In an ideal world, we would have a beautifully drawn up survey and detailed guidebook descriptions of everything ready to show at the Hidden Earth conference (September). Although we are getting better, it is in fact a struggle to get these before next expedition. Life is made particularly difficult when bits of data and description arrive in dribs and drabs, meaning a lot of piecemeal updating. By the time the majority of expo members are back in Cambridge, it is at least two months since the return home, all urgency has been lost and memories have faded. To avoid this, think:
Did you have to leave Austria without finishing your sketching ? Use the post or visit Cambridge! Get hold of a centre line (ask someone if you don't know how) and draw up your survey as soon as possible - don't leave it to the start of next term when your memory will have faded. Some entirely nonsensical surveys have been produced by surveys being drawn up by people other than the original explorers, in the pub, several months later
Have you written a passage description ? If not, do it when you get home.
If you can type it, so much the better, email it to any or preferably all of
Mark Shinwell <mshinwell> at Gmail, Philip Sargent <p.m.sargent.72> at cantab.net
Wookey <wookey> at aleph1.co.uk and
anyone else relevant or whoever is in Cambridge doing the drawing up.
If you have to write it
on paper, photocopy it or scan it and post or email it to whoever has the survey book (to glue in)
and to someone else who will take the trouble to type it up.
Have you got the survey book or a
logbook?
Photocopy it, or phototgraph all the pages with your camera, so there is a
back up and get copies to other addresses before your house burns down.
Check what has already been typed up by looking at the online copy of the
published logbooks
Get
copies (or the original) to the expo leader or Wookey or whoever is doing the drawing up, or
anyone who will volunteer to type in the logbook or cave descriptions.
Have you got some good (even recognisable...) photographs ? Offer them to those who are writing blog posts and to whoever is doing the Hidden Earth lecture. Upload them using these instructions.
Have you got some GPS tracks on your device which you never did anything with? Upload them using Upload them for future expos using these instructions.
Have you some unique experience or amusing anecdote? Tweet it @CUCC_Expo, write an article for this year's UK Caving blog, the Expo or CUCC mailing list, for the web site, or for publishing in a caving magazine.
Is the only copy of any survey data on your computer? Get it backed up, preferably including copies to other people involved. Multiple disc failures have caused total loss of the Kaninchenhöhle dataset once already, and backup to another site saves almost infinite grief.
Have you got the only copy of anything else ? Make backups and distribute them now!
Are you a complete computer nerd with too much spare time ? Incorporate all of the above into the web site :-)