A Junior Speleological Society participant gets ready to enter CaveSim, which was run by a great bunch of volunteers, including Red Schrock (left). Photo by Natalie Pheasant
Highlights of the 2014 NSS Convention included:
- More than 20 fantastic volunteers helped to run CaveSim while we were at home expecting our first baby. Thank you to everyone who helped!
- Kim Fleischmann wrote, “I had a great time volunteering for CaveSim…. we talked to the high school vice principal for a bit. I walked by later & he brought some summer students over to do the CaveSim. This was a bunch of African-American kids who might never step foot inside a cave without this introduction.”
- The JSS visited CaveSim for a good portion of one day. In addition to exploring CaveSim, they learned about cave rescue, played bat games, and did other hands-on activities.
- About 250 trips were taken through CaveSim during the week. CaveSim (and our new squeezebox) was used for Speleolympics throughout the week.
- 30 individuals, grottos and vendors sponsored our trip. Each sponsor was recognized with a laminated sign on the CaveSim trailer, and with recognition on Facebook and on CaveSim.com.
Convention sponsors:
Dick Blenz (above right) continues to be our biggest sponsor, and he is helping us get to Convention again this year. Dick is a fellow electrical engineer and caver, and his generosity is truly incredible!
At the 2013 NSS Convention, we borrowed an ElSpeleo light to take pictures inside of CaveSim. The results were fantastic, and we’re still using those photos in our software today. ElSpeleo lights produce even better pictures than the 120V plug-in lights that we normally use for photography!
