Draft

Summer Meeting issues and notes:

  1. ON THE now-cancelled VMI apparatus issues:

*Although logistics would have been interesting (and a nightmare), I'm kind of sad not to find a wayto share that VMI apparatus around with those who would put it to use. I wonder how much usethings will get in a VMI closeted room when few use them now. :(

*(Rae was a big influence on me back in 1987 when he did his sabbatical at Auburn and rebuilt the demoroom there with some of us students helping.... I still have a copy of the Auburn demo book, it's fadedand the pictures are copies of Polaroids... but shows how far technology has come in 30 years.) -- {David Sturm}

  1. ON THE Resource Room discussion about Quantum Levitation...

*Dale, Dave-M copied my curmudgeonly note, so I think you have it, right?

*Sam, you recast and presented that very well to Simcha.

I'd encourage the folks from that company just to sign up for an AAPT booth. At their prices if they sell 10,they'd easily break even. I figure they'd get much better publicity in the vendor hall anyway. Plus, theymight be able to talk Cerena into some sort of a first-time or international discount. I'm not sure howthey'd get things on and off a plane these days as I think about it. They'd have to ship things over, no?-- {David Sturm}

  1. ON Shipping to Maryland for the RR..

*Stephen-I., do we want to approach tap-L [ir]regular Bill Norwood, the lab mgr at Maryland? Maybe he'dbe glad to help us fellow souls in PIRA and tap-L avoid the bureaucratic mess we'd have using AAPT shippingchannels? The other alternative is what I did for Greensboro in '07. I found a nearby friendly UPS store thatdidn't charge to receive. Alternatively, I know Keith, Dave-M, and David-S are all driving in to DC.-- {David Sturm}

  1. ON THE Resource Room in general...

*The semester ends soon, so Stephen-I when it does, perhaps we go ahead and get some things ordered,you the VP and me the Treasurer? I imagine we could use ideas... but particularly:

*Steve-N., did you get a chance to inventory the leftovers? Could you forward to Stephen-I and I, thedigital copy of the Minnesota RR order? We can copy and save time ordering from Oriental Trading that way.

*Dale? Anything in particular you plan to ship? (That presumes we find a shipping location.)-- {David Sturm}

  1. ON PIRA Business Meeting...

*Dave-K., since this is your year as President, unless you find a volunteer, in addition to presiding overthe PIRA session our President-Elect Steve-N. constitutionally runs the Business Meeting. Just think it wouldbe fair to let him know that, as having an agenda ahead of time always helps. I'm sure the Past President,Keith, and all us other Past^N (N>2) Presidents like Dale and Dave-M and Sam and I can help out too.-- {David Sturm}

  1. Having Winter Meetings:

*The preliminary schedule I saw was missing our PIRA BusinessMeeting on Monday night. Anyone know if that's been fixed yet? I don't want to repeat efforts thatone of you may have already fixed....(Happens all the time, because the Program Chair--who's new--looks at the WM that just happenedrather than the last 2 SM schedules and doesn't list PIRA since we don't meet in the Winter.Gee, electing an AAPT Presidential cycle person means you have to pay attention to a lot ofdetails, doesn't it? So, is anyone we know nominated? Heh. Oh boy....)-- {David Sturm}

*Dave, you raise a good point… Why don’t we start having a business meeting during the winter meeting? This way, if that indeed is what the organizer does, look at the WM proceedings, then we’re set. In the past, we’ve the meeting scheduled at the same time as Apparatus, Laboratory, and maybe even CSEP before we had them switch it. Why go through all the same rigmarole year in and year out…

*A good idea. I think we tried it at WM2012 Ontario, just to have a PIRA OpenMeeting. (Better to leave the official and officious Business Meeting at the SM.)We should be able to get George Amann to fix in a PIRA Gathering for WM2016 New Orleans. If not, we'll do our best to convince the next AAPT Vice President to do that. Backingup the outgoing VP is one of the first tasks of the just-elected VP.-- {David Sturm}

*We don’t need to make any official decisions at the business meeting during the WM, but we can touch base, make sure things are on track, etc. And… it saves our place on the schedule in the grand scheme of things… -- {Sam Sampere}

  1. As President-Elect, you are to cover the PIRA meeting for me.-- {David Kardelis}
  1. There is the standard stuff,-- {David Kardelis}

*Workshops:

  1. how they went and what is planned for the next meeting.

*Finances:

  1. What is in the accounts,
  2. how did the Resource Room do.

*Elections for new officers:

  1. That would be the VP
  2. Secretary/Treasurer
  1. Other Items-- {David Kardelis}

*YouTube Account for PIRA-- We need a person or a committee to manage the account. I believe Stephen Irons offered to help on that.

*I would like to work on is, outreach to NSTA. I know David M and David S do so some stuff. I went to the Utah Section of NSTA last spring. I think PIRA could have a big impact here. Many more HS and Middle School teachers attend these state meeting than the AAPT National Meetings. Not sure how to do this, but maybe we could make guidebook or handbook formini demo workshop so that willing PIRA members could present to local NSTA relatively easily. MAybe do it by topics so Mechanics, Thermo etc.