Minutes of the Charter Meeting on 2/16 in Raleigh

NC IDA Charter Meeting Report

We had around 40 people from all over the state and someone from as far away as Toronto, at the NCSU Craft Center on 2/16. About 1/2 were IDA members. There were a number of lighting professionals, a couple of planning and zoning folks, and several amateur astronomers.

The talks by Bob Gent from IDA and Bob Henderson (RLH Lighting Consultants) were both very lively and interesting, and each generated alot of audience participation. The high point of the meeting for me was when Bob Gent was showing the audience an example of an excellent decorative lighting fixture brought down to the meeting by David Hatcher of GE Outdoor Lighting in Hendersonville NC. Bob was very complimentary toward GE and the fixture, and David Hatcher said that if Bob would like to take the fixture on the road with him, he could have it. Bob said "yes" and the audience clapped enthusiastically at this point.

Bob Henderson's talk expanded some on design considerations in outdoor lighting. He also had some interesting examples of lighting projects (and problems) around Raleigh, and gave us an update on his involvement in rewriting the Raleigh lighting ordinance. Bob is planning a seminar, "Lighting Ordinances for Cities and Towns", for Wednesday, March 29, from 11 AM to 7 PM. Among handouts for the seminar will be Illuminating Engineering Society of North America Recommended Practices RP-33 and the Outdoor Lighting Manual for Vermont Municipalities. The seminar price will be between $139 and $149. Bob would like to hear from those interested in this seminar at his email address bobh@interpath.com or by phone at 919-781-5333.

There was alot of activity at the GE and IDA information tables during the break and after the meeting. I hope we will gain some new members from among the audience!

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Bob Gent, Bob Henderson (and to CP&L for loaning Bob some equipment for the presentation), David Hatcher and GE for the lighting fixtures and pamphlets, IDA Member John Chappell (who provided the Hubble Skycap which received so much attention) and to Jim Pressley who provided the meeting room at the NCSU Craft Center and took care of all the logistics of the meeting location.


NC IDA Status

There weren't alot of volunteers for the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer, so I unilaterally decided to call the posts "interim", pending elections within 1 year.

Daniel Caton, Professor of Astronomy and Physics and Director of the Observatories at Appalachain State University ( http://www.phys.appstate.edu/dbc.html ) has agreed to be our interim President. Dan has been an active member of the IDA. In addition to his research and teaching at Appalachain, Dan has written an extensive series of articles on science related topics for the readers of the Charlotte Observer. I think he will make an excellent spokesperson for NC IDA.

I will serve as interim secretary until we can have elections (perhaps at the Mid-Atlantic Star Party, or another suitable venue). We need to have a VP who can share the speaking opportunities with Dan so he isn't spread too thin. Since we have no money, the need for a treasurer is somewhat less at the moment, but I expect we may have some donations to deal with soon.

Before the meeting, Dan and I signed a letter requesting the IDA Board of Directors to officially recognize the NC IDA Section at the next board meeting (I think it is in April). This letter was given to Bob Gent. I will keep you posted on the status of our request. POSTSCRIPT: AS OF 02/22/00 WE HAVE BEEN APPROVED BY THE IDA BOARD.


What's Next

Dan and I had a little time to discuss immediate goals. Here are some of the things I have discussed with Dan and/or other members at various times in the last 2 months.

  1. We hope that as many of us as feel comfortable doing so will be able to put on informational talks (one-on-one and to groups) oriented to 1) average citizens, 2) amateur astronomers, 3) planning and zoning officials, and 4) lighting professionals. I hope Dan and I will be able to put together some materials, in the form of a packet that can be mailed out, that will help in this. Step 1 should probably say "don't be confrontational". The IDA is working on a detailed "Model Lighting Code Guidebook" which should be ready soon. This may become part of the packet. We will use as much existing IDA literature as possible, and will add some organizing framework.
  2. We would like to increase IDA membership in NC. We would like to get the IDA message out to and increase our membership within amateur astronomy groups. We'd like to ask these groups to pass out IDA literature at public events when possible. We'd like to promote membership within the general population.
  3. We all need to become better educated concerning IDA's goals and most effective ways to reach them. This will take time, and effort on everyone's part. Those of us with web access will have an easier time. That is only 1/3 to 1/2 of our membership. We will need to reach out to all members however. That will take money for mailings. A newsletter will be the most effective vehicle for this. Someone will have to collect, organize and mail the newsletter. I suggest only mailing to those without email capability.
  4. We could investigate purchase of a light meter(s) for the NC Section. These would be useful in demonstrations to Planning and Zoning officials, as well as for doing research.
  5. We could investigate purchasing a copy of the Los Angeles Video "Looking to the Stars" from IDA and some other materials for presentations.
  6. The IDA Annual Meeting will be held in Tucson AZ, April 28-30, 2000. Anyone interested in attending please contact me < dlakey@mindspring.com >. See IDA newsletter #40, for details.

David Lakey


Last Updated:
08/01/2000: Fixed RP-33 link.
02/23/2000: Updated IDA Approval, Bob Henderson's Seminar Information, and IDA Annual Meeting
02/20/2000:Created.