“New notification available. Open?”
Engaging in family connection and conversation on the Saturday morning between Christmas and New Years, it is easy to lose some track of the general passage of time. Discussions of gameplay and gender dynamics, considerations of varieties of microbreweries and their recent offerings, as the hours pass and wake-up times become more of a suggestion than a workday requirement. So, it was really a bit of a surprise to notice that my weather app was trying to give me a bit of new information about the meteorological world.
“100 days until the eclipse!”
Urp. That is a bit of an alert about what is waiting for me next week when I return to work mode. All remaining conceits of “but that is so far away… it isn’t even this year” drop away as the calendar shifts over to January, 2024. The local business community news outlets are starting to highlight the upcoming events and tourist projections. For Indiana, the Total Solar Eclipse (TSE) could be a really big deal. If the community is ready. If the planning continues to make progress. If the weather is good. If we coordinate the media center activities. If the invitees actually are available and show up.
How much of that is within any one individual’s control, or scope? I will confess to having had a long history of feeling a strong sense of responsibility to make everything work, to keep track of and use my own force of will to bring the best imagined scenario into being. Much to my surprise (and potential relief), the experience of the TSE planning is starting to take me away from that stance. Make no mistake; I am feeling the “terribly, terribly aware” intensity of ensuring that the invitation letters are sent and the corporate executives are informed, in “BLUF” terminology and 10-second sound bites, why they need to commit resources and time and self to this thing as this priority, now.
However, I also remember a very valuable lesson from the last statewide preparation event for which I felt an important obligation as Indiana Space Grant Consortium (INSGC) Director, the Apollo 11 50th Anniversary event back in July 2019. Lots of people wanted to celebrate this historic event in their own way, in their own place, with the resources and connections that were meaningful for them. The TSE is a bit more localized and focused – not every community in Indiana will experience totality, but the communities with which INSGC and I are engaged literally span the state from southwest to northeast. We can help out a lot regarding eclipse viewing safety and the timing and direction of where to look… but otherwise, it’s kind of like putting together a really huge potluck picnic. In some ways, it feels like the planners of the National Road Garage / Yard Sale, spanning hundreds of miles of old U.S. 40. We know the date. We know the locations. (Oh, if you’re interested, the 2024 dates for the National Road Sale are May 29 – June 2.). But what’s for sale? Which bands will be playing, where? What’s going to be on the menu? I don’t really know all of what people will be bringing, and the more I try to control that part, the less enthusiasm there will be. We just welcome as many people to participate in as many ways as engages their excitement and interest to tell a very special story about a very special experience.
Perhaps it is a good thing that I take a few more quiet days here at the end of the calendar year. I appreciate the rest and the restoration that will help me prepare for the coming weeks. The long-term advanced planning is very much coming to an end. As is often said, it’s go time. Lay out the viewing location access paths and traffic flow plans. Test the equipment. Confirm the portable cellular and toilet orders. (No. Really. Do it this coming week.). Have you got safety videos? School release information? General public notices? In several languages? In accessible formats? What about…
Ah, yes. Use the rest while it’s available. Take advantage of the holiday weekend. Celebrate safely, everyone. Happy New Year. I hope to see some of you at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the TSE viewing, and you enjoying your souvenir pair of “The Greatest Spectacles”. I will be there in spirit in Evansville, and Terre Haute, and Bloomington, and Jasper, and Lebanon, and Brownsburg, and Muncie, and Winchester, and all the other places along the path. Bring your friends. Take lots of pictures. Remember the day, because it will be something to be shared and recalled and stories to be told. “Hey, back in ’24? What did you do for the Eclipse? Was it special for you, too?”
grouperlab
Priority Push Notifications
by grouperlab
“New notification available. Open?”
Engaging in family connection and conversation on the Saturday morning between Christmas and New Years, it is easy to lose some track of the general passage of time. Discussions of gameplay and gender dynamics, considerations of varieties of microbreweries and their recent offerings, as the hours pass and wake-up times become more of a suggestion than a workday requirement. So, it was really a bit of a surprise to notice that my weather app was trying to give me a bit of new information about the meteorological world.
“100 days until the eclipse!”
Urp. That is a bit of an alert about what is waiting for me next week when I return to work mode. All remaining conceits of “but that is so far away… it isn’t even this year” drop away as the calendar shifts over to January, 2024. The local business community news outlets are starting to highlight the upcoming events and tourist projections. For Indiana, the Total Solar Eclipse (TSE) could be a really big deal. If the community is ready. If the planning continues to make progress. If the weather is good. If we coordinate the media center activities. If the invitees actually are available and show up.
How much of that is within any one individual’s control, or scope? I will confess to having had a long history of feeling a strong sense of responsibility to make everything work, to keep track of and use my own force of will to bring the best imagined scenario into being. Much to my surprise (and potential relief), the experience of the TSE planning is starting to take me away from that stance. Make no mistake; I am feeling the “terribly, terribly aware” intensity of ensuring that the invitation letters are sent and the corporate executives are informed, in “BLUF” terminology and 10-second sound bites, why they need to commit resources and time and self to this thing as this priority, now.
However, I also remember a very valuable lesson from the last statewide preparation event for which I felt an important obligation as Indiana Space Grant Consortium (INSGC) Director, the Apollo 11 50th Anniversary event back in July 2019. Lots of people wanted to celebrate this historic event in their own way, in their own place, with the resources and connections that were meaningful for them. The TSE is a bit more localized and focused – not every community in Indiana will experience totality, but the communities with which INSGC and I are engaged literally span the state from southwest to northeast. We can help out a lot regarding eclipse viewing safety and the timing and direction of where to look… but otherwise, it’s kind of like putting together a really huge potluck picnic. In some ways, it feels like the planners of the National Road Garage / Yard Sale, spanning hundreds of miles of old U.S. 40. We know the date. We know the locations. (Oh, if you’re interested, the 2024 dates for the National Road Sale are May 29 – June 2.). But what’s for sale? Which bands will be playing, where? What’s going to be on the menu? I don’t really know all of what people will be bringing, and the more I try to control that part, the less enthusiasm there will be. We just welcome as many people to participate in as many ways as engages their excitement and interest to tell a very special story about a very special experience.
Perhaps it is a good thing that I take a few more quiet days here at the end of the calendar year. I appreciate the rest and the restoration that will help me prepare for the coming weeks. The long-term advanced planning is very much coming to an end. As is often said, it’s go time. Lay out the viewing location access paths and traffic flow plans. Test the equipment. Confirm the portable cellular and toilet orders. (No. Really. Do it this coming week.). Have you got safety videos? School release information? General public notices? In several languages? In accessible formats? What about…
Ah, yes. Use the rest while it’s available. Take advantage of the holiday weekend. Celebrate safely, everyone. Happy New Year. I hope to see some of you at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the TSE viewing, and you enjoying your souvenir pair of “The Greatest Spectacles”. I will be there in spirit in Evansville, and Terre Haute, and Bloomington, and Jasper, and Lebanon, and Brownsburg, and Muncie, and Winchester, and all the other places along the path. Bring your friends. Take lots of pictures. Remember the day, because it will be something to be shared and recalled and stories to be told. “Hey, back in ’24? What did you do for the Eclipse? Was it special for you, too?”
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