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IPS Ad Hoc Committee: Script Contest Committee Reports 2007 I. Function of the Committee To promote and co-ordinate a biennial competition for IPS members that encourages them to write a planetarium script on a given topic. The scripts are judged by three people from the profession as chosen by the committee Chair. The winning script, and the runner up, are both subsequently printed in Planetarian. The two winners, First and Second, receive $1000 (US) and $350 (US) respectively, and the funds are provided by the Eugenides Foundation in Athens, Greece. The winners are recognized by having the cheques and a certificate presented to them at the biennial IPS conference. II. Accomplishments of the Committee When I took over as the competition’s coordinator in 2000 the competition was in the doldrums. In the intervening time I have worked with other planetarians to significantly change the competition rules in order to make the competition more attractive and liable to receive more entries. The Eugenides Foundation in Athens has also kindly increased the prize money. The last competition in 2005 attracted 10 entries (one of which was withdrawn at the last moment) which was significantly up from the all-time low of three the time before. III. Future Goals of the Committee I feel the competition is now in healthy recovery, but there still seems to be an overall lack of desire in the planetarium profession (or simply a lack of time!) to write new scripts, even when there’s a nice cheque waiting for the first and second prize winners. I therefore believe we shouldn’t expect the number of entered scripts for future competitions to exceed approximately 15. The latest competition was launched in the March 2007 Planetarian. The closing date for submissions is December 31, 2007, and I would expect to receive, perhaps, 12-15 entries. IV. Budget Requirements None. V. Committee Members Chair, Steve Tidey, Freelance Astronomy Educator, 58 Prince Avenue, Southend, Essex, SS2 6NN, England. stevetidey@hotmail.co.uk VI. Comments I have enjoyed the responsibility of chairing this committee for the last seven years. The competition provides a valuable outlet for the creative writing abilities of people in the profession, and I have encouraged the Council to continue supporting it in the long term. They were very supportive when times were hard for the competition a few years ago. Steve Tidey |
ORGANIZATION
Standing Committees Ad Hoc Committees
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International Planetarium Society |
Last Modified:
12 January, 2008 |