Getting Ready to See You in Austin!

by Troy Kimmel, AMS Annual Meeting Local Planning Committee
With the 93rd Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society in Austin coming up in a short period of time, your local planning committee is meeting and getting the local details all together for a great time for our society members in the “Music Capital of Texas.”
The local planning committee has been working with the national planning committees and with American Meteorological Society headquarters to make the meeting a memorable one.
Among the items that are being planned are environmental cleanup opportunities (through “Keep Austin Beautiful”) along Austin’s Lady Bird Lake, for AMS and local participants that want to volunteer, on the Sunday that the meetings officially open. In addition, the local committee is planning an AMS sponsored “Weather 101″ educational session for area scouts, Campfire USA and Texas 4H members that will satisfy education requirements for learning programs and badges. The session will allow the young people to meet and visit with Austin area broadcast meteorologists.
The local planning committee is working with the national Weatherfest committee to make the Weatherfest on the opening Sunday the best ever! The committees are contacting local, state and national private sector, governmental, academic and professional groups that would like to be part of the effort to bring “hands on” weather and climate experiments, equipment and other opportunities for the general public to experience.
Other local events being planned for our members as well as other in the local community include a two day teacher weather and climate workshop, including an evening “Hot Science – Cool Talks” event sponsored by the University of Texas’ Environmental Science Institute.
To make the meetings uniquely “Texas,” our committee is working closely with members of the South Central Chapter of the American Meteorological Society (Austin-San Antonio) as well as with the student chapters at Texas A & M University (College Station) and at the University of the Incarnate Word (San Antonio). In addition, the AMS Local Chapters Affairs Committee as reached out, through conference calls, to local chapters across the United States to encourage their involvement and participation as well.
To make you aware of the local environment – atmospheric and otherwise – local committee members will prepare short videos that will air in the registration area talking about the basic weather and climate of Austin and south central Texas as well as everything you want to know about the Austin music scene.
Representing a broad cross section of the local meteorological community, those serving on the local planning committee include Troy Kimmel (Local Planning Committee Chair), Bob Rose, Joe Arellano, Paul Yura, Jon Zeitler, Veronica Holtz, Ken Bowman, Ken Young, Jay Banner, Jill Hasling, George Frederick, Rich Dixon, Kevin Barrett, Mark Murray, Brian Alonzo, Terry Colgan and Brent McAloney (as a representative of the National Weatherfest Committee).
We’re looking forward to seeing everyone in Austin in January!!