1st Annual Shipwreck Salvage Archaeology Symposium

[enrada]

One of the things I am worried about is this 1st Annual Shipwreck Salvage Archaeology Symposium becoming top heavy with Archaeologists and getting brain washed with UCH. Also I hope that ALL speakers will have to pay tuition regardless of who they are or what paper they wish to present. I go to conventions regarding underwater subjects and find TOO many institutionalized speakers just on an all expense paid speaking junket. I want to hear and speak to people who have dirt under their fingernails, not desk jockeys!! Heres hoping. I attended both the 1984 and 1985 Greater Fort Lauderdale Shipwreck Symposium. I also attend UI in New Orleans.

 

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[ropesfish]

I just escaped 3 days in hospital, so I am a little behind. I'm going to need to get put together a team/committee to make sure everything gets done now, but this WILL happen. Just some cardiac A fib that was handled by meds, but I have to unload 100 lbs of fast food that I have been carrying around and maybe some of the workload.
OK...with that said, we do not need to get derailed by the other team. There will always be that dog behind the fence barking from the safety of his own yard. The key is to keep going where you're going.. Anyone can bark, not everyone is going somewhere.
Something I am trying to do is to adopt and promote a different way of looking at the shipwreck salvage archaeology business. We need to project a different image out there to the public, one that is more accurate than the swashbuckling pirate image from the Argosy stories of the 1950s. That does not play well these days and while we may be some swashbuckling SOBs in private, we need to represent a more accurate image...some people looking for shipwreck history.
It's really not just about gold and silver...it's the whole thing..it is a combination of the planning, the hunt for funding, the camaraderie with your partners/crew, the satisfaction of completing a long series of difficult tasks, the thrill of discovery, the history and the adventure. Few of us believe that we will become suddenly rich from salvaging wrecks...but there's always that chance...

There should be no fear as to getting too many members of the Academic Archaeology Club on the program...they were not asked to present, but they are certainly welcome to attend, as is anyone with the desire to come and the ability to buy tickets.
Tentatively it looks more like this - - and THIS IS NOT FINAL, just my plan...
Saturday
Dr. Lee Spence
Alex Mirabal
lunch
Robert Westrick
Burt Webber (been invited, wants to come, we shall see)
Jim Sinclair -depends on his work schedule

Saturday night program 7-10 PM
Something that businesses do frequently is a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats,
If we intend to protect ourselves and be able to hand down our industry to future generations, we need to understand our Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats,
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
I am looking at an hour with one or two presenters and then the remaining time with a round table discussion with (again...this is NOT FINAL
Taffi Fisher Abt
John Brandon
Dan Porter
Burt Webber (if he is able to attend)
Lee Spence
One of the topics:
How do we fight back against over regulation and government overreach and encroachment?

I am going to ask Taffi to help me with this program today...I know she is interested in the subject. If she has time to be there, she'll enjoy it.

OK...Sunday AM - Survey and Salvage technology ---working on sonar, mag and detector companies to present this 3 hrs

Sunday PM: Survey and salvage techniques 40-60 minute presentations, 3 or 4 speakers
Terry Armstrong will present on mapping techniques and his DigTrakR and DigFindR software products
I am pretty sure of:
Mike Perna will present on magnetometer survey
Jason Nowell...mag and sidescan survey
and a couple more to to be announced as I finalize the program...

Suggestions always welcome!

 

[Darren in NC]

Bill, that looks like a GREAT lineup! I'm confident it will be a very worthwhile time.

 

[ropesfish]

Another excellent speaker on the marquee!
This is going to be a great weekend.
Herman Moro of MARINE ARCHAEOLOGY INTERNATIONAL, LLC and SubAmerica Discoveries, Inc.has graciously agreed to be on the Saturday afternoon agenda!

 

[Salvor6]

Another excellent speaker on the marquee!
This is going to be a great weekend.
Herman Moro of MARINE ARCHAEOLOGY INTERNATIONAL, LLC and SubAmerica Discoveries, Inc.has graciously agreed to be on the Saturday afternoon agenda!

WOW!

 

[agflit]

Well done Bill!!

 

[Boatlode]

I find most of Alexandre's posts enjoyable. He has posted trips, maps, etc that I really find interesting. Between those posts though, I know that he will attempt to be authoritative, but come off sounding like a smart-alek, or an aloof jerk. Personally I'm OK with that trade off though.
What I'm NOT OK with is that the OP Ropesfish is trying to put together a fantastic event this Spring for our group and Alex wants to belittle the presenters in the same thread. That is beyond rude and is totally unacceptable. His posts in this thread should be removed IMO.

My thoughts exactly. I wish Alexandre would stop being a butthead, because once in awhile he does contribute some good info.

I just escaped 3 days in hospital

Hope you're feeling better Capn Bill.

 

[ropesfish]

Another fantastic speaker has agreed to take a place at the podium for the Shipwreck Salvage Symposium!

Herman Moro of Marine Archaeology International and SubAmerica Discoveries, Inc will be presenting on Saturday, March 14.
Herman is probably best known for the discovery of the 1654 Capitana off Chanduy, Ecuador, but has spend much time on the 1605 Fleet and the San Jose projects. He is a tremendous archival researcher and has become well versed in Colombian law.

His presentation will be most interesting.
Please make plans to attend.

 

[ropesfish]

The Shipwreck Salvage Archaeology Symposium is pleased and proud to announce that Dr. E Lee Spence has agreed to speak at the Symposium, to be held on March 14 and 15, 2020 at The Lagoon House in Palm Bay, Florida.
Please consider attending this landmark event.
Dr E. Lee Spence
Bio:
At age 12 (in 1960) Lee Spence found his first shipwrecks and went on to become one of the pioneers of the new field of underwater archaeology. He is widely considered the world's foremost authority on shipwrecks and sunken treasure.
Spence is the author/editor of more than two dozen non-fiction reference books on shipwrecks and has served as an editor for each of the following publications: Diving World, Atlantic Coastal Diver, Treasure, Treasure Diver, Treasure Quest, ShipWrecks, Wreck Diver and written articles for such magazines as Skin Diver and Argosy. Most of his books have literally thousands of reference notes and his work is characterized by the depth and scope of the facts gleaned from contemporary sources. His books and discoveries have been cited in government publications, professional journals, encyclopedias and reference books. Look him up on Wikipedia or find him on Facebook.
His most famous discovery was the wreck of the "Hunley." The "Hunley" was the first submarine in the entire history of the world to actually sink an enemy ship. It had never returned from its otherwise successful mission and its location had been unknown for over 100 years. The sub has been valued at over $20,000,000. Spence donated his discovery rights to the wreck to the State, and the tiny sub has since been raised and its crew were given a proper burial. Spence's other shipwreck discoveries are too many to list here but include the Spanish pirate ship "Diamond", and the blockade runners "Georgiana", "Mary Bowers", "Norseman", "Stonewall Jackson", and "Constance." He has salvaged everything from Spanish galleons to a modern ferry boat. It was Spence's research that ultimately led to the discovery of the gold rush steamer "Central America" and the SS "Republic" with its cargo of gold.
Dr. Spence's past work has been funded by such institutions as the Savannah Ships of the Sea Museum, the College of Charleston, South Carolina Committee for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 1991 and 1992, Spence served as Chief of Underwater Archeology for San Andres y Providencia, a 40,000 square-mile Colombian owned archipelago in the western Caribbean. His work on the Great Lakes freighter "Regina" was written up in People Magazine. Because part of his recovery included G.H. Mumm's Champagne, the article was titled: "Ho, Ho, Ho and a Bottle of Mumm." He has been in cover stories in such magazines as Life and U.S. News & World Report

 

[ROBOTCOP13]

Sounds like a good event (I attended the first one) but I think the ticket price is a bit too high. Picture the group of people that attend the picnic. I think a lot of them can't afford it.

 

[ropesfish]

Ticket prices...there's a quandary which one learns about in math class... If Bill holds an event and spends $4000 to put it on, how much should a ticket cost so he can make sure to not lose money and give himself an incentive to do all that work?
Should he sell 50 tickets at $100 or 100 tickets at $50 or 200 tickets for $25?
How much will raising or lowering the price change the attendance?
I have an Excel sheet that does this calculation, but the answer that no one can guarantee is the one I need. How many people will show up?
I'm working on an answer. Does anyone have any brilliant insight into the demand curve for shipwreck salvage symposiums? I could use some.

 

[ROBOTCOP13]

Know your audience

Recognize anybody

 

[A2coins]

That would be fun hope you have a good time Wish I could be there

 

[ropesfish]

I know most of them, but that is not our entire audience, nor are all of those folks interested in going to a 2 day program.
My entire audience is the 4 million people within a 90 minute drive, as well as the salvage/metal detectorist/historian community in the Western Hemisphere with a sprinkling of people with no connection to the business. <never think small>
No one has bothered to put one of these on for the last 30 years, so maybe there is a reason. We shall see, but hopefully this will be the First Annual and not the One and Only.
I guess we'll just have to see who shows up.

 

[ROBOTCOP13]

Here's a thought how you might reach both groups. If you have a raffle (door prizes) for donated gifts you might reach a larger audience.
The cost of the ticket could include a single entry and than sell additional tickets for extra money. If you have one large prize like a donated detector from Kellyco you will attract a lot of people. If you offer say 10 guest trips on your salvage boat you will attract a lot of the people who came to the first event who wanted to "get involved" in the process. Let them pull anchor lines. You might even find some "investors" out of these groups. If you can't offer booze and lap dances you have to be creative.

 

[ropesfish]

After estimating, calculating, debating, deliberating and procrastinating I have finally come up with a price structure for the tickets for the 1st Annual Shipwreck Salvage Symposium.

The ticket for the Saturday sessions, which will cover both the day session and the 7-10 evening session will be $60, the Sunday session will be $50 and a combo ticket for both days/all three sessions will be $100. Tickets will be available on Eventbrite by the end of the week.

I dropped the prices in order to allow more people to attend. We can seat 200, so I am sure we can accommodate everyone that wants to come.

Please spread the word and be sure to attend if you want this sort of educational program to happen again. While I like to do this sort of thing, I cannot lose money doing it.

More speaker announcements coming this week!

 

[Mackaydon]

Re: Your "Ticket Prices" question.
Suggestion based on a 'given' that the cost of the event will be $4,000. Price the tickets at what you think is reasonable. Have the tickets prepaid (not 'at the door'). If you receive over $4,000 in receipts, put on the event. If you don't receive $4,000 by (say, ten days before the event), call it off and return the funds. In that way, no one losses. Advise the potential attendees that is the deal--so there will be no surprises if the event is cancelled.
Don.....

 

[ROBOTCOP13]

Maybe Ben Costello at the 1715 Fleet Society can suggest ways to promote it, especially to the members?

I remember back when there was the Plus Ultra Newsletter there were advertisements for events like this.

Too bad Ernie Richards had to pull the plug on it. It had a good run.

 

[Salvor6]

Why did Ernie stop publishing Plus Ultra?

 

[ROBOTCOP13]

In his last issue he explained it (2016). Financial reasons (postage for instance), subscribers dropped out, new people were going to the internet for information instead of subscribing to a newsletter, the big find of 2015 was kind of a swan song and he was kind of burning out (he admitted).

It's a lot of work to publish even on a quarterly basis.