100 Years of Variable-Star Observing

The American Association of Variable-Star Observers (AAVSO) is celebrating their 100th year of service to the astronomical community. Thousands of amateur and professional observers have submitted estimates of stellar brightness to our organization, with over 20 million such observations now available for public download from our website. This talk will give a brief history of the organization, give some examples of how you too can contribute scientifically valuable data, and point towards the future of citizen science. Handouts will be available to show easy-to-observe targets visible during the night at ALCON 2011.