Setting Up An Astronomy Club/Society - Advice

[EntropyStar]

Hoping to capitalise on the popularity of Stargazing Live I was mulling over what is needed to setup an astronomy club in my own town (Bicester). We have clubs in the south of Oxfordshire but nothing public for Bicester, Banbury, or Oxford.

Does anybody have any experience of founding a club? Any experiences or advice would be appreciated. Indeed are there any SGL members near Oxford looking for some people to go out observing with? I'm sick of doing it on my own and thinking of taking matters into my own hands!

I have visited a few clubs in the general area but was a little dismayed they seemed to be more interested in meetings and talks than actually getting out there observing. Ideally it'd be a bit of both!

Anyway, people's thoughts are very much welcomed.

[MikeWilson]

I know what you mean about some clubs. I've found them more like old-men's support groups or village hall meetings than actually using a telescope.

There are groups, fortunately, that follow a more contemporary model of going out and meeting and sharing the sky at night with a minimum of rules and low friction membership, following a "freemium" model.

I'm a member of two of these, and a core team member of one:

HantsAstro | Making Hampshire Astronomy Shine!

Astronomy 4 Everyone : GroupSpaces

South Coast Astro Group • Index page

Just one point to bare in mind - insurance. As a meeting organiser, you would be defacto responsible for loss or damage to any third party or their equipment.

All the best,

Mike

[EntropyStar]

Brill thanks for mentioning insurance. That does sound very slippy though, how could you define where the influence of a club begins and ends? For instance are you responsible until that person gets to their home or within 10 m of the suggested meeting location?...

I'd need to read up a lot more of that...

Just saw a thread in Astro Events so will give that a look..

Thank you.

[callump]

If you contact the secretary of the Federation of Astronomical Societies (secretary@fedastro.org.uk) he will send you a copy of their document "Setting Up and Running an Astronomical Society", which you might find useful.

Callum

[MikeWilson]

Brill thanks for mentioning insurance. That does sound very slippy though, how could you define where the influence of a club begins and ends? For instance are you responsible until that person gets to their home or within 10 m of the suggested meeting location?...

I'd need to read up a lot more of that...

Just saw a thread in Astro Events so will give that a look..

Thank you.

You're welcome - and good luck.

My suggestion is to copy the clubs that are doing well. Those linked above are doing well

AFAIK the responsibility is at the site for the duration of the meeting. Fortunately a basic PI insurance is fairly cheap and at the same time you can get you and any core team members covered too for use of their equipment during your club's activities.

My tip is to find a **private** dark site, obtain insurance and charge a small fee to cover the costs of running your site. Get a website and then some banners to put up at the entrance of the site and you're well on your way.

All the best,

Mike

[malc-c]

Does anybody have any experience of founding a club? Any experiences or advice would be appreciated.

Between 1984 and 2000 I was involved in several societies. I founded the Welwyn and Hatfield A.S, which after six months and collaboration with the then founder of the North Herts Astronomical Association, we formed the Stevenage and District Astronomical Society, holding various committee posts such as membership secretary and even produced a quarterly 32 page society magazine. We then moved to Letchworth and re-named ourselves the Letchworth and District AS in 1992 mainly as part of the requirements to obtain planning permission for a society observatory.

Although still a member my personal circumstances are such that I seldom make it to society events, and haven't sat on the committee for some years.

There was a similar thread a few months back, which covered most of the sorts of questions you may have, so it might be worth trying to search the forum. The things to consider are:

• Venue - needs to be accessible by road and rail, makes it more appealing to members and speakers if transport connections are regular and easy.
  
• Membership - will members pay an all inclusive fee per year, or split the membership and meetings fees
  
• Insurance - Public liability insurance is a must. It's readily available through the BAA and or FAS.
  
• Affiliate to the BAA and FAS - this is a good resource for speakers and support should you need it.
  
• Speakers - When I was responsible for booking guest speakers the fees varied between £25 and £100 for the evening.
  
• Bank account - quite a few banks offer society accounts with a cheque book - obviously the treasurer should be some one you know and trust.
  
• Form a committee - ideally with minimum of three people. Where possible make the committee with odd numbers so that any voting is passed or rejected and no hung votes
  
• Newsletter - often this is overlooked, but is a very important component of a successful group. For some members it may well be the only thing they get out of the society for their membership fees. It's also the ideal medium for communication society events.
  
• Publicity - once you have things in place you need to tell people in your catchment area - local newspaper, radio and visiting schools and other groups from scouts to the W.I.
  

Prior to SG Live the LDAS has around 125 members, and no doubt that will grow given the events the committee have arranged. Hopefully you'll still pick up the fall out of this weeks TV programs by the time your group has been formed.

Best of luck

[malc-c]

Oh and one other thing to add to the list - ideally your first committee meeting should discuss what should go into your constitution or by-laws, which form the legal agreement every members agrees to when signing up. This should state everything about the society from the committee posts to the grievance procedure should you need to expel a member etc etc... It should also detail the aims of the society.

[MikeWilson]

Malcolm's advice is good but it's worth saying that setting up committees, bylaws and so on doesn't suit the style of every astronomical group.

At a minimum all you'll need is a private site, some form of membership/roster/website (you can even use Facebook for this - it's free and easy, or GroupSpaces or Meetup.com), and insurance.

Once you get into forming committees and applying for membership of various astronomical associations, you may find your precious time and energy spent more doing politics than astronomy.

All the best with your endeavour,

Mike

[EntropyStar]

Thank you very much for the quick responses!

It's born out of frustration, I've observed for years but only recently got a good enough telescope to not be embarrassed going out to meet others. It'd be nice to have some company and people to share the hobby with!

Oh another 'Mike' here aswell......are we just born/bred to be astronomers?

[MikeWilson]

Hi,

This might give you a few good ideas:

astronomy Meetups near - Meetup

[malc-c]

I agree with Mike, sometimes a structured society is not everyone's cup of tea, and Mike's advice is good if all you are really looking for is a "social" get-together where a group of you meet up, observer and equally share any costs. But you would have to make that clear to all those that attend.

It all really depends on what / where you see the group going.

[EntropyStar]

Ideally the latter as I'm quite tied up with working and studying..oh and I suppose better mention the gf. It's more a social gathering i'm desiring but if someone wanted to step up and run a club i'd certainly be an active member and would be one of the committee etc. I just can't commit masses of time to admin and politics as I need to be in the books.

[MikeWilson]

There's a middle ground too..

A dynamic group, not confined by a constitution but run by the power of common sense. Those who meet at contracted, rented private observing sites complete with insurance and organised meet ups that do the same - if not more - outreach than conventional groups at more locations.

There's definitely a place in the astronomical community for the traditional group, with committees, bylaws and social gathering with a cup of tea. There are a lot of knowledgeable people in those groups and I was considering joining one myself. Such groups have unique interest if they are based at an observatory or have access to historic telescopes, for instance.

I have visited a few clubs in the general area but was a little dismayed they seemed to be more interested in meetings and talks than actually getting out there observing. Ideally it'd be a bit of both!

Sounds like your priority is to meet up with other like minded folks - I'm sure someone nearby is doing something like this already?

Regarding the point about insurance, it cannot be overstated. Even inviting people into your garden could lead to equipment breakages or injury for which you'll be responsible.

Get a private site (with a contract & rent), and you're 99% of the way there.

All the best,

Mike

[malc-c]

Mike,

Sounds like a group that we formed for flying RC indoor helicopters. We simply hired a large hall on a monthly basis, splitting the cost accordingly. Basic common sense prevailed to try and avoid accidents, and we had a basic peg board for transmitter control. I had a very basic membership form that had name, phone numbers and e-mail address, and would e-mail everyone around 10 days before the date we were all due to meet up to confirm numbers. We had an agreement that we needed minimum of 4 people attending so as to maintain the max cost of £6 per head. If it looked like less than four of us would be attending and we agreed to cancel the hall, we had an agreement with the council that provided we canceled 7 days or more before we were due to hire the hall there would be no charge.

I'm sure the OP could do the same and it would prove very popular. Obviously the meetings would be more on clear nights than trying to book the 3rd Friday each month -

[MikeWilson]

Mike,

Sounds like a group that we formed for flying RC indoor helicopters. We simply hired a large hall on a monthly basis, splitting the cost accordingly. Basic common sense prevailed to try and avoid accidents, and we had a basic peg board for transmitter control. I had a very basic membership form that had name, phone numbers and e-mail address, and would e-mail everyone around 10 days before the date we were all due to meet up to confirm numbers. We had an agreement that we needed minimum of 4 people attending so as to maintain the max cost of £6 per head. If it looked like less than four of us would be attending and we agreed to cancel the hall, we had an agreement with the council that provided we canceled 7 days or more before we were due to hire the hall there would be no charge.

I'm sure the OP could do the same and it would prove very popular. Obviously the meetings would be more on clear nights than trying to book the 3rd Friday each month -

Hi Malcolm,

That sounds like a fun group although the idea of RC helicopters whirring around indoors (blades of death, anyone? is a little frightening, isn't it?

There's another group near me that I've only observed with once before. They send out a text message whenever the organisers are going down to observe. That way there's never a planned session but it's all adhoc and works out (they're quite fanatical about observing ) to two or three nights a week.

I'm an hour away, and I'd only go if I'm free and if the forecast is 100% clear.

Mike

[malc-c]

Hi Malcolm,

That sounds like a fun group although the idea of RC helicopters whirring around indoors (blades of death, anyone? is a little frightening, isn't it?

Most were small electrics, with a rotor diameter of no more than 300mm... but occasionally the hall made an ideal place to test hover one of the larger electrics

http://micro-heli.co.uk/ve4.wmv

Towards the end of this test the heli was getting buffered buy the air in the room as a result of it's own down-draft - this was the maiden flight, and the main blades were not tracking quite right, but it still performed well

[MikeWilson]

Most were small electrics, with a rotor diameter of no more than 300mm... but occasionally the hall made an ideal place to test hover one of the larger electrics

http://micro-heli.co.uk/ve4.wmv

Towards the end of this test the heli was getting buffered buy the air in the room as a result of it's own down-draft - this was the maiden flight, and the main blades were not tracking quite right, but it still performed well

That is impressive.

I wonder if a skilled pilot could use these to drop black plastic bags over street lights?