An unofficial blog
ASSEC Quarterly Meeting
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Meeting has started and the commissions reviewing recent media clips. It was also just announce that Keith Smith has resigned the ASSEC due to a new job assignment in Washington, D.C. Keith also served as the secretary of the commission.
USSRC Curator Ed Stewart is showing the board two of the new items received from the Von Braun family which includes a draft kit and German to English dictionary.
CEO report starting.
Center is #1 tourist attraction in Alabama.
An extension to the Huntsville lodging tax has been approved for another ten years.
Employee satisfaction rate is 87%
Line of credit is at the lowest balance in the past 4 fiscal years.
Merchandise sales are very strong in all areas.
USSRC selected 2nd highest ranked place that every child should visit.
Davidson Center windows replaced and process is underway to repair Saturn V from recent random shooting incident. NASA will be directing the repair to the rocket since it is NASA property.
Discussions with Space Camp Chinia licensee and should be brought for approval soon.
Retirement Systems of Alabama has offered to pay for production and marketing of another ad this year.
Energy Trail has opened and will continue to grow.
The Shuttle Landing Gulfstream II has been moved to a hanger at Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport. Work labor is being donated by GulfStream and another contractor.
Dr. Barnhart announced that efforts are now underway to restore the exterior shell of Skylab and then move it into the Davisdson Center before the 40th Skylab anniversary next year.
Greg Kinnear, Terrence Howard, Thomas Horn, Trace Adkins and Laura Linney have been signed to be in the upcoming Space Warriors movie that will begin filming in late June. The budget for the film is 5 million versus 3 million spent on Smile As Big As The Moon. The entire movie will be filmed in Huntsville.
Changes are being made to treat the alumni of the camp programs more like a college level alumni program with improved communications efforts and events.
Rgistration and finance numbers are being reviewed at this time. Will post the charts tonight.
During Marshall update it was mentioned that June 15 could be the start date of the return of the NASA Marshall Bus Tours. (Space Camp 30th Anniversary weekend)
Development and Education activities are being presented. Will be included in charts.
UAT has been outfitted with an underwater net system to allow younger trainees to use the facility.
600,000th trainee expected to come through soon.
The U.S. Space and Rocket Center will be the only IMAX theater in Huntsville to show The Dark Knight this summer.
Museum committee will be looking to review security procedures to look at what worked well and not so well during the recent shooting event.
Meeting adjourned.
Business Committee Notes April
01 day ago
by Wes
in Uncategorized
The U.S. Space and Rocket Center reports that it remains on (or very close) to it’s budgeted track for FY 2012. Key items to note are that museum admissions are showing a slight slide but other related departments including merchandise and food services are showing above budgeted revenues. Full time labor remains in check with budgeted amounts however part time labor is $193,000 over budget.
Camp registration for weeklong programs show a 8.77% increase over last year while short programs (family camps and groups) show a -2.81% decrease versus last year. Even with the decrease in short programs the figures show that the short programs continue to show 8% more revenue than last year.
Committee approved an equipment and software upgrade contract for Space Camp Turkey as well a blanket purchase order for the “To The Arctic” IMAX film that will be showing during the next traveling exhibit. These approvals will be passed on to the commission for approval on 18APR2012.
U.S. Space and Rocket Center Foundation reports that they have collected $1,842,043 in donations as of 22APR2012. The foundation has transferred $1,782,531 to the center as of 22APR2012.
The center continues to work with the various Space Camp licensees around the world and provided updates that Space Camp Canada and Turkey are planning on sending representatives to the Space Camp 30th Anniversary. Also the Southeast Asia licensee apparently is unable to find a location and has requested a refund of their fee. Space Camp China licensee is still working out the conditions of their contract.
Copies of charts and powerpoints will be posted soon.
Sprocket Pulls The Plug On Access To Facebook & Twitter
02 days ago
Today as I was attending the Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission Business Committee meeting I tried to access Facebook to send a quick message to a friend and I quickly found out that the center has blocked access to Twitter and Facebook. For an organization that has worked so hard to become one of the frontrunners of the use of social media I find it odd that they block those networks from their guest wireless network. Should be really interesting when they have their next Tweetup event.
Full report from the meeting to be posted tomorrow – It has really good news on finances and registration but an expensive turn with another area.
SprocketWatch: Saturn V Windows, Space Warriors and Upcoming Meetings
03 days ago
Saturn V Windows On The World
Crews have been working over the last few days to remove and replace the windows at the Davidson Center for Space Exploration that were recently shot at. The effort which requires two cranes due to the window pane size and weight should be completed later today. Two of the shot fired hit the historic Saturn V located in the center. A local and federal investigation continues.
Space Warriors To Take Over The U.S. Space and Rocket Center
As first reported on Sprocketeers, the Hollywood film Space Warriors is set to start filming soon at the Sprocket starting this summer. Check out the link below for a recent story from WHNT
http://whnt.com/2012/05/04/hollywood-crew-to-take-over-space-and-rocket-center/
Upcoming Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission Meetings
The commission that oversees the U.S. Space and Rocket Center including Space Camp and Aviation Challenge is set to hold their monthly Business Committee meeting and quarterly full commission meeting this week. I will be live blogging from both meetings and will carry a live stream from the quarterly commission meeting.
Business Committee 5/16/2012 @ 2:30pm
ASSEC Quarterly 5/18/2012 @ 12:00pm
Space Camp 2012 Hall of Fame Announces New Members
01 week ago
by Wes
in U.S. Space Camp
The U.S. Space & Rocket Center is proud to announce the addition of four names to the Space Camp Hall of Fame. The new members who will join the Hall of Fame include:
Stephanie Abrams, Georgia, The Weather Channel
Navy Captain Robert L. “HOOT” Gibson, Tennessee, 5 Time Shuttle Astronaut
Dr. Liz Warren, Texas, Lockheed Martin, Lead-Space Station Medical Program Office
Ed Van Cise, Texas, NASA Flight Director
Stephanie Abrams and Captain HOOT Gibson were informed of their induction LIVE on The Weather Channel. Dr. Warren and Ed Van Cise were informed of their nominations and inductions this week. Both received calls from Astronaut Don Pettit aboard the International Space Station.
These four will be inducted into the Space Camp Hall of Fame, Friday, June 15th, in a ceremony as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Space Camp.
For more information, please visit www.spacecamp.com/HOF.
