ALCon/IDA AGM 2010 was held June 25^th through 27^th in Tucson, Arizona.  Celestron was a Platinum sponsor and Celestron staff in attendance were; Joe Lupica, CEO/President, VP of Product Development, Corey Lee, Principal Design Engineer, Rick Garrison and one of our newest Celestron employees, Director of Product Development, Eric Kopit...and me, Michelle Meskill, Marketing Manager.

Bright and early on June 25^th, day one of the show, we set up the CGE Pro 1400 HD and our display table in the vendor area of the conference.  It was nice to see two of Celestron's Premier dealers, OPT and Starizona exhibiting as well.  Right off the bat, we started receiving a lot of traffic and comments about our limited edition 50^th FirstScope and attendees grabbing their free 50^th Anniversary pin.  Our EdgeHD optical system was one of the stars of the show, with many attendees wanting to take it home with them and some good-naturedly threatening to snatch it while our backs were turned!  We received many favorable comments about Celestron products from attendees who have been loyal Celestron fans since the 1960's and who own more than one or two of our telescopes.  It was great to talk to all of the Celestron owners and hear their stories about their first Celestron scope, one notable story coming from a husband and wife, who, back in the 1970's, convinced a bank to give them a loan to purchase their first C8! 

During day one, we were pleased to enjoy a hosted luncheon with a special talk by David Levy.  David spoke about the ties that Astronomy has had throughout history in literature and art.  It was an interesting talk and I especially enjoyed how he wrapped it up with a majestic photo of the moon while a beautiful song I had never heard before by Alabama, played.  The combination was a great end to the talk.

Saturday, June 26^th, day two of the show, consisted of a preview of ALCon 2011, moderated by current, and soon to be retiring, ALCon president, Terry Mann.  ALCon 2011 will be held on July 1^st and 2^nd in Bryce Canyon, Utah and will coincide with the national park's yearly Astronomical Festival.  Sounds like it's going to be the ideal location for an astronomy conference, with the timing around the 4^th of July holiday bringing in large crowds of people who enjoy the outdoors and the night sky.  ALCon plans to add nightly star gazing events to the conference, which will be a great addition and a welcome activity for attendees and the general public to enjoy the wonderful dark skies that Bryce Canyon has to offer.  It is sure to be a hit and I predict one of the more successful ALCon conferences in their history.

Soon after the 2011 conference overview, past ALCon president and current conference co-organizer, Bob Gent, raffled off a Celestron 50^th Anniversary FirstScope, the winner being Dan Brocious with Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory.  Bob then introduced Joe Lupica to speak about the history and celebration of Celestron's 50 year anniversary.  People piled in to listen to Joe's talk.  Joe spoke about Celestron's founder Tom Johnson's dream of starting a telescope company and his goal to leave a mark on the world.  Joe also discussed the various Celestron owners over the past 50 years; ending with praise about our current owner, David Shen of Synta, who is a passionate telescope maker and longtime supplier and fan of Celestron products.   After Joe's speech, the 1^st episode of Celestron's 50^th Anniversary documentary, Path of Light - Generation of Dreamer's, was played.   Upon returning to the table after Joe's talk, I was approached by many people congratulating Celestron on 50 years and praising the documentary.  One attendee informed me that it gave her a trip down memory lane, as it brought back many fond memories of her first experience with Celestron.  Many people wanted to know when the next episodes were going to be available (Episode 2 is live on Celestron's website now) and if there would be a DVD available once all 6 episodes are completed (YES!).

The awards banquet took place the evening of day two, with many awards going out to various members of ALCon for their tireless efforts to make the conference a reality and to other notable people in the astronomy community for their support and work.  The Jack Horkheimer award winner, and winner of a Celestron NexStar 130SLT, was 15 year old Christian Borao.  Christian won this award for his achievements in the astronomical community for public service and outreach.  Next, the winner of the Young Astronomer of the Year Award, Andrew Hitchner, talked about his research and continued outreach efforts in the community.  The evening wrapped up with a really interesting keynote talk by Dr. Roger Angel on solar energy and mirrors.  There is a lot going on in this industry and I am proud to have a even a very small part in it.

I woke up on day three of my Tucson trip to attend the opening of the International Dark Skies conference, where Celestron was giving away a NexStar 8SE to a lucky winner to kick the conference off.  Our premier dealer, Starizona, generously donated a Hyperstar to round out the prize.  When her name was called, Ann Scott, of the Tucson Amateur Astronomers Association, gave a big yell and jumped up in joy!  It's always such a treat to meet the winners of our raffle donations.  When I returned back to the office the next day, I received a heartfelt thank you email from Ann stating that she was thrilled to win the telescope and would put it to good use in her outreach efforts, such wonderful news!  These are the kinds of experiences that make my job even better than it already is!  I am really lucky to be working in such an interesting industry, meeting so many friendly, dedicated people on a daily basis.  I believe we can all get more people interested in astronomy and science if we continue to work together and support each other as we did during ALCon/IDA.   I'm looking forward to seeing all of the great people involved in this conference again next year at Bryce Canyon!

The Backyard Birders Enrichment Cluster is now in its second year at PS 29 Elementary School in Brooklyn, New York. Backyard Birders runs for ten weeks meeting every Thursday morning. The cluster of twelve students made up which is made up of first through third graders.

They are introduced to bird watching. The school is located in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn, which happens to be an excellent spot for urban birdwatching. The students are taught to navigate their Field Guides and become proficient at operating their binoculars, which were generously provided Celestron. On our walks we have identified Mocking Birds, Cardinals, American Robbins, European Starlings, Chirping Sparrows, House Sparrows, Ring-Billed Gulls, the ubiquitous Rock Dove (pigeon) among others. The students learn to differentiate the flight silhouettes of the Peregrine Falcon and the Red Tailed Hawk. Most of the students can recognize the call of the Blue Jay and know what the Blue Jay is trying to tell them. Not bad for bird walks that never ventured farther than two blocks. There is something very special about a student making their first identification, really knowing which bird they are looking at and if it is male or female. It is a moment for connection with nature. The students tell me they look up in the sky and trees when they walk home.

It would be great to have this program in all of our public schools.