2007 NSS Convention

[Sharon Faulkner]

The 2007 NSS Convention will be held in Marengo, Indiana from July 23 to 27, 2007. See the website at www.nss2007.com/ for more information or www.nss2007.com/paper%20registration.html for downloadable registration forms.

[Azurerana]

If your grotto gets their promo for showing-- DO IT!....premier was at the end of the photo salon, as usual.

Ever seen 600 people bust a gut laughing? And, just barely catch breath before the next onslaught? This is the absolute BEST convention promo I've ever seen...If the convention is half as good... it's going to be a wingdinger..Fri night at the tradtional hat passing at the end of the banquet the entire cast of characters appeared.
That's all I'll say...but YIKES!

[Sharon Faulkner]

Thanks Azurerana, I'll keep an eye out for the promo. I'm already planning to attend. Has anyone looked at the registration form? At a mere $107 for NSS member registration (includes guidebook) this is an excellent bargain for a week of sessions, salons, banquet, parties, and all around fellowship with other cavers.

[guanonoggin]

Woa dudettes,
That sounds awesome! Gotta go to that one fer sure!

[crazycavers]

hey, I'm probably the only one to ask this, but im new , so i have an excuse! What all is there to do at an NSS convention?

[L Roebuck]

At an NSS Convention the main thing to do is Go Caving!

Also at Convention are the Sessions ( Cave Exploration, Geology, Cave Science, and more) Caving, Caving field trips, Howdy Party, Caving, Fellowship with Cavers, Caving, Photo Salon, Caving, Map Salon, Caving Vendors, Caving, The Banquet, Caving, etc, etc....

But I may have forgotten a few things in that list. Did I mention Caving? ;D

Welcome to US Cavers, Crazycavers

[Sharon Faulkner]

NSS Convention Pre-Camp 2007
Orange County, Indiana
July 18-21, 2007

Hosted by the St. Joseph Valley Grotto

The St. Joseph Valley Grotto will be hosting a Pre-Convention Camp at grotto member Randall Bruner’s property, located southwest of Orleans, in Orange County, Indiana. All NSS members are invited to attend. Over 240 caves are located in Orange County, ranging from small, muddy crawlways to large walking borehole. There will be several guided trips through caves in the area, highlighting the best of what the area has to offer. Primitive camping will be available. However, facilities will include running water, toilets, and a shower for use by Pre-Convention participants.

On Saturday evening there will be a banquet held to mark the end of Pre-Convention activities. This will also be a celebration of the SJVG’s Ten-year anniversary. All NSS members are invited to attend. Tickets will be available separately.

See the website at www.caves.org/grotto/sjvg/preconvention/Default.htm for details and registration.

For more details contact Mark Deebel, [e-mail] (812-275-3740) or Jake Morris, [e-mail] (574-271-9004).

[Brian Roebuck]

I just watched the convention 2007 video on DVD and enjoyed it very much! They managed to make it humorous, informative, and fun. It looks like a good spot for a convention and the caves seem to be quite nice around there too. I can't wait to go this summer!

See y'all there...

[Sharon Faulkner]

A note to pass along from 2007 NSS Convention Publicity Committee member - Kate Siebert (Bloomington Indiana).

The 2007 Convention promotional dvd has been sent out to all the grottos. If a grotto did not receive one, let the committee know and they will get one out to them.

Please let others know they can contact the website for the dvd.

Thanks.

Here's the link to their web site: www.nss2007.com/

[Brian Roebuck]

Yep - I would let them know for sure. The DVD is a classic in the making! Funny stuff.

[Sharon Faulkner]

A pass along from the 2007 Convention Publicity Staff:

A friendly reminder for everyone that the early pre-registration deadline for the 2007 Convention is May 15. There is just a little over two weeks left to take advantage of the $27 early pre-registration discount.

A bit more information for the financially prudent regarding the 2007 Convention in Marengo, Indiana. The commercial caves in the area - Wyandotte, Marengo, Squire Boone and Blue Spring Caverns, as well as Cave Country Canoe Rentals - will offer 50% discounts to convention attendees who are also NSS members.

If this could be posted on the forums and boards I would be grateful.

Thanks as always ~ Kate

See www.nss2007.com/registration/preregform.pdf to download a registration form.

[Sharon Faulkner]

Roppel Cave Pre-convention Camp
July 14-21, 2007

Organizer: Jim Borden ([e-mail])

The Central Kentucky Karst Coalition (CKKC) and Cave Research Foundation (CRF) will be hosting a Mammoth Cave pre-convention camp at the CRF Field Station near Mammoth Cave National Park. The focus of the camp will be various guided caving trips into the Roppel Section of Mammoth Cave, some of which could include surveying, photography, etc.

Please contact Jim Borden ([e-mail]) for additional information, request for a registration form, etc

[Sharon Faulkner]

Day Passes for Convention

Day passes will be available on-site if you only want to join us for a day or two. To get a day pass, simply go to the Registration area in the High School.

The day passes cost $35 per day. Day passes include:

* Convention guidebook and program guide with first day pass. Subsequent day passes will not include additional guidebooks or programs.
* Admission to all of the events during the day of the pass (sessions, climbing contest, campground area, vendors, and so on)
* Admission to the evening events
* One night of camping

There will be only a limited number of day passes available for Friday due to the banquet -- we need to tell our catered the final banquet numbers well in advance.

If you have any questions, please contact the registration chair at [e-mail]

Daily Schedule of Sessions:

Archaeology Session
Chair: Dr. Joseph C. Douglas, [e-mail]
Friday, morning.

Biology Session
Chair: Megan Porter, [e-mail]
Monday, all day.

Cave Restoration Forum
Chair: Val Hildreth-Werker, [e-mail]
Tuesday, morning.

Cave Conservation & Management Section Session
Chair: Val-Hildreth-Werker, [e-mail]
Tuesday, afternoon.

Cave Rescue Section Session
Chair: Eric Weaver, [e-mail]
Tuesday, afternoon.

Cave Video Section Session
Chair: Dave Socky, [e-mail]
Tuesday, afternoon.

Caves of our National Parks & Public Lands Session
Chair: Hester Mallonee, [e-mail]
Friday, all day.

Communications & Electronics Section Session
Chair: Bart Rowlett, [e-mail]
Monday, afternoon.

Geology and Geography Section Session
Chair: Paul Burger, [e-mail]
Thursday, all day.

Human Sciences Session
Chair: Jennifer Neemann, Ph.D., [e-mail]
Wednesday, morning.

International Exploration Session
Chair: Dave Bunnell@ [e-mail]
Wednesday, all day.

John Holsinger Symposium (Biology)
Chair: Megan Porter, [e-mail]
Wednesday, afternoon.

Lightning Round
Chair: Jim Washington, [e-mail]
Friday, afternoon.

Paleontology Section Session
Chair: Fred Grady, [e-mail]
Wednesday, morning.

Photography Section Session
Chair: Bob Stucklen, [e-mail]
Thursday, morning.

Spelean History Session
Chair: Bob Hoke, [e-mail]
Tuesday, morning.

Survey & Cartography Section Session
Chair: Howard Kalnitz, [e-mail]
Monday, morning.

US Exploration Session
Chair: Pat Kambesis, [e-mail]
Tuesday, all day.

Vertical Section Session
Chair: Miriam Cuddington, [e-mail]
Wednesday, afternoon.

[L Roebuck]

The 2007 NSS Convention Message Board is Online!

Click HERE

[Sharon Faulkner]

More info on Convention:

Hi, All

New this year at Convention, a session with just short talks. Early Friday afternoon. Plan to attend and maybe show off something cool and/or useful.

What's it called? "Lightning Talks". It appears to be called "Lightning Round" on the program, so it's "The Lightning Thing" for now.

Why this session format? It's fun. Take a look at the lightning talk wikipedia entry at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_Talk. Particularly, follow the links in the Links section at the bottom for an idea of what to expect.

What are the topics? Anything related to caving, cavers, or Convention.
Examples:
* My project
* My invention
* My close call with death

Time limit? five minutes

How to register to speak? Contact Jim Washington ([e-mail]) with
* Your name
* The title of the talk
* A short description of the talk. (not much, a couple of sentences)

Deadline for speaker registration? Anytime before Convention would be nice.

Display format? We will have a computer/projector, running OpenOffice.org Impress (available for free for most computer operating systems and mostly MS Powerpoint compatible). Send files to Jim before Convention for pre-loading onto the computer. If you have your presentation on a USB "thumb" drive, that may also work.

Apologies if you see this in multiple places. At this point, it is all about getting the word out about this potentially very cool session.

-Jim Washington

[Brian Roebuck]

That oughta be neat. I hope to be able to fit it into our convention schedule. Good info Sharon!

[L Roebuck]

This is a bit out of the ordinary - but I found a Crawford County attraction that I would like to visit during the 2007 NSS Convention in Indiana, "The Legendary Shoe Tree". Does any one have the location of this enticing tourist attraction?

The legend is that good luck will come to those who throw an old pair of shoes into the tree. So I wonder what happens if you throw an old pair of caving boots into the tree?

Anyway, if any one has the location please let me know.

Reference: www.crawfordcountyindiana.com/attractions

[Brian Roebuck]

Hmmm,

I have a few cave leads that I really need some good luck with! maybe two old pairs of cave boots thrown into the tree could help them along?

[Sharon Faulkner]

I don't know anything about the Shoe Tree, but here is information regarding a Post-convention survey opportunity for anyone who may be interested.

All:

The Illinois Speleological Survey (ISS) is pleased to announce an opportunity for cave survey, caver-camaraderie and volunteer work rolled into one. The ISS works with the Shawnee National Forest (SNF) to conduct an inventory of karst features within the holdings of the SNF. The ISS has made arrangements with the SNF to survey in Equality Cave (AKA Cave Hill Cave) near Harrisburg, IL on Saturday and Sunday, July 28th and 29th. Harrisburg is less than 3 hours from Marengo, IN and is less than an hour south of I-64 for those that are traveling from convention westward.

This opportunity will provide participants a chance to survey and see one of the most highly developed maze caves in the eastern US. Equality is gated and open for research and survey purposes only. This is part of an ongoing effort to survey Equality Cave entirely and assist the management needs of the cave.

Camping will be primitive but free. Interested cavers of all skill levels should contact Jack Wood [e-mail] or John Lovaas [e-mail] to sign up. Further information will be posted on the ISS website: www.caves.org/iss/minutes/July%202007%20SNF.htm

Please pass this along to other who may be interested and also to repost on forums and list-serves.

Thanks,
Jack Wood
NSS 42272

[L Roebuck]

From the Werkers:


NSS CON 07 - Tuesday CC&R Book Signing and Cave Life Film Reception

Tuesday Afternoon Dual Celebration!
NSS Convention, Marengo, Indiana
Reception and Refreshments 4:00 to 6:00 in Room 168
Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Cave Conservation and Restoration Book Signing Reception
The editors, Val Hildreth-Werker and Jim C. Werker, and many of the 46 contributors will be present to autograph books.
Books will be available for purchase.
See below for book reference.

Cave Life Documentary Premier
Film viewing at 4:00
Production Staff will be present to sign DVDs.

Book Reference: Hildreth-Werker V, Werker JC, editors. 2006. Cave Conservation and Restoration. Huntsville, Alabama: National Speleological Society. xiv+600 p. [For every decision related to a cave, the foremost concern should be the perpetuation of speleological processes, values, and resources. Contains a wealth of detail from 46 contributors describing tools and methods for cave conservation, restoration, and speleothem repair.]
ISBN 1-879961-15-6

7 by 10 inches, xiv+600pp and 16 pp of color photos, softbound

$39 (NSS members $37)

Available through NSS Bookstore, cave book vendors, or Amazon:

www.NSS Bookstore.org

Available through all book vendors at the NSS Convention.

Please repost on caver lists and in caver newsletters.