Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2004 11:02:04 +1100 (EST) From: Quentin Parker To: Andrew Lawrence Cc: Quentin Parker Subject: Re: VO Symposium proposal for Prague IAU Dear Prof Lawrence, thank you for submitting your draft submission concerning an IAU colloquium on the Astrophysical Virtual Observatory for our comment and endorsement. As chair of the IAU working group on Sky Surveys (Commission IX) I strongly support this proposal. An IAU endorsed colloquium at the next General Assembly on this important and rapidly maturing multi-national initiative is extremely timely and would be of considerable interest to many prospective attendees. The proposed SOC appears balanced and representative, whilst the topic list is well structured and comprehensive. Finally it is not hard to make a compelling scientific case to hold such a colloquium at the next IAU as it strikes as the very heart of how we will exploit and manage multi-wavelength, multi-facility data of increasing complexity, scope and volume in the near future. Best regards, Quentin Dr. Quentin A Parker Chair IAU Working Group on Sky Surveys Department of Physics Macquarie University Sydney 2109 AUSTRALIA qap@ics.mq.edu.au