I’m going to the TEI Conference at MIT in a week so I’ve got conf-head right now. Which is why I was so thrilled to come across ScienceOnline2010.
This is an annual conference on science communication — the Woodstock of science blogging, according to Cocktail Party Physics. Or, in more mundane terms, the conference on science literacy, the popularization of science, science in classrooms and homes, the debunking of pseudoscience, and using blogs as tools for presenting research. Important and interesting stuff, whether you’re a science writer, a scientist, or a parent with a kid in science class.
It was held this past week (January 14-17) in Research Triangle Park (RTP) as it is every year, and the web coverage is so wonderful, it’s almost as good as being there. Not only is there a nice, loooong list of links to blog and media coverage, but several sessions were streamed live and will soon be available on YouTube.
So what, you say? Well I’ve been following O’Reilly’s Tools of Change for Publishing (TOC) conference since 2007 and I’ve done this by downloading PDFs or PowerPoint presentations. Only my avid interest in the burgeoning role of technology in publishing has kept my eyes on the screen. Okay, they’ve also put a few sessions on blip.tv, more every year. But there’s no handy list of media coverage.
In contrast, I can click through the list of blog/media coverage at ScienceOnline2010 and easily follow a blog post about a workshop or session. It’s like sitting and talking about it with a friend, and I didn’t have to Google or Bing and sort, sort, sort.
I’m lucky that my boss/university is sending me to MIT, but I don’t expect them to be shelling out for any additional conferences this year. So I’m hoping that more conferences will be as open and collaborative as ScienceOnline2010. Since the reason people go to conferences is to make connections (in person), offering the information presented online won’t decrease attendance.
And is it too much work to put up a list of coverage? Isn’t that what interns are for?