Comments on: Skepticamp thoughts

By: This One Time at Skepticamp… » Skepticality - The Official Podcast of Skeptic Magazine and the Skeptics Society

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 19:42:19 +0000

[...] a successful trend in local technology meetups. The first Skepticamp event was held in Denver in August of 2007. Upcoming Skepticamps are set for Denver, Atlanta and Seattle in [...]

By: Reed

Reed — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:22:16 +0000

Last night BC Skeptics announced the first skepticamp to happen outside its birthplace of Colorado. They’ll be hosting an event in Vancouver on June 28th

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=109725

Skepticamp is now an international concern.

By: Joe A

Joe A — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:36:41 +0000

BA, Reed, Katsu, thank you very much for your kind words. You’ve made my day! Now if I can ever get to the level of the BA’s moon hoax talk…

By: Sergeant Zim

Sergeant Zim — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:43:08 +0000

@ Michael Lonegran,

You may have images of Bible Camp, but somehow, when I read the title of this post, I heard Alyson Hannigan in my head:

“This one time….at Skep-camp….”

By: Reed

Reed — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:42:51 +0000

Skepticamp is still very much in the experimental stage. Even though it’s adapted from the highly successful barcamp format, we are nevertheless treading new ground, especially among skeptics.

Listening to and absorbing feedback is a big part of organizing these event. Look to see what we learned first event last August for example, chronicled in the ‘feedback’ section of http://barcamp.org/SkeptiCampColorado1

Your suggestions are well taken and will find their way to future organizers in much the same way who can tweak and experiment with the format to squeeze from it the best results.

And next time, let me gently suggest that you don’t hide in the back row if you’d like to see more interaction. ;^)

By: Katsu

Katsu — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:22:25 +0000

I’m glad you had fun at SkeptiCamp! Joel’s talk was my favorite, too. (And could also be used as an example of how best to enhance a presentation with powerpoint…)

I wish I’d had time to come up with a presentation this year… I’d kind of like to do something more science-y, probably about reading sedimentary rocks, but I think the crowd’s getting a bit too large to pass hand samples around. :/ Maybe next year school won’t be eating my head. (Haha…)

Anyway, it was really nice meeting you! And I never got the chance to say so, but I did come to the black hole talk you did at Fiske and I loved it!

By: Janiece

Janiece — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:14:15 +0000

I just saw an enormous spike in my site’s traffic, and then realized I was the recipient of The Bad Astronomer Bump™.

I enjoyed Joe’s talk, too, and wondered if a multi-track approach might be more beneficial?

Thanks!

By: Todd

Todd — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:08:50 +0000

The . at the end got included, sorry. Here’s the working link: http://vaccineawakening.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html

By: Todd

Todd — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:08:10 +0000

BA, I should have included this in my original post, but here’s the link to where that quote can be found: http://vaccineawakening.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html. It’s in the first big block quotation under the line of asterisks, around 2/3-3/4 of the way into the block.

By: Michael Lonergan

Michael Lonergan — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:58:32 +0000

Ughhhhhh…. when I read the word “Skepticamp”, why did I get this image in my mind of the many summer Bible Camps I attended? Along with it, came the memories of all the rules of the Camp, no drinking, drugs, smoking or conjugal relations – if you weren’t married. Then my mind started wandering, thinking that a Skepticamp, since it is primarily atheists and agnostics, who “have no moral basis” on which to operate , would be filled with deabuchery and drunkenness.

So when are you coming to Vancouver, to present a Skepticamp?

By: The Bad Astronomer

The Bad Astronomer — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:24:00 +0000

Todd, she’s obviously wrong. If what you wrote is correct, then she, like so many other anti-vaxers, has latched onto the idea and won’t let go. This, despite the very clear graph that shows a linear rise in autism cases diagnosed with nary a blip due to fluctuations in vaccinations.

By: Todd

Todd — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:22:08 +0000

On the vaccine-autism thing and thimerosal, in researching a paper for class on this very topic, I came across a blog by Barbara Loe Fisher, Vaccine Awakening. Ms. Fisher also runs the National Vaccine Information Center.

Among her blog entries, I found a quote from her that “…if it’s not thimerosal, then it must be some other vaccine-related interaction”. This is in her January 31, 2008 posting.

As I read through her blog entries, I couldn’t help but feel that she is a conspiracy theorist. So much of the language that she uses gives that feel. It’s really sad to see some of the things that she posts, and how rabidly anti-vaccine she is, when the NVIC web site purports to be in favor of vaccinations, but providing additional safety information to consumers.

By: Aerimus

Aerimus — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:13:15 +0000

Peter B:
“Then what do you do when two interesting speakers are on at the same time?”

You spend hours deciding and debating which one you’ll go see, then once you’ve made up your mind, you sleep through the start and then just go to the dealer’s room instead. Wait, no, that’s me at Dragon*Con.

By: Peter B

Peter B — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:54:39 +0000

Then what do you do when two interesting speakers are on at the same time?

By: marko

marko — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:47:49 +0000

That “PZ” creature had quite similar thought on the American Atheists conference:
“As usual, I have a major complaint about the organization of atheist conferences. I call it Big Ballroom Syndrome. What do they do? They rent one gigantic hall for the meeting, and then what we get is a parade of speakers who lecture at us in one hour blocks, while everyone sits and listens. This is bad for conferences. Break it up more; get 4 smaller rooms instead of one big one, and schedule concurrent events.”

By: Aerimus

Aerimus — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:38:16 +0000

Someone needs to start up Skepti-Con.