Institutions Come in All Sizes

We think of institutions as marbled edifices, wizened societies of distinguished board members wielding trust funds and vast budgets.. but it need not be so! We can become our own institution .. for what is it really but some seat of activity, learning, enthusiasm, or enduring force. We can be that .. you can create a theater, a visitors center, a gathering place, and over time if you believe in it, it becomes an institution. I have done that with HPA and Sumner Skies Planetarium, even on such a tiny scale as it may seem presumptious .. but consider

we are listed in the IPS guide - twice

we have a backlog of newsletters

we have contacts in the industry and past

we are HERE today ..

and perhaps most importantly, as I think any institution would agree, our best days are ahead of us .. yet to come .. we have only scraped the surface of not only our fellow enthusiasts but the public at large.

Become an institution if you can. And you can. Give yourself a name, and open your doors.

And as time goes on, whether you grow in size or numbers (and you will if you will it), you will still grow in gravitas. In experience, in legacy, and in memory.

You will be an institution.

Its Ok to build a Halfway House

Something has struck me about planetariums, when you go to build your own, the theater is daunting. We start out wanting to recreate that 'surrounded by the starry heavens' experience, but soon learn an even modest dome is well .. celestial in size. But do we always have to build the whole dome? How good really is our peripheral vision - we cant really SEE the whole vault of heaven all at once usually.

There is a solution .. for those of limited space, or budget . build a half dome. Like the Renwalls Cosmorama of old, can the projector not turn and provide differing directional views on a half dome surface? Suddenly building requires alot less ..

Put your projector on a turntable .. seat your audience all in one direction just like the tilt dome big boys do .. and have at it.

Full dome of course will always be special. But you can build a halfway house for alot less and reap most of the same benefits ..

and isnt getting there, as always .. half the fun?

Perpetual Change

There may be an important difference between a public professional planetarium and a home planetarium - in the former, while of course up to date equipment and varying programs are a necessity, it is still a production space, a place of business, meant to put through the maximum possible people or patrons.

Not so the private planetarium.

While patrons may be a goal, and they surely add atmosphere and purpose, the private home planetarium may thrive more on perpetual change. We are hobbiests and dreamers as much as educators and showmen. Therefore a static theater can become boring.. sitting there 'in case' the phone rings and a group wants to come out.

To me, the home planetarium has to constantly shift - the configuration, even the instrument. What Mr or Ms random viewer sees may have been in the dome a year, or less than a day .. its this endless fascination, this tinkering and building, that keeps the pursuit alive for us.

The Chicken or the Egg?

There is a very interesting approach to how planetariums come to be.

The chicken or the egg, in this case, being the support stand/console/et all vs the starball/cylinder/dodec/lunch pail .. Which comes first?

In my current mystery project, the stand came first, found at goodwill. In the case we see here, the stand is to accomodate a waiting star mechanism. Owen found a chicken for his egg .. I started with the chicken and then needed an egg ... Im getting hungry for breakfast! Finding this stand, moved this mystery project to the forefront - the personality of the machine in this case would flow literally, from the ground up. Naturally, this got the ball rolling and I moved it to the head of my project list.

The star mechanism is easy to put off till last since if you are building it, it will take the most time and care. If you collected one fully formed though, it is easier to get this first. Myself, I cannot see putting in the hours to create a starball without having the mounting first, so I can test it as I go, see the sky being born before my very eyes etc .

So which comes first? Well it depends I guess! gare

thoughts on Owens Planetarium Museum

HPA said DREAM. Owen said DREAM BIG .. indeed

Yes Im going to have to add a BIG to my own DREAM sign (seen on planetariumsathome.com).. i noticed also the new Planetarium Network picked up on the dream theme as well.

I will tell you this. Seeing the emmons projector gives me a thrill every time I visit the museum website, which is a couple times a week to marvel.

This entry is being written the day after Obama was sworn in, hence the Lincoln references. HPA is delighted and honored to have two quotes on the Museum website.

But seeing my two quotes as well.. Im done.. no more quotes .. but to me.. if I could have my wish.. my dream .. that those words might live on for people past my lifetime.. equipment .. stuff... gets scattered over time . .. but words can live forever. I was reminded of this watched the inauguration festivities, which recalled my own visits to the Lincoln Memorial. The statue didnt move me that much.... his WORDS carved in marble were forever though... bind up the nations wounds... and the war came . with charity towards all .. in our own little way, i hope someday people are researching us.. collections may be dispersed. the ravages of time take their toll ..

but what we put into words can ring down through the ages. so to me, we must be caretakers of not only THINGS .. but THOUGHTS ... as we found the ability to express them.. or as old abe said .. as god gives us the ability to express them.

Maybe thats our REAL legacy. Maybe not. I dont know. but in a day yesterday looking back, looking forward. as in last weeks looking from the back room to the show room.. these thoughts have been on my mind. HPA has been a forum for these kind of thoughts. But never have they had such a stage as the Museum.

g

From the Backroom To The Showroom

From the Backroom to the Showroom

All my life i was a backroom guy .. hidden back behind the water cooler and the coffee machine - there i was .. see me! back behind those cardboard boxes ... and happy to be there .. i would balance your reports .. i would gopher your shipments... i would manage 20 professionals as long as we were doing backroom transactions ...

then it changed for me .. i was forced to go into sales... and backroom gary was facing JANE AND JOHN Q PUBLIC and they were buying but they werent always amused.

and i became FRONT ROOM gary. and i won awards.. trips to hawaii.. video projectors .. i found my background drive worked in the front room too .. the best of both worlds..

you see i could be that green shade accountant.. that totally committed faceless machine ..

and i could be a huckster .. a hawker .. a salesman .. but with empathy and humanity ..and believe me its made me alot of money

and then i found my secret passion was portraying the stars... and i went through the VERY SAME CYCLE that i had in my professional career .. and to kickstart it all i went back to the same villa park il neighborhoods.. the same early friends. the same memories .. passions ..

and i found myself on the same path .. backroom for soooooo long ... acquiring.. lusting.. building .. collecting.. acquiring..

but then i saw it

i saw it

like my career.. i had been trained .. gandalf told merry and pippin and frodo and sam much the same when they asked ... how shall we save the shire? gandalf said .. thats what you have been trained for

so owen and me. maybe you? weve been trained in the backroom .. but for a larger purpose ..

alot of planetarium pros no doubt have followed some of this .. some to the fore.. some remain in the back

but WE ARE PIONEERS .. we arent taking jobs at establishments

we are GOOD ANCESTORS .. blazing trails. we are .. if we but see it

and so we have been in the backroom... i was until recently

we move to the showroom . it doesnt mean we have to stop what we were about

but we need to see the expressions on kids faces

because in the end .. we might remember those more... we might.... gare

HPA Quote

From the optical wizardries of industrial giants to your corner hardware store - from scientific legends to enthusiasts tinkering in garages and barns .. these worlds meet, mingle, and all share one common purpose . the stars.