Monday, October 13, 2008

Rocky Mountain Civil War Roundtable Symposium

As you all might know I am a member of Rocky Mountain Civil War Roundtable and part of their symposium planning committee. Last April we had a very good symposium, our first attempt, which convinced us we can do this again. I've been sending out invitations for a few months now, and having some horrible luck. Last time I got my 5 presenters from 8 invitations, and the 3 rejections were pretty much expected (those were the guys that seem to be booked 2 years in advance). This year the early rejections were again from the previous time's rejections so I wasn't too worried, but then we had a hard time filling the list after that.


But this weekend I got a bunch of emails and it looks like our panel is nearly set. I'm just clarifying a few things with the various guys so I don't want to list our full panel yet but things are looking very good. I'm pleased with the list. Perhaps in two weeks I can reveal the entire panel.


Our theme for the next symposium will be Lee Invades the North. We will have a presenter for Antietam and Gettysburg. Also one to provide an overview and put the campaigns into some context. We will have one to give a history of an army unit that saw extensive action in both battles. And we'll finish off with one on the history of the parks from the end of the battle to today. The only thing we're changing from last time is that we will have a panel discussion at the end of the day. In retrospect we thought that would have been a nice touch. We weren't 100% sure how to handle it the first time so we didn't do it then, and since it was our first attempt we wanted to keep it as simple as possible.


I know its a long way off but our next symposium will be October 3, 2009. Mark it on your calendars now.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Nick

Glad to hear things are coming together for your next symposium. I attended your inital effort and it was great. Look forward to finding out who your panel is.

Regards
Don Hallstrom

Anonymous said...

Hello! I just came upon your blog. I'm impressed. I didn't know it existed...my bad! I will be visiting more often now that I'm finished and published Battle At The Pass. It's the story of Glorieta Pass. a true Rocky Mountain Civil War. You may know about Glorieta and know that it is often referred to as the Gettysburg of the West.
I would love to join your roundtable, time, place,etc..I'm in Castle Rock. Have been making presentations in schools, Historical Societies. I do this in C.W. uniform and protray Captain Ned Wynkoop. My talks are based on THe FIrst Regiment of Colorado Volunteers and its role at Glorieta.
I'd like to hear from you.
Good luck
Ben Benoit Ph.D.