Section Six: Programming and Activities

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Introduction

Good programming and activities in the early days of your chapter are essential to your chapter's eventual success. A successful first year of well-planned and executed activities will establish a strong and devoted membership for the group and great er community awareness. This will lead to more exciting activities in the years to come. A team of chapter members assigned to pursue, plan, and schedule these activities is the best way to accomplish good programming for your chapter events. No public ity campaign can boost your chapter's campus visibility more than by having a worthwhile program of activities and events. Doing a job well is the very best form of advertising.

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Ideas for Activities and Programs

• Speakers/Guest Lecturers: local professors; researchers; space industry professionals; government/NASA officials; authors (space history, sci-fi, etc.); astronauts; your chapter advisor.

• Research/Educational: design contests; star parties/astronomical event observing sessions; model rocketry; technical projects.

• Social/Entertainment: pizza or ice cream parties; science fiction film parties; shuttle launch parties (viewed on TV).

• Field Trips/Tours: planetariums; observatories; industrial, research and academic facilities; IMAX, OMNI theatres; museums; shuttle launches/landings; rocket launches.

• Fundraising: soliciting funding from corporations; SEDS merchandising (T-shirts, folders, mugs, etc.); space-a-thons.

• Campus/Community Events: campus space art contests (best pictures can be put on a t-shirt or used for posters with artist's permission); high school educational events; environmental activities ("Mission to Planet Earth"); radio, newspaper or TV inter views with astronauts, space officials, industry leaders, etc.; conferences; science fairs.

• Joint Efforts with Other Campus Organizations: other campus groups (astronomy, physics, math, chemistry, music, art, etc.); national or international space societies.

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Astronaut Eugene Trinh is a favorite CalSEDS' speaker.

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Further Brain Storming

This is by no means a complete list. We encourage you to lead your group in a brain-storming session to come up with new ideas. We'd love to hear any ideas you come up with!