We attended our second science fiction convention, Norwescon 33, from April 1-4, hoping to attract some new [Starfarers](/Starfarers) to join our active membership. We talked with lots of great people, got to hang out with sci-fi luminaries like Vernor Vinge and Cory Doctorow, and gained nine new [friends](/FriendsOfSolSeed) on our email list (welcome all!), one of whom has also joined the wiki.
### Notes taken at the convention
#### Talking with Charles Radley
##### Conferences to look into
- Space Frontier Foundation [NewSpace 2010 conference](http://newspace2010.spacefrontier.org/index.php)
- San Francisco, NASA Ames Research Center
- July 23-25
- They use the term "newspace" a lot
- [International Astronautical Congress](http://www.iafastro.com/index.html?title=IAC2010)
- This year it's in Prague
- Sept. 27-Oct. 1
- Biggest in world, about 10,000 ppl
- [International Space Development Conference](http://isdc.nss.org/2010/)
- This year it's in Chicago
- Memorial Day weekend, May 27-31
- Not as expensive as some others
- Buzz Aldrin will be there
##### People to research or talk to
- Ben and Carrie Ann Higgenbotham, http://SpaceVidcast.tv
- David Livingston, http://TheSpaceShow.com
- Dave Stewart, president of the [Puget Sound chapter of NSS](http://chapters.nss.org/wa/seattle/) (right over there at the NSS table)
#### Nonprofit panel
- G. Robin Smith of Five Rivers Fundraising
- Performs as Ben Franklin
- Charles Radley, on boards of several nonprofits, also on local water board
- mainly there to listen to G. Robin
- [Leeward Space Foundation](http://www.leewardspacefoundation.org) submitted a 30-page package to become a 501(c)3, which Charles can send you
- Best resources: sofii.org, Showcase of Fundraising, Innovation, and Inspiration
- founded by Ken Burnett, who wrote *The Zen of Fundraising*
- Ken's publishing company publishes "Tiny books"
- Charles: goodshop.com?
- Getting volunteers is a form of fundraising b/c it replaces the funds it would take to pay people to do that work
- G. Robin has done some fundraising in Canada for SCA, and contacted people in Australia and Europe for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
- Audience member: Putting money into PayPal is dangerous b/c they can close your account at any time if they don't like you
- Useful get-the-word-out techniques include interviews, YouTube, podcasts; "If you liked this podcast, send a few $"
- NSS is 501(c)3, vs. Space Corps is 501(c)4, vs. Space PAC: all related orgs but can't move $ between them in certain ways
- Holding raffles or other game-of-chance events is legally tricky
- Related nonprofits and for-profits
- Moon Society had a hard time getting 501(c)3 status because of association with for-profit Artemis Project
- Can have a "nonprofit" that makes profit but doesn't distribute it to shareholders
- There are 3 clients in fundraising: the charity, the investor, and the community
- Try to get ideas, time, and energy from investors as well as $ (builds genuine relationships)
- Tell the investors honestly when you screw up, and generally have an honest, straightforward approach
- "No" always means "Not yet"
- Read widely so you can connect your vision with other people's own interests (or at least find other ways to help them)
- Figure out all the different ways volunteers can help
- People don't retain info written in sans-serif
- Example: K-8 magnet school on the Olympic Peninsula that has been a 501(c)3 for 20 years
- Wants to build a sustainable building to get out of the 3 portables they're now in
- Include a community center, library, meeting space
- Advice:
- Contact with Chamber of Commerce is important: ask them for business ideas/expertise
- Ex. Lumber company can put up a sign advertising their sustainable wood lines
- Don't "cap" the idea, make the investors part of the dream
- Start with community event where "we just want ideas, leave your checkbooks at home"
- Talk with other nonprofits in the area, also city, county, and state reps
#### Panel on "Space: Humanity's Best Hope for Long-Term Survival"
##### Participants
- G. David Nordley, former astronautical engineer, now writes science fiction
- General position: It's easier to go to space than to survive in the long term with just Earth's resources
- Guy Immega, science fiction author
- General position: The rest of this solar system is too hard, so we're stuck here until we find a habitable exoplanet
- Jim Frankel, Senior Editor of Tor Books
- General position: Unfortunately, we probably need to go to space because it may be too late to save the Earth
- Vernor Vinge, science fiction author and Norwescon Writer Guest of Honor
- General position: We may need a Technological Singularity before real interplanetary civilization becomes possible
##### Discussion
- Vinge:
- We will need to go interstellar to survive over geologic time
- Mentioned a guy named Martin Rees who thinks Earth is the home of the only life in the cosmos
- Nordley:
- We can give Mars a magnetosphere by running a tube around the equator
- Don't worry too much about NASA rules against impacting other worlds
- Exoplanets with free oxygen are taken, so we should avoid them
- Frankel: We need a longer view than the 1-to-3-year time horizon of a typical business plan, to understand that wrecking the Earth means killing potential future customers
- Vinge:
- Jerry Pournelle says major expansions of freedom occur in one of two ways, and a vast increase in available resources is one of them
- Neither business nor government are good at long-term thinking, but there are people with good ideas about it whose voices should be heard
- Audience question about asteroids and other small space colonies as a first step
- Immega: Biosphere 2 failed very badly; Lynn Margulis observes that we can't even make a self-sustaining ecosystem in a petri dish
- Nordley: We don't need a totally closed system, since resources are available even in space (and some can be shipped from Earth for awhile)
- Vinge: Lots of research has shown that we have no idea how big the minimum sustainable breeding population of humans would be
- Nordley: The number gets smaller over time
- Frankel: If you need extra genetic diversity, just pull some sperm or eggs out of a bank
- Audience question: But what is the minimum size to produce a viable culture and economy? (No real answer given)
- Audience question: Can going to space relieve population pressure on Earth?
- Nordley: Actually we *could* evacuate significant fractions of the population and build enough colonies for them
- Vinge: Not likely; Ben Franklin observed that people may just breed more if some of the popuplation is removed
- Frankel: Don't worry too much about the psychology of living in space or on other worlds; people are very adaptable; just look at how differently you have to live in Alaska
- Final question: Does leaving Earth, all by itself, make us posthuman?