Episode 211 In this episode of the Observers Notebook podcast, host Tim Robertson talks to the ALPO member Jim Tomney on the upcoming Virtual ALPO Conference. The dates will be Friday and Saturday, July 25/26, 2025. The conference will also be Live Streamed on the ALPO YouTube channel. As a "virtual" event, this year's ALPO conference will NOT be an in-person event. This way, you can participate from the comfort of your own home or office. The conference times for both days will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Pacific Time (1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time) and allow for seven paper presentation sessions each day with short breaks on both days. All presentations be limited to approximately 25 minutes each with a few minutes left for audience questions. The schedule of presentations will be posted about one week prior to the event. The ALPO board of directors meeting will be held on Friday, July 25 at 4 p.m. PT (7 p.m. ET). The ALPO Conference is free and open to anyone to attend; however, all presenters must be current members of the ALPO. Digital memberships start at only $22 a year. To join online, go to https://www.alpo-astronomy.org/ALPO/Home/Join. Following a break after the last paper presentation on Saturday afternoon, July 26, will be presentation of the annual Walter Haas Observer Award. This will be followed by our keynote speaker at 4 pm. PT (7 p.m. ET). With the award presentation and keynote speech usually occurring at the traditional Saturday evening dinner, we suggest that you enjoy your own meal during these last two conference events. Door prizes will be awarded following the Keynote address. No purchase necessary. The only hardware required along with your computer are a webcam and microphone. If you will be using a laptop computer, both are already built into your system. An online chat feature will allow type-in text comments for questions once the conference gets underway. All presenters must already have ZOOM installed on their computer prior to the conference dates. ZOOM is free and available at https://zoom.us/ The ZOOM links will be e-mailed out on Thursday, July 24. Send a request to cometman@cometman.net There will be a separate ZOOM meeting set up for each day. The ZOOM virtual (online) meeting room will open 15 minutes prior to the beginning of each day’s activities. Upon logging into ZOOM you will be placed into a ‘waiting room’ until the meeting begins, and your microphone will be muted automatically. Those individuals wishing to present a paper should submit their request to Tim Robertson at cometman@cometman.net no later than July 1st, along with a brief bio about themselves and a summary of their presentation. Microsoft PowerPoint is the preferred method of visual presentation along with an audio explanation. Contact Information: ALPO Website: http://www.alpo-astronomy.org/ Tim Robertson: cometman@cometman.net ZOOM: https://zoom.us/ ALPO YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AssociationofLunarandPlanetaryObservers ALPO Podcast- The Observers Notebook: https://soundcloud.com/observersnotebook For more information you can visit the ALPO web site at: www.alpo-astronomy.org/ You can also support this podcast at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ObserversNotebook Listen to the podcast on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/observersnotebook Subscribe on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/observers-notebook-the-alpo-podcast/id1199301885?mt=2 I want to thank the Producer of this podcast, Steve Siedentop and Michael Moyer for their generous support of the Observers Notebook. Our Patreons: Jerry White Jason Inman Bob Lunsford Steve Seidentop Stephen Bennett Michael Moyer Shawn Dilles Damian Allis Carl Hergenrother Michael McShan Michael Blake Nick Evetts Stan Sienkiewicz Carl Hergenrother Stan Sienkiewicz John Rogers Jim McCarthy Stanley McMahan