space Camps! The cost will be $210.00 for the Super Camp. It will run Monday evening to Friday morning.

Shelley Outerkirk is researching the Space Center's impact on education and student attitudes on learning as part of her master's degree program at BYU. Questionnaires make up a major part of her research. Private Mission groups will be answering Shelley's questionnaires. We reviewed the questionnaires in our Monday meeting. You may be asked to fill one out the next time you come for a private mission.

I just got back from trying to book Pleasant Grove's Pool for our summer camps. The ladies at the desk were taken back that I wanted to book so many evenings.
"We have to get this cleared," the older of the two said. She took my list of dates and disappeared through a doorway to talk to her supervisor. Several minutes later she reappeared.
"I'm sorry but this will have to go to the manager's desk for approval," she explained. I wanted to ask why, thinking it was ridiculous a manager had to approve a pool booking. The city rents the pool to private groups all summer long. We are a private group. We want to rent the pool. Is it written somewhere that the pool's private bookings are to be rationed due to a shortage of WHAT? Can you think of what the shortage could be?
Perhaps water. Wait, that doesn't make sense. How about staffing? No, the staff are paid to work the private parties and I'm paying for the party so that shouldn't be a problem. Hmmmmmmm, for the life of me I can't think why the lady at the desk would think I was asking for too many pool reservations. Yes, its one of those strange unexplained oddities we encounter every day as we do our very best to survive living in the Confederacy of Dunces. Sheezzzzze. Blahhhhhhh.

Well, that’s about it. I'm done venting my frustrations. Our Monday meeting went for nearly two hours. The talking is finished. Now it time for action. Time to get the summer 2010 season ready for a successful blast off!


Mr. Williamson