My gratitude to you, my readers, is inexpressible for sending me to London for the Nature Network Science blog conference. This was an amazing gift and I was so thrilled to meet so many amazing scientists who write so eloquently about their craft, their careers, and their personal lives for the purpose of educating and enlightening the public. This experience was exciting and inspirational and it meant more than I can ever say to be able to talk openly about blog writing with scientists. Throughout the next week or so, I plan to transcribe my notes from the presentations for you to read, and to write up my notes from some of our lengthy discussions in local pubs for how we could move science blog writing into a new realm of credibility and respectibility in the eyes of the public and especially, academia. I hope these ideas will generate discussion with you as we all seek to elevate the status of science blog writing from a secretive activity into a vehicle for better communicating about our science with people who otherwise do not have access to this information.
After this conference, I am ready to return to America, recharged and refocused on my own miniscule place in the ongoing river of scientific thought that I have been able to carve out for myself. I have no idea how I will manage to return next year, but returning for next year's Nature Network Science Blog Conference is one of my top priorities, as is figuring out how to afford visiting Europe. (I have several open invitations to return, and was also invited to several other science conferences while I was here, although I was unable to accept those invitations due to my limited time here).
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Next time leave Prof. Steve Steve behind - he's a malign influence on you.
I'd like to second the thanks - I'm not trying to make anyone envious but thanks to the readership here, I got to spend several very enjoyable days wandering around London with some excellent and entertaining company.
(psst, make Corrie and Anna happy - add a sciblog tag)
Thanks to all of you for sending GrrlScientist to London so that we could have a chance to meet this wonderfully thoughtful and articulate woman! You guys are awesome.
How are your parrots?
If we can pony up 5 million quid for Karen, can we send Grrl to the South Pacific on some enchanted evening?
It was great to meet you in London, Grrl Scientist. Hope to bump into you again soon. I particularly admired your and Prof Steve Steve's foray into the Gents (as we call it) in the Geological Society HQ.
thanks all of you, i look forward to meeting and conferencing and pub crawling with all of you again! i was the lucky one to be able to have this wonderful experience.
and .. what? sciblog tag? do you mean i should add that tag to my images, or to relevant blog entries?
Tziporah -- my parrots are all fine! they were happy to have me back, which is great considering that i was contemplating becoming an illegal alien in the UK, and Europe in general.
I think the tags just need to be added to blog posts, so they can be aggregated on the conference webpage.
I must disagree with Bob O'H. Next time you take a trip to London - or for that matter, anywhere outside the US - you must take Professor Steve Steve with you. And leave him there. We don't need his sort of uppity atheist in this fine nation. He's a bad influence on the children.
Hey Grrl! Great to meet you. Glad we could argue without degenerating into a flame war ;)