By Kate Hutton (HTN)

It is always a good thing when one gets a chance to put faces with names, observer codes & e-mail addresses. It's an even better thing when one also gets to visit headquarters, especially when it's a brand-new headquarters. I admit that my decision to attend the 2007 Fall meeting was mostly an impulse, since I've not been on the East Coast for 30 years. I'm glad that I followed the impulse. I feel like I now know where my data are going & who is handling correspondence, fixing software, and so forth.

I enjoyed speaking with everyone, but especially John Percy, Dirk Terrell, Pamela Gay, Carol & Barry Beaman, Susan Oatney, Michael Richmond, Elizabeth Waagen, Gamze Menali, Travis Searle, Kate Davis & Doc Kinne. I enjoyed listening to all the scientific & educational talks. Thanks to everyone, I learned quite a bit more about eclipsing binaries, cataclysmic variables, as well as other stars & topics. I participated in lively discussions about, among other things, the topic of the week: charts.

The AAVSO knows how to throw a good meeting. Arne, among his many skills, can flip a good hamburger. New England knows how to show a visitor not only pretty leaves, but also weather fit for southern California, followed the next day by a classic nor'easter!