Welcome to the Live, Interactive Planetarium Symposium website! 2012 will be our second gathering, and it will improve on the successes of the 2011 symposium. Here's what you need to know:

What: LIPS will specifically focus on live, interactive planetarium lessons: connecting with your audience; enhancing performance skills; classroom management techniques; sample activities; etc. LIPS' goals include:

• To provide a participatory and practical professional development opportunity focusing on live presentations (conference themes ).
• To offer an opportunity to network with others doing live, interactive shows.
• To share information about available resources and products.
• To share ideas for improving programs: content, teaching tips, classroom management, etc.
• To explore what is required to start or improve an outreach program or business.

LIPS is different from other planetarium conferences in several key ways:

• This is not a fulldome movie festival; instead it focuses on skills and techniques for live lessons. While there are vendor demonstrations, these are live, interactive teaching demonstrations. Vendors, the sponsor information section will be updated by late January, 2012.
• The attendees choose what is on the schedule. How do they do this? By proposing a session they wish to lead, requesting a session to be led by someone else, and finally by choosing which sessions they want to attend. Note: Attendees must first register in order to propose, request, or choose sessions. Registration information will be posted in late January, 2012.
• There will be no lectures at LIPS 2012; all sessions will be interactive. Prospective presenters: Remember that attendees are coming to LIPS because they do (or want to start to do) live, interactive lessons. This audience wants to actively take part in sessions, not observe passively.

When: Tuesday, August 7 through Thursday, August 9, 2012. Approximately 9AM to 5PM each day. Where: The University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana. The travel section has the current hotel information. Who: Everyone who does live, interactive planetarium lessons--or who would like to start--should come to LIPS. It doesn't matter if you're using a digital system or a starball, whether you're in a mobile or fixed dome, or where in the world you're from (although please note that the meeting will be conducted in English). Attendance is limited to 75 people. Registration will open in late January, 2012. About your host: Your host will be the University of Notre Dame, with its fabulous Digital Visualization Theater (DVT). The DVT is 15.3 m in diameter, with epicentric seating for 136 people. The projection system is a Sky-Skan multi-projector definiti system. You can learn more about the DVT here: http://science.nd.edu/jordan/about/digital-visualization-theater.shtml