The December 6, 2000, Illowa NWA Chapter meeting began at 7pm.

Annual Illowa NWA chapter dues are $10. Chapter members need not be national NWA members. Dues contributions will help the Chapter with its operations, in addition to possibly providing refreshments at future Chapter meetings.

The elected Illowa NWA officers are:

President: Scott Lind (Meteorologist, KCRG-TV, Cedar Rapids, Iowa)

Vice President: Jeff Zogg (Service Hydrologist/Meteorologist, NWS Quad Cities Iowa/Illinois)

Secretary: Doug Beadle

Treasurer: Open

The two most popular locations for the Conference were the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area, and the Quad City area. The group suggested rotating between the two metropolitan areas every year.

The group brought up that, during a previous meeting, Craig Johnson suggested holding the Conference at a community college. Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids would be a good potential location candidate. Kirkwood would provide a room (with 200 people capacity) at its Cedar Rapids campus for free.

The group decided to initially pursue holding the Conference at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. University of Iowa meeting participants suggested the Sieger building (next to the Iowa Memorial Union) on the University of Iowa campus, as a potential Conference location. The Seiger building has classrooms and meeting rooms of varying sizes.

Some people suggested having at least the initial Conference at the University of Iowa may have more "pull" in attracting registrants, than having the initial Conference elsewhere.

Grant Wood Area Education Association indicated it has educational contact information for eastern Iowa, and would provide free mailing labels and delivery to help publicize the Conference.

It was also suggested to distribute an interest survey. This survey would help gauge initial Conference interest, and may help steer planning.

Some people suggested targeting principals in publicity efforts. The principals may use their own contacts to help publicize the Conference.

The NWS could contact its DataStreme participants to publicize the conference and gauge interest.

Area TV and radio stations could also be pursued for Conference publicity. It was also suggested that area TV station(s) could stage their weather segments from the Conference as well.

The Central Iowa NWA chapter used online registration for their annual Severe Storms and Doppler Radar Conference in Des Moines. Adam Frederick indicated he could set up a similar online registration process for the Illowa NWA chapter for around $100.

Some people suggested setting a registrant number limit, and announcing the limit in Conference literature.

The group was undecided on the issue of charging registration, or making the Conference free for registrants.

The Chapter will likely require financial assistance for the Conference to succeed. Potential sponsors include John Deere, Rockwell Collins, Mid American Energy, Alliant Energy, Quaker Oats, area universities and colleges, and area TV and radio stations.

The group suggested avoiding Spring Break and graduation times for self-evident reasons. Whatever the Conference date, it should be decided well enough in advance to allow for proper planning of logistics and related issues.

Some people mentioned that schools must hire substitute teacher(s) for teachers gone during the week, but existing teachers are not usually paid overtime or the like for weekend activities. Thus, from a school district financial perspective, having a weekend conference may be better. Specifically, Saturday works better than Sunday.

Also, it was stated that junior high teachers may be more free for outside activities, than would high school teachers since high school teachers are typically involved in more extra-curricular activities.

Some people suggested inviting speakers from a broad range of weather-related industry positions, such as NWS personnel, TV meteorologists, university professors, and consultants (e.g. Frese-Notis Weather, Inc., in Des Moines). Bill Gallus—an Iowa State University meteorology professor—volunteered to speak at the Conference.

The group suggested offering seminar/workshop registration in the pre-Conference registration to allow speakers to properly prepare. Also, this setup would allow a potential speaker to be notified of little or no registration for their seminar/workshop, and to take appropriate action (e.g. either continue or cancel their Conference appearance).

It became obvious the required planning for such a Conference could not be done during regular Chapter meetings. Thus, it was suggested the Chapter form a Conference Committee, which would be charged with most of the Conference’s planning, funding, and logical issues. One of the Chapter’s officers will solicit Committee membership.

Dan McGinness of the University of Iowa suggested the Committee develop a proposal for submission to Sieger building staff. The proposal should include Conference date(s), content, and other requirements.

It was initially suggested to hold workshops for science teachers at the Conference, and perhaps include those workshops in continuing education requirements. But, during further discussion, the group decided not to pursue the workshops because of logistical and interest concerns.

University of Iowa meeting participants indicated the University of Iowa has a conference administration service, which takes care of logistical issues (e.g. facilities, food service, etc.) for a fee in addition to the normal costs. It was stated the conference administration service should be seriously considered especially if the Conference is expected to attract a large crowd.

The Central Iowa NWA chapter will host their annual Severe Storms and Doppler Radar Conference from Thursday, March 29 through Saturday, March 31 in West Des Moines, Iowa. (The conference dates were verified to be correct.) Currently, the Central Iowa NWA chapter is calling for papers.

The prospects of hosting a national NWA 2002 conference are grim. Although hotel rooms were offered as low as $56 per night, Fort Worth also expressed interest in hosting the national NWA 2002 conference.

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