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Post 100 Hours I was feeling really good about myself, about my fellow task group members, and about the job we did. All around, we were able to accomplish almost everything we set out to do. But, of course, we can't please everybody.
I was happy when I sent an e-mail to all portuguese registrants announcing the awards. I thought everybody that joined 100 Hours around the world, just because they love astronomy and wanted to share it with others, would be pleased to know they could get some kind of recognition, even if they didn't do it for fame and glory. So when earlier today I got this angry e-mail from someone that said (among other things) "If I knew there were going to be awards, and this would turn out to be a competition, I would have simply gone to a street in New Delhi.", well... lets just say I stopped feeling happy. The same person goes on and on about how "all the work I had all these years had no recognition, and now, thinking this was the point of 100 hours, it turned out to be nothing more than a competition". What can I say to this person, except... you couldn't be more wrong!
Nobody did it for the money, or for the recognition. Most did it with personal sacrifice, and in the case of some task group members, with A LOT of sacrifice. I would bet that both our co-chairs had their first good night's sleep in a long, long time on Sunday, April 5th. So to this person, who complained he "should have gone to a football match and say that 60,000 people looked through a telescope, instead of the 50 people in my little village", I say SIZE DOESN'T MATTER! Because numbers don't tell you everything, and we also value events where you get 50 people in an island of 200, almost all prizes were thought out so that even the smallest turnout, in the smallest venue, could get the same level of recognition as an event that would fill Estadio Azteca, in México.
So why do it at all, and why think about awards at all?
I myself, being one of the world organizers of Sun Day, didn’t go to a huge stadium, or even a small auditorium. I drove for a round trip of about 5 hours, to spend little more than 3 hours in Arbutus do Demo, a hard to find natural park, almost in the middle of nowhere, with a turnout of little less than 50 people. And it was GREAT! If you got there, you really wanted to be there. Nobody would find it by accident. And those who got there “saw” the Sun with white light (courtesy of SADE), H-alpha (CAUP) and radio telescopes (ARARA group), a solarscope (SADE), and even learned a bit more about our and other stars, in a lecture in the old park ranger house. You can see some pictures in my gallery. Everybody was in awe at the size of that "little" 8-shaped prominence visible in H-alpha. And not one person left without a smile and a word of appreciation to us.
So why do it? Because of all the people in Arbutus do Demo. And because of people like Abhay Kothari, and Scott Lowe. Scott sent this heartwarming e-mail, which I transcribe partially: “I'm 32 years old, and had never even had a good look at Saturn aside from books...Many of the things he said really made me think about the vast universe beyond and how little attention I've paid to it since leaving grade school...Well now I have a completely renewed interest and I want to thank you for it...” Abhay Kothari is one of the people responsible for the wonderful initiative in India which you can see in the photos below.    
And Abhay, we thought of awards because of people like you. People who go that extra mile.
It's been my honor and privilege to work with everyone at 100 Hours of Astronomy task group. I'm proud and humbled to have worked in this event. I hope there are many more Scott's and Abhay's out there thanks to what we accomplished. And so I say "farewell", until the next 100 hours.
Ricardo Cardoso Reis (Portugal) <-->
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