Surveyors Rendezvous 2013 at historic Philadelphia this August promises to be a remarkable event featuring three unique dedication ceremonies. We'll set the real "Stargazer's Stone" on Thursday, August 29. We'll dedicate a roadside historical marker at South Street in Philadelphia (Mason & Dixon's 'POB') on Friday August 30. And, we'll mark Charles Mason's grave in Christ Church Burial Ground (unmarked since his burial in 1786) with an authentic 1766 Mason-Dixon Stone on Saturday, August 31.
Todd Babcock, Chair of the Mason-Dixon Line Preservation Partnership will give a presentation on the historic boundary dispute that led to Mason and Dixon's monumental five-year survey.
David Ingram will explain how Mason & Dixon, David Rittenhouse, Andrew Ellicott and others used telescopes, transit-and-equal-altitude instruments, zenith-sectors, regulator clocks and the world's scientific knowledge of the 1700s to determine precision latitudes and longitudes from the stars.
Milton Denny will give a presentation on Colonial Surveying, focusing on a typical Pennsylvania surveyor's training, unusual tools like the 80-link "wing" chain, and the social status of Colonial surveyors.
British Royal Chartered Surveyor Edwin Danson, award-winning author of "Drawing the Line" and "Weighing the World; the Quest to Measure the Earth" tells how modern Geodesy began, with Isaac Newton and his amazingly accurate predictions, plus early scientific attempts to measure and "weigh" the world. These included Scotland's legendary 1774 'Schiehallion Experiment' - devised by Charles Mason and conducted by Neville Maskelyne – which not only determined an empirically-measured value for Newton's Gravitational Constant "G," thus confirming the great scientist's theories, but also developed a new mapping technique that became important to land surveyors from then on - the topographic method of contouring.
James Shomper, a former Philadelphia Regulator, will discuss Colonial surveying as it was practiced in the "City of Brotherly Love" and how the previously ambiguous location of the "Southernmost Point of Philadelphia" has finally been pinpointed.
James Madison University professor of Geology Eric Pyle will explain how the constantly-shifting forces of earth gravitational fields, mineral 'iron-ore' magnetism, attractions from nearby objects of large mass, and the always-present 'anomalies' affected Colonial surveys. It wasn't just in iron-rich Michigan where compass needles swung wild.
New South Wales Registered Surveyor John Brock has spent more than 25-years searching out clips of surveyors in movies and television shows. He's found hundreds, all the way back to the silent film era. Featured in this great presentation will be just a few of his TV favorites, such as Peter Graves from Mission Impossible and Colonel Hogan using a transit to foil Colonel Klink as well as surveying scenes from Bonanza, Kung Fu, Married With Children, The Simpsons, The Sopranos, Num3bers, Alias, Green Acres and more.
Our conference hotel is the Hyatt Regency Penn's Landing, 201 South Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia PA 19106. The hotel is built on the site where William Penn first landed in 1682. It's within walking distance of the Philadelphia Historic District which features City Tavern, Philosophical Hall, the Philadelphia History Museum, the Betsy Ross House, Christ Church Burial Ground, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and more.
Our room block is filling up rapidly. If you're planning on, or even thinking about, coming to Philadelphia for Rendezvous 2013, you should reserve your hotel room without delay. When they're gone, they're gone.
DEADLINES TO REMEMBER (and they're rapidly approaching)
The 'Early-Bird' registration cut-off date is JULY 15, 2013
Register online at:
You can also download the latest Rendezvous 2013 information brochure at:
http://www.surveyorshistoricalsociety.com/Rendezvous2013%20Brochure.pdf
It contains a registration form that can be filled out and mailed in.
The 'Group-Rate' hotel room cut-off date is AUGUST 2, 2013
Remaining hotel rooms will be released to the public and the Rendezvous group rate will no longer be available. Call Hyatt's reservation hotline number, 888-421-1442, and mention Surveyors Historical Society to obtain our discount group rate. It only takes a minute, and your card won't be charged until you check-out in August. Hyatt also has an on-line reservation "PassKey" system at:
https://resweb.passkey.com/go/surveyorshist
Rendezvous 2013 offers full PDH continuing-educational credits for most classroom sessions (see the Rendezvous brochure for specifics). SHS membership is not required. Colonial attire is not required. All that's required is an interest in the traditions of the surveying profession and the desire to have a great time.
We hope to see you there.
Looks like a great program.
Who else on the forum is planning to go?
I was surprised that, when I mentioned that there were some interesting programs, my wife said she would like to see some of the historic sights and we should go. So we're signed up.
We'll probably take most of two weeks with other stops on the way out and back. We don't do much traveling - some years we don't do anything more than long weekends away from home - so this is a big deal for us. Last year the event was only a few hours away but we went to a family reunion instead.
> Who else on the forum is planning to go?
myself with four other surveyors from my area (that I know of). Had been wanting to go for some time now and fiqure it will never be any closer.
Kathy and I are signed up also.
I have worked on a few projects in and around Philadelphia,
however, never had time to tour the historic sights.
We only have about a 2-1/2 ~ 3 hour drive.
I suppose we will have to declare a mini-"Beer Leg" meet-up at some
point during the event!
Grant
> I suppose we will have to declare a mini-"Beer Leg" meet-up at some
> point during the event!
There is no supposing about it. I suggest Thursday evening after (if?) we get back from the picnic.
I sure hope I have my T-shirt and coozie by then so we can feature them in some photos.:whistle:
FINAL DAY
Early-Bird registration for Rendezvous 2013 ends today.
All but one of the rooms in the hotel block reserved at Hyatt Penn's Landing for Rendezvous 2013 in Philadelphia are now taken. Surveyors Historical Society has "protected" that last room at the $129 per night rate. That last room is under our control, and the hotel will assign it as we direct. A person wanting it will have to work through us, not the hotel's normal registration system, which is now quoting prices of $249 to $315 a night. In their computer, all SHS rooms are taken.
If you've waited until the last minute to register for Rendezvous 2013, now is the time. This room will go on a first-come first-serve basis.
James Vianna, post: 214663, member: 120 wrote: > Who else on the forum is planning to go?
myself with four other surveyors from my area (that I know of). Had been wanting to go for some time now and fiqure it will never be any closer.
Famous last words.
