The rise of the Skywhale

NickD said :

GardeningGirl said :

Except for the website saying “The Skywhale tethered and possible short flight from the lawns of Questacon”. When might they decide and update the online info? It didn’t end up tethered when it was supposed to be on display at the gallery until midday last weekend so I’d guess they won’t hurry to bring it back to tie it up again until only 9am. Or will they just fly it to some suitable location near Questacon and tie it up where it lands? Or will it be tethered 7-9am and then do the short flight after 9am? I know I’m not the only one whose monitored the website and turned up somewhere and wandered around looking for somebody official looking who might know something. I UNDERSTAND its weather dependent yadda yadda but its like that excuse excuses them from even trying because WHATEVER happens they can just point at the weather.

I went Skywhale hunting this morning, and found that the Canberra 100 website and Twitter feed were really helpful – they were updated very regularly and gave precise details. There was no way that they could safely fly from the original site outside Questacon given the fog over the area, and the shift to Holder was well advertised. Hundreds of other people also successfully followed Skywhale around.

Wind direction as well, which is what I expected after checking BOM, but they apparently took the decision as late as possible. That works for people who can check the website after they’ve left home or live close enough that they can sit by their computer until the last minute. One thing they could do is include the earliest possible time in their updates. The only information we had when we would have to leave to be in the area by 7am was “if the flight does not go ahead Skywhale will be tethered near Questacon this morning. Time TBC.” Adding something like “launch will now not occur before 8am, next update in approx 15 min” would be soo useful for the rest of us. 🙁

So is tomorrows display reasonably for sure, given last Saturday’s advertised 9-12 display didn’t quite happen? The website says tethered 7-9 in the update at the top but still says possible short flight at the bottom.

GardeningGirl said :

Except for the website saying “The Skywhale tethered and possible short flight from the lawns of Questacon”. When might they decide and update the online info? It didn’t end up tethered when it was supposed to be on display at the gallery until midday last weekend so I’d guess they won’t hurry to bring it back to tie it up again until only 9am. Or will they just fly it to some suitable location near Questacon and tie it up where it lands? Or will it be tethered 7-9am and then do the short flight after 9am? I know I’m not the only one whose monitored the website and turned up somewhere and wandered around looking for somebody official looking who might know something. I UNDERSTAND its weather dependent yadda yadda but its like that excuse excuses them from even trying because WHATEVER happens they can just point at the weather.

I went Skywhale hunting this morning, and found that the Canberra 100 website and Twitter feed were really helpful – they were updated very regularly and gave precise details. There was no way that they could safely fly from the original site outside Questacon given the fog over the area, and the shift to Holder was well advertised. Hundreds of other people also successfully followed Skywhale around.

Jethro said :

GardeningGirl said :

Jethro said :

Masquara said :

Watson said :

I cannot believe how hard it is to find out anything about when it will be on display again. .

You’re surprised that the arts elite is keeping it all to themselves?

Perhaps the ‘arts elites’ subscribe to the theory that most adults can use a computer.

Try the Centenary of Canberra website or Facebook page. Both have plenty of information, with the FB page being updated almost on an hourly basis.

Not everyone is heading to the site from the inner south clutching their latest model phone for updates.
Is it possible they could just have one 9-12 tethered flight sometime (as originally publicised for last Saturday) so people have a whole morning’s opportunity to go take a look at it in person it like they keep telling us they want us to do?

Well I live in the outer west and was able to go see it this morning after keeping an eye on their Facebook page.

It will be tethered tomorrow until 9am outside Questacon. If you are interested in seeing it there is nothing stopping you.

Except for the website saying “The Skywhale tethered and possible short flight from the lawns of Questacon”. When might they decide and update the online info? It didn’t end up tethered when it was supposed to be on display at the gallery until midday last weekend so I’d guess they won’t hurry to bring it back to tie it up again until only 9am. Or will they just fly it to some suitable location near Questacon and tie it up where it lands? Or will it be tethered 7-9am and then do the short flight after 9am? I know I’m not the only one whose monitored the website and turned up somewhere and wandered around looking for somebody official looking who might know something. I UNDERSTAND its weather dependent yadda yadda but its like that excuse excuses them from even trying because WHATEVER happens they can just point at the weather.

GardeningGirl said :

Jethro said :

Masquara said :

Watson said :

I cannot believe how hard it is to find out anything about when it will be on display again. .

You’re surprised that the arts elite is keeping it all to themselves?

Perhaps the ‘arts elites’ subscribe to the theory that most adults can use a computer.

Try the Centenary of Canberra website or Facebook page. Both have plenty of information, with the FB page being updated almost on an hourly basis.

Not everyone is heading to the site from the inner south clutching their latest model phone for updates.
Is it possible they could just have one 9-12 tethered flight sometime (as originally publicised for last Saturday) so people have a whole morning’s opportunity to go take a look at it in person it like they keep telling us they want us to do?

Well I live in the outer west and was able to go see it this morning after keeping an eye on their Facebook page.

It will be tethered tomorrow until 9am outside Questacon. If you are interested in seeing it there is nothing stopping you.

Ben_Dover said :

Did it fly? I saw several baloons in the air on my way into work, but no skypigtittycarp.

Yeah, saw it over my place this morning. My life has be subtly changed in so many ways since.

Jethro said :

Masquara said :

Watson said :

I cannot believe how hard it is to find out anything about when it will be on display again. .

You’re surprised that the arts elite is keeping it all to themselves?

Perhaps the ‘arts elites’ subscribe to the theory that most adults can use a computer.

Try the Centenary of Canberra website or Facebook page. Both have plenty of information, with the FB page being updated almost on an hourly basis.

Not everyone is heading to the site from the inner south clutching their latest model phone for updates.
Is it possible they could just have one 9-12 tethered flight sometime (as originally publicised for last Saturday) so people have a whole morning’s opportunity to go take a look at it in person it like they keep telling us they want us to do?

Masquara said :

Watson said :

I cannot believe how hard it is to find out anything about when it will be on display again. .

You’re surprised that the arts elite is keeping it all to themselves?

Perhaps the ‘arts elites’ subscribe to the theory that most adults can use a computer.

Try the Centenary of Canberra website or Facebook page. Both have plenty of information, with the FB page being updated almost on an hourly basis.

Did it fly? I saw several baloons in the air on my way into work, but no skypigtittycarp.

Watson said :

I cannot believe how hard it is to find out anything about when it will be on display again. The rumour was that it would take off again this weekend, but I cannot find anything about this anywhere. It does peeve me that the arty-farty powers that be don’t seem to care about giving us mere mortals a chance to enjoy this artwork in real life before it leaves us forever. If it remains just a picture in the paper, it might as well have been commissioned by Hobart for all I care.

Yes, I feel like information has been rather last minute and confusing. (Everything about the balloon has been, I don’t understand why it wasn’t unveiled on Canberra Day or included as part of the balloon festival, instead of being a belated and disorganised surprise now?)
I checked the latest on the Canberra100 website. What happens if Saturday’s flight can’t be launched from the Parliamentary Triangle, will it be a big secret like for the balloon festival, will the landing site be publicised instead? (I was suss about that, the balloon festival was claiming crowd safety issues or something but I think they just wanted to ensure people turned up at the tents on the lawns to buy stuff and be officially counted, that’s why they didn’t want them going somewhere else like had happened in previous years.) What happens if they decide to go ahead with the “possible short flight” on Sunday, what time will it fly, 9am or earlier, when will they decide, when will they bother putting it on the website? I get that it’s weather/wind direction dependent but it would be nice to feel that somewhere in this yawn of a centenary the organisers care about letting the rest of us enjoy it.

From the Canberra100 website :

SATURDAY:

WHAT: Flight over Canberra by The Skywhale

DATE: Saturday, 18 May 2013

TIME: 7am-9am

WHERE: TBC

SUNDAY:

WHAT: The Skywhale tethered and possible short flight from the lawns of Questacon

DATE: Sunday, 19 May 2013

TIME: 7am-9am

WHERE: The lawns of Questacon, with free parking available in the Parliamentary Triangle

*** NB Location and flight dependent on weather ***

Watson said :

I cannot believe how hard it is to find out anything about when it will be on display again. .

You’re surprised that the arts elite is keeping it all to themselves?