FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[John Rakovan]

The 50th and final Rochester Mineralogical Symposium will be held online (only) April 21-23, 2023. For details and registration (free) go to the Rochester Mineralogical Symposium Facebook page.

Sincerely,

John Rakovan

[Richard Arseneau]

Why final? regardless, Facebook isn't a popular platform anymore, (no account here) - is there an alternative location?

[John Rakovan]

Yes, there is but we can't post links in this site. Search McDougall Minerals go to the site and choose the What's New Blog and then the Rochester Symposium 2023 entry

[James Catmur]

Try this Zoom link

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VcsD9TOkRSa3DU--6H6ewQ#/registration

James

[James Catmur]

Why Final?

At last nights Russell Society meeting we did discuss (possibly after recording had stopped) that younger people do not go to shows or meetings of societies. They are very active 'collecting over the internet'. So physical shows and symposia are over.

[Jordi Fabre]

[Woody Thompson]

I attended every Rochester Symposium since 1980. It will be greatly missed. However, the situation has changed. The hotel where the symposium was held was closed and sold. As I understand it, the RMS was structurally tied to the Rochester Academy of Science, so the mineral symposium can't simply be moved to another city. The committee could not find a suitable alternative venue in the Rochester area that is not terribly expensive.

[John Rakovan]

Dear James and Jordi,

Thanks for posting the links.

Woody is correct. The RMS lost its facility during the COVID shutdown and going to a commercial venue in Rochester has proven to be cost prohibitive.

[John Betts]

Here is the schedule beginning Friday:
50th ROCHESTER MINERALOGICAL SYMPOSIUM: THE ERMS 2023!
FRIDAY, APRIL 21 – SUNDAY, APRIL 23, 2023

PROGRAM

Friday, April 21

8:00 pm Opening – Raymond McDougall

8:10 pm The Sudbury Basin: An Unearthly, Earthly, Metal-Rich Anomaly – David K. Joyce

9:15 pm - VIRTUAL LOUNGE

Saturday, April 22

WHAT’S NEW IN MINERALS

11:00 am What’s New in Minerals - Jeff Scovil

12:00 pm What’s New in Minerals II – John Betts, with Mark Jacobson, Raymond McDougall and Jim Nizamoff

What’s New from New Mexico – John Rakovan and friends


1:00 pm --- LUNCH BREAK ---


1:30 pm The History and Minerals of the New Cornelia Mine, Ajo, Arizona – Les Presmyk

2:30 pm Chrysoberyl Knoll and Quarry Hill: The Minerals and Quarries of Haddam, Connecticut – Harold Moritz

CONTRIBUTED PAPERS AND SHORT TALKS IN SPECIMEN MINERALOGY

3:30 pm Ryerson Hill Quarry, Maine: Pegmatite Contamination and Titanium Dioxides. Lloyd W. Alexander, Alexander U. Falster and William B. Simmons.


3:45 pm Teaching Mineralogy During Covid: A Much-Needed Assist From the Mineral Collecting Community. Sarah Hanson.


4:00 pm Positive and Negative Striations on the 021 Pyritohedral Face. Bob Morgan.

4:15 pm The Azurite to Malachite Pseudomorph Process. Raymond Straw.

4:30 pm Geochemical Trends of Zoning in Heavy Minerals in the Emmons Pegmatite. N.K. Tolls.


4:45 pm - VIRTUAL LOUNGE

Raise a Glass and Sing! – David K. Joyce


Sunday, April 23


11:00 am Sir Arthur Russell and his Mineral Collection – Roy E. Starkey


12:00 pm Celebrating 50 Years of the RMS – Raymond McDougall and Steve Chamberlain

[John Rakovan]

Why the last?

The venue that hosted the RMS for several decades was lost to our use during the COVID shutdown. That facility is owned by the Rochester Institute of Technology and was repurposed for their needs during the pandemic. The RMS organizers looked at numerous commercial alternatives all of which were cost prohibitive. Thus, it was decided to end the symposium (after many, many discussions among those who currently and in the past have organized the event; and a pole that was answered by hundreds of past participants). The RMS is tied to the Rochester Academy of Sciences so simply moving it out of Rochester is not an option.