posted 12-13-2013 08:33 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Rick Mulheirn:
The reach of the internet never ceases to amaze me. Ron Howard has tweeted the event!

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posted 12-13-2013 07:37 PM            

This will be a real hum dinger and UK members would have to be a right "Dip stick" to miss out on this one.

posted 12-16-2013 12:18 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by 18blue78:
Rick, do you know if Ken will be sending out confirmation email when our cheques are received?

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posted 12-17-2013 01:39 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by 18blue78:
Rick, do you know if Ken will be sending out confirmation email when our cheques are received?

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posted 12-17-2013 12:25 PM            

After dinner he will sign one item per guest. The professional photos should be ready for signing after the dinner.

On Saturday, photo shoots will start at 2.30pm. The talk at 4.00pm followed by a signing of one item per person.

We cannot guarantee at this stage that the professional photos taken on the Saturday will be ready for signing after the talk. It all depends on the volume.

Ken expects the contract to be signed off before Christmas at which point we can reveal the name of the guest.

Cheques sent to Ken already will be cashed AFTER January 1st.

May I please remind everybody to include a self-addressed envelope, e-mail address and phone number. Some cheques have arrived minus one or all of those details.

To answer the specific question about e-mailed confirmation of receipt of a cheque Ken said, "I will if I remember; I usually do but they can always email me."

Incidentally, if cashing cheques on or soon after January 1st presents an issue (my original post suggested mid to late January) then please mail Ken directly and he will hold off until later in the month.

posted 12-19-2013 04:54 PM            

A few people have booked dinner/combo tickets and not supplied names of the ones attending which I need for place names. I have emailed them to ask but no reply.

posted 12-20-2013 11:51 AM            

I am pleased to confirm that the Space Lectures guest booked for April 11 and 12, 2014 is Apollo 16 Command Module Pilot and TWICE shuttle commander, retired Rear Admiral Thomas Kenneth "Ken" Mattingly II.

A first for Ken Willoughby; an Apollo veteran AND a shuttle astronaut. The first shuttle flyer Ken has brought to Pontefract, West Yorkshire.

What makes this such an exciting opportunity is not just his links to the ill fated Apollo 13 mission and his outstanding flight record but also his "rarity" value.

He has never to the best of my knowledge appeared previously in the UK. He has never appeared at any of the usual autograph events in the U.S. (and anecdotally has said he never will) and while he does give the occassional lecture, any signing is restricted to a handful of rushed signatures and then he typically makes a sharp exit.

This is a unique opportunity to have dinner with the man, hear him talk about his incredible career from the "Golden Age" of manned spaceflight and then... if you opt for the combo ticket... get TWO signatures.

You also have the opportunity of a professionally taken photo with him as well!

There is a Santa after all!

posted 12-22-2013 04:55 PM            

I am sure there will be some exclusive items up for grabs including large signed and framed prints and at least one cross section sample of Shuttle EMU space suit; one of the items I am donating for the cause.

Mr and Mrs OWL usually organise the framed prints and they are always top quality.

So be sure to bring your cheque books, or as in the case of "Gliderpilotuk"... your bulging wallet!

posted 12-23-2013 08:12 AM            

I have asked what he will and will not sign but not heard yet.

Postal signings not accepted - they will have to come to the event! Two people are coming from Washington DC!

Title of talk is: "The Spirit and Triumph of Apollo 13!"

posted 12-24-2013 04:50 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Rick Mulheirn:
Title of talk is: "The Spirit and Triumph of Apollo 13!"

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posted 12-24-2013 08:50 AM            

Ken Mattingly may have not walked on the moon... but his refusal to appear at the usual astronaut events means he is proving to be a big draw.

posted 12-27-2013 10:39 AM            

I think it safe to say, we got the marshalling of the queue for the post lecture signing spot on for Alan Bean.

We struck lucky in that Al's talk overran allowing the photographers time to finish the prints which were then set out on tables in such a way that the queue made its way past the photos allowing people to pick them up en route to the signing table.

But as I have already eluded to in a previous post we cannot guarantee such impeccable timing this time around.

Yes, the seats are numbered in as much as the sooner you send Ken a cheque the nearer the front you will be and consequently the quicker you will get through to the signing table.

If I may be bold as to presume on behalf of "Mrs Owl" common sense was applied by us both while marshalling the queue.

For instance we guided a disabled lady to the front of the queue because it was the obvious and decent thing to do.

I know Chris that you usually bring your wife to the event; I would have no objections if one of you joined the queue (a row at a time) while the other left to get the professionally taken photo only to rejoin you in the queue.

If folk come alone on the other hand, with the best will in the world it would not be practical to have "marshalls" intercepting everybody that came in to our out of the room.... who then went along the queue trying to slot folk back in to their "rightful" place.

The entire Bean signing numbering around 470 people took about 80 minutes and for a large part of the time, people were sat down so the process could not be desctibed as gruelling.

posted 12-27-2013 01:16 PM            

This may involve starting the photo shoots earlier. Leaving time between the photos and the start of the lecture in order to give the photographers a "head start" and my favoured choice a prolonged Q&A between the end of the lecture and the beginning of the signing.

posted 12-28-2013 07:16 PM            

The only way to get something signed is to attend one of the events.

posted 12-28-2013 10:57 PM               

I am buying the ticket for someone to attend the events and bring my items to be signed, which I will mail well beforehand. You probably wouldn't even need to mail them back to me: a space enthusiast who lives near me will be attending, so you could probably just hand them over to him.

I will say that I would like to have half of the ticket price (60 pounds, or $100) reimbursed to me by whomever is interested in this. However, if nobody takes me up on that in the next month or so, then yes, someone will get to attend both events completely on me as long as you promise to get the two items signed.

I can certainly understand the several reasons why there won't be mail-in signings possible. I think that everybody wins with what I'm proposing: someone will get to attend with me paying for at least half the ticket price, I'll get my items signed, and Space Lectures will get closer to the impressive feat of having a SOLD OUT notice on the website months before the event.

posted 12-28-2013 10:57 PM               

Will Mattingly be speaking at the dinner? It looks like flights-wise the dinner on Friday will suit me better (in at 9am Friday morning from Dublin and flight home Sat morning at 8am with a night spent in the airport). Otherwise it's a 22.15pm flight home after the dinner and I don't think the buses will get me there in time.