President, Northern Virginia Astronomy Club 

"Dear Ed,
On the behalf of the Executive Committee of the Astronomical League and our nearly 20,000 members, I would like to congratulate Greg Piepol, the NOVAC webmaster, for winning the 2003 outstanding webmaster of the year award. Considering the more than 270 astronomical societies in the League, this is a truly outstanding achievement. The website is a masterpiece, and it sets an example for astronomers everywhere. The 2003 Webmaster Award plaque will be presented at ALCON during the annual awards banquet in Nashville, TN on July 12. We hope to see you or Greg there!"

Bob Gent
President, The Astronomical League

Have you ever hit a home run during your first at bat? Well, that’s what it felt like when I was notified that I had been selected as the 2003 Astronomical League Webmaster of the Year. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised and deeply honored. Managing the club’s website for the last four years has been fun and rewarding for me.  

For this first-ever award, astronomy club websites from around the country were judged for content, design, ease of navigation, the ability to attract people, and administration. A panel of astronomy related webmasters (Sky and Telescope, Astronomical League) and the award administrator reviewed the sites during the first four months of the year. Notification is done prior to the ALCON conference, which I attended in Nashville. 

Since its beginning in 1996, Novac’s website has grown from a few text pages to several hundred linked pages. Some of the original content is still available and can be found by using the site’s search engine. Novac.com gets an average of 6500 unique visitors each month viewing 26,500 pages. The most requested sections of the site are the Robo-Scope, ATM, locating the Planets, Astronomical Calculations, and the Planetary Nebula pages. The number one search request is always for telescope reviews! In April alone the site had visits from 59 countries, many with several hundred requests. Countries with the most return visitors were Japan, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom and Australia.  

I am not the only member contributing to the site, of course. Many thanks and a round of Mountain Dew goes to Novac members Ralph Marple, Jeff Stetekluh, John Deriso, Mike Mills and Craig Tupper. All do a great job keeping the site updated.  

What’s next? If you have any info you’d like to see on the site or have any recommendations please send them to me. I’m happy to create the pages and post them for you. Whether it’s the website or our award winning newsletter, NOVAC can always use your help for the next time at bat!

Greg Piepol
2003 Astronomical League
Webmaster of the Year

See more of the club's AL awards here!