Our tours are back, but how did we keep our volunteers enthused during the COVID-19 shutdown?

One of our training sessions on Microsoft Teams. Image Credit: Julie Matthews

It was a huge learning process as the training team delved into previously unknown territory and discovered the world of online training through (gulp) video conference meetings.

At the end of June, we will have completed a whole 10-week program of remote online training using Microsoft Teams. Each Tuesday night, our keen vollies have tuned into an hour filled with the main presentation delivered by some of our very best Hosts and Presenters, mock dome talks by the trainees, and an astro quiz by Geoff Scott.

Topics covered include Binoculars – Astronomy at Home, the museum items, the Astrograph, the Lowell Telescope and its research projects, the Calver telescope, RCOP/Skynet, the Meridian, Worl Wangkiny, and Halley’s Comet. We have all learnt so much more about the Observatory while also brushing up on our presentation skills, and can’t wait to share it all with our incoming visitors.

A huge thank you to everyone that gave up their time to make this series so successful while overcoming the fear of being “on camera”. It has once again proven to me how fortunate we are to have such a fantastic Volunteer group.

See you up on the hill – in real-time!