View Poll Results: Are you planning to attend SELEM 2020 (Aug 4 - 9)?

Voters
26. You may not vote on this poll
  • Yes. As long as the lockdown is lifted I will be there.

    15 57.69%
  • Unsure. First need to see what happens with COVID-19, my job, etc.

    8 30.77%
  • No. It is too risky, both financially and health-wise.

    3 11.54%
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Thread: Are you planning to attend SELEM 2020?

  1. #21
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Bordentown NJ USA
    Posts
    286

    Default SELEM 2020

    Yes Adam providing we get through with no lock down issues I will plan on attending. Best Mike
    Dreamcaster Multimedia
    Visit our website:
    https://dreamcasterlasershows.com/

  2. #22
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Bordentown NJ USA
    Posts
    286

    Default SELEM 2020

    In reply to the concerns I see in this string. I can speak first hand about this, Last month my dad tested positive to Covid-19 at 88 years old he was moved from the veterans home to the hospital and made a full recovery he was sent back to the veterans home and did 10 days in quarantine. He was returned to the dementia unit where with in a day he had a relapse and passed after two days of the relapse on April 26th.

    In speaking with his doctor I have found out this is not uncommon and it really does not matter if you are old, young or have underlying conditions. As per the doctor this thing is all over the charts with symptoms and results. Some have Fevers, Some do not, Some have only GI tract issues Some do not. Some have a relapse some fully recover. Some have mild symptoms and some have no symptoms at all, and carry the virus to infect others with no knowledge that they have it. He personally thinks there may possibly be multiple strains of the virus out there.

    Now its in the White House, I really hope they wrap there heads around this thing soon it seems there is much we still do not know about the Novel Virus. I hope before August we have some answers but we still have a long way to go with this. As I have said in my last reply I will be there if all goes well if not maybe Adam can come up with some kind of remote virtual alternative it seems to be the way things have been going these days. Unfortunately it is becoming the new norm.
    M
    Dreamcaster Multimedia
    Visit our website:
    https://dreamcasterlasershows.com/

  3. #23
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Orlando, Florida
    Posts
    1,156

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by mmuhler View Post
    In reply to the concerns I see in this string. I can speak first hand about this, Last month my dad tested positive to Covid-19 at 88 years old he was moved from the veterans home to the hospital and made a full recovery he was sent back to the veterans home and did 10 days in quarantine. He was returned to the dementia unit where with in a day he had a relapse and passed after two days of the relapse on April 26th.

    In speaking with his doctor I have found out this is not uncommon and it really does not matter if you are old, young or have underlying conditions. As per the doctor this thing is all over the charts with symptoms and results. Some have Fevers, Some do not, Some have only GI tract issues Some do not. Some have a relapse some fully recover. Some have mild symptoms and some have no symptoms at all, and carry the virus to infect others with no knowledge that they have it. He personally thinks there may possibly be multiple strains of the virus out there.

    Now its in the White House, I really hope they wrap there heads around this thing soon it seems there is much we still do not know about the Novel Virus. I hope before August we have some answers but we still have a long way to go with this. As I have said in my last reply I will be there if all goes well if not maybe Adam can come up with some kind of remote virtual alternative it seems to be the way things have been going these days. Unfortunately it is becoming the new norm.
    M
    Mike,
    So sorry to hear your dad passed.

    Chris

  4. #24
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Charleston, SC
    Posts
    2,147,489,446

    Default

    I'm sorry to hear about your father, Mike. Stories like yours are exactly why I'm so worried about SELEM.

    I have to be frank: right now the chances are not looking good for SELEM this year. We did see a slight decrease in the number of new cases and the number of new deaths over the past week, but the numbers are still way too high. And there is a growing concern that we will see a second spike as a result of cities that are coming out of lockdown this month.

    It's too soon yet to make the call, so we'll keep watching things. But I had hoped that the numbers would have trended much lower by now.

    Adam

    PS: If anyone is curious, this is the source I've been using: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

  5. #25
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Grand Rapids, Mi
    Posts
    2,538

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by buffo View Post
    I'm sorry to hear about your father, Mike. Stories like yours are exactly why I'm so worried about SELEM.

    I have to be frank: right now the chances are not looking good for SELEM this year. We did see a slight decrease in the number of new cases and the number of new deaths over the past week, but the numbers are still way too high. And there is a growing concern that we will see a second spike as a result of cities that are coming out of lockdown this month.

    It's too soon yet to make the call, so we'll keep watching things. But I had hoped that the numbers would have trended much lower by now.

    Adam

    PS: If anyone is curious, this is the source I've been using: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/
    Is the venue renting the place? is that still an issue or is it just down to how numbers are interpreted? Thanks
    leading in trailing technology

  6. #26
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Charleston, SC
    Posts
    2,147,489,446

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by polishedball View Post
    Is the venue renting the place? is that still an issue?
    One of many issues, unfortunately. The auditorium office is closed, and the school offices are also closed. Can't get anyone on the phone - not even on their cell phones. I've left messages but no one ever calls back. No answer to e-mails either.

    So I can't even get an answer as to what their current policy is, much less when they might allow events to resume...

    Adam

    EDIT: The information on the auditorium website is the only information available, and all it says is that the auditorium is closed.
    Last edited by buffo; 05-16-2020 at 03:09.

  7. #27
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Posts
    196

    Default

    Lasers don't translate well to virtual events, but I asked my wife,

    My wifes idea to the virtual laser show was (And I quote)

    "everybody look outside your window ( pause...) NOW!...., You see that plane coming down. That was me..."

    She has a very warped sense of humor. Which is why I married her.
    But I also don't usually let her play with the high-powered lasers. And she wonders why.

  8. #28
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Posts
    196

    Default

    We could use ZOOM to do a meet and greet if SELEM just isn't feasible. It would be a good opportunity for me to at least meet some people I normally would see if I had attended. Hope everyone is doing well and staying safe out there

  9. #29
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Charleston, SC
    Posts
    2,147,489,446

    Default

    A "Virtual SELEM" is something that I've been talking about with several folks, and I think it's an idea that is worth trying.

    Some of the guys in Europe have been using ZOOM to keep in touch, and thus far it appears to work pretty well for them. One of the ZOOM chat meetings I logged into had 12 simultaneous video feeds running, plus 3 or 4 voice-only users, and the video quality was surprisingly good.

    I also looked into using a virtual reality environment for something like this, but in the end I think an actual camera is superior because you can see the person's face and react to their expressions and body language, where as in a VR environment you don't get that level of interaction between people and you also have to deal with the distraction of the virtual environment around you.

    A Virtual SELEM would need to have a few different channels for people to tune in to. The idea would be to have a time schedule where folks would sign up to put on a presentation, or to run some shows in their home environment. People could then choose to tune in to the channels they wanted to watch. And there would need to be a general chat channel open as well, so if you didn't want to watch a given presentation you could jump into the chat channel and talk shop with others.

    Adam

  10. #30
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Posts
    2,292

    Default

    The virtual LEM is an interesting idea but a bit pointless, in my opinion. Well, as a week long event, at least. You could easily have a virtual Zoom meeting whenever you want. Why wait until some arbitrary week in August? It would be quite interesting and entertaining if we had regular virtual "MeetUps" on here where we schedule an hour or two meetings once a month and one or more people can talk about something and give demos. Joining the calls would of course be optional and first come first serve based on the max number of connections. I assume there would be a way to record them.

    It seems like a big part of SELEM is hanging out and pretending to be lighting technicians for a few days. Not to mention drone flying and tinkering. The presentations seemed secondary, although getting the free Pangolin swag was probably a big draw for some. Oh yea, door prizes, too. I think I must have scored close to $1000 in door prizes from my trips there. None of that translates over to a virtual lem, other than possibly getting some simultaneous web cam face time, which you can already do with Skype meetings if desired.

    The voice of reasoning in me would just tell you to pull the plug this year. There is a chance that it might work out but more than likely it isn't going to and it brings risk that really isn't worth it. People will have to travel to get there, live in a hotel for days, share rooms, etc. It just isn't compatible with social distancing. Everyone could spend the saved money for next year, to buy a new toy, to go on a vacation, or whatever. Most SELEM people have been to SELEM to know that other than seeing old friends, they aren't going to miss anything they haven't already seen the year before, and the year before, etc. And it will be there next year (crossing fingers).

    Maybe you can make FLEM a little larger, or find some other place for a LEM later in the year, even if it isn't a full blown thing.

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