Wake Up Call

ScienceOnline Logo candy

It's been half a year since I found myself writing a blog post. My inspiration lies with ScienceOnline2013. Self-described, this conference in Raleigh, North Carolina is "Conversation, Community, & Connections at the Intersection of Science & the Web." I would describe it as meeting the family you never knew you had.

The travel gods shined on me as I made my way across the country through all the storms. Although I'd had many online conversations with other attendees, I really had never met almost any of them face to face. It can be pretty intimidating walking into a room full of (or sharing a hotel room with) a bunch of strangers. It can also be a bit strange knowing who someone else is before you even say hello, especially when no one knows you.

I found SciOctopus!

Yes, I was a newcomer. But as it turns out, so were about half of the people there. For me, this made things easier. You make fast friends when everyone is looking for someone to talk to. Actually, even seasoned veterans of ScienceOnline were just as welcoming. Part of this due to how the conference is structured. All titles are stripped when you walk through the door and all that remains is your first name and your Twitter handle. No, this doesn't make everyone anonymous, but it does make everyone seem more approachable. Why not talk to Fraser Cain, Carl Zimmer, or Maryn McKenna? During the sessions, everyone gets a voice. The morning Converge sessions were the only times when there was a simple speaker/audience format. The rest of the conference was divided into workshops and discussions.

I most enjoyed the sessions on combining art and science (there were many) as well as a session on imposter syndrome. I also liked the instant feedback from the crowd on Twitter. Never would I have thought that people on their phones and laptops during a talk would be an awesome thing and not incredibly rude. I very quickly became one of those people. Sorry to anyone following me on Twitter that wasn't expecting a #scio13 tweet storm.

Overall, my experience was fantastic!  I hope to go again next year, and maybe even moderate a session.  I saw everything from dancing lemurs, to star parties, to famous science writers rocking out to Gangnam Style. I've never been to a conference where I've had too many dinner invitations because everyone was so welcoming, or to a conference where the attendees are so excited to see each other, they chat through the night and you find them bleary-eyed and still in the lobby the next morning. I met some of my heroes, made some new friends, and I learned a ton about all the cool stuff being done for science communication.

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

Some tips for newcomers:

No Fear. Everyone is there to have a good time!

Get a smartphone. Yes, I might be the only one left without one, but seriously, don't be like me.

Find a friend. I found out just before I left that two former colleagues of mine were also attending. It really helped having someone there who knew me. After the 156th time you say who you are and where you're from, it feels good to just be familiar with someone. The three of us didn't stick together often, but at the end of the day, it was great to check in.

Put yourself out there. My best night was tagging along with the oceans group for dinner. It was a random Twitter invitation that turned into a night of laughter.

Something I wish would improve for next year:

Discussion moderation. I know I'm not the only one who felt things in this department were a little helter-skelter. Karyn Traphagen even wrote a response piece about it here. Although I don't want the moderators to head the discussion, they do need to guide it. I was pretty frustrated when someone would ask a question and rather than moving on to someone who would answer it, the moderator would just hand the mic to the next speaker, regardless of it being a different direction of thought. What ended up happening is that questions would never be answered, or topics would never be developed. When the discussion is all over the place, not much gets accomplished by the session. In some sessions it was a bit like being a teacher in a kindergarten classroom.

Teacher: "What letter does the word 'Cat' begin with? Yes, Jimmy?"
Jimmy: "I have a brown dog."
Teacher: "Okay then."

I would love to see more direction from the moderators. They should shepherd the discussion, even if not by providing their own food for thought.

News Flask! Cookie

SciO13 was a wake up call for me. If science communication is what I want to do, I need to be online: blogging, reading, commenting. My previous job left me exhausted and joys and sorrows in life made things complicated. Now I feel like I have a handle on things (sort of) and I will be posting at least once a week. I'm sure that my blog will take a turn toward science education, since that's what I'm working on in real life, but there will still be plenty of research reporting, book reviews, and loads of links to people doing cool stuff.