Astrofest in Kensington Town Hall

[darditti]

Well Astrofest Day 1 in Kensington Town Hall was very good. Apart from the gent's toilets hardly having one working cubicle with a lock. And half the lights in there not working. And the door to the ladies toilets being virtually stuck. And the big screen in the hall flickering in response to every word the speakers spoke into the mic. And one of the power sockets on the stage not providing power, with the result that one of the presentation laptops nearly ran out of power mid-show. If I were the organisers (i.e. Astronomy Now), I would be looking very closely at my contract with the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, considering the standard of the facilities provided.

On the positive side there were many nice people to meet, plenty of interesting products on display, and I did get a a few modest discounts and a small freebie.

David

[laser_jock99]

Sorry to hear about the minor difficulties at the show....

Are you the chap that wrote this book: http://www.springer.com/astronomy/astronomy,+observations+and+techniques/book/978-0-387-34521-5 ?

[TheMightyKong]

I didn't use a cubicle and I didn't notice about the toilet lights. Can't comment on the ladies loos but did notice a little flicker on the big screen and the presentation disaster was averted by the presenter in question pluging his laptop to a charger on another socket. Could it have gone more smoothly? Sure but to be honest it hardly bothered me and I thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Highlight for me was Alan Bond's talk about Skylon and the SABRE rocket engine.. very exciting.

[TonyD]

Is the Astronomy Now stand selling back issues really cheaply this year at AstroFest?

[daymo]

Are there any events like this not in the middle of London ? I am generally weary of the place ,especially as I haven't been there for over 20yrs...sorry for jumping in on your thread!

[michaelmorris]

Are there any events like this not in the middle of London ? I am generally weary of the place ,especially as I haven't been there for over 20yrs...sorry for jumping in on your thread!

http://www.international-astronomy-show.com/

[michaelmorris]

I concur with the comments about the state of the toilets. Broken taps, dodgy locks and paper towel holders empty - not good.

[knobby]

Never thought I'd see the day an astronomer complained about lights not working

[Champagnerocker]

...Apart from the gent's toilets hardly having one working cubicle with a lock. And half the lights in there not working. And the door to the ladies toilets being virtually stuck....

David

Well in that case I'm glad that I'd stopped off in McDonalds on the High Street before i went in

[Midpoint]

I do wish they used a slightly larger venue, it was a struggle to get near or around the stalls during the breaks. I really fancied getting some new bits and pieces but didn't want to get crushed or knock something expensive over!

[MorningMajor]

Never thought I'd see the day an astronomer complained about lights not working