Since the announcement has gone public, I'll mention it here: I get to be the Scientist Guest of Honor at ConFusion, a science-fiction convention in Ann Arbor, in January of 2007. I'll be there with Howard Waldrop and Elizabeth Moon—I'll be the nerd hardly anyone has heard of before. Sign up now before the rates go up!
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You realize, of course, that I went to U. of M. for eight years and that I still have a lot of family and friends in the Ann Arbor/Detroit area. It might be an excuse to go back and visit the family....
My brother just interviewed there (in their Anthro department) last week and it looks good. If he gets the job, I will have a place to stay!
Hey, if you two show up, I won't be the weirdest person in attendance! Good idea.
Geez, so you've got January 2007 planned already. I still haven't decided what I'm having for dinner tonight.
A scienceGOH?!?!? My how things have changed since I gafiated.
fusilier, SMOF, jg (ret.)
James 2:24
Congratulations! It's a fun SF convention, and with any luck maybe Juan Cole can drop by. Cole's an avid SF fan, in addition to being a history prof at the University of Michigan. Check the following out if you're interested:
Ken MacLeod's Blog and Iraq
I lived in Ann Arbor for 5 years. Nice place.
When I saw "Paul" Myers on the ConFusion web page it took a second or two before I realized that was you. Perhaps you could ask them to add the "PZ" since it may be more people at the SF convention will know you from the blog than from you contributions to science and teaching. Alas, that's a state of the world today. You are a blog star.
Sweet! That puts you almost literally in my backyard seeing as I'm in the Hamburg/Brighton area literally 15 minutes north of Ann Arbor. I'll definitely make a point of showing up just to say hi. Been meaning to go to a ConFusion for awhile now anyway and this'll be a good excuse.
Way to go. Me, I burned out on conventions over five years ago (way too many of them back when I was still writing for science fiction magazines), but any convention that makes a point of having a science GOH deserves a reconsideration of that blanket ban. So...do you have any suggestions for your programming, or are you just going to stand in the lobby with Occam's Razor in your hand, screaming "Blood and souls for my lord Arioch!"?
Cool beans! I just convinced my wife we need to go. We haven't been since 2000 when she was Pro GOH. It's a really nice con. Great people.
I cant see you name on the list.
Wow,
I haven't been to Confusion for many years, but I may make an exception for this one. BTW, it's not usually held in Ann Arbor, but has been held at various hotels around the Detroit area. The last few have been in Troy, if that means anything to anybody.
I don't go to many of the Stilyagi parties, and I never attend the meetings, but I recall a summer party at Sharon's last year where we discussed at length the possibility of getting a panel to present an accurate review of evolution.
I don't know if that's whats on their panel schedule, and I certainly can't claim and to have influenced their invitation, but the group has certainly been discussing it for some time.
I'd be more than happy to show you around Ann Arbor, and I may be able to offer you a place to stay. I suspect you would stay at the hotel during the con, but if you wanted to stay a little longer and visit the Ann Arbor/Detroit area, you would be welcome to. Of course, you may have already recieved other offers or have made other plans.
Cheers,
-Flex
Wow. Orac, PZ, and Howard Waldrop! Where do I sign up?
Faithful Reader, you can sign up at http://www.stilyagi.org/cons/2007/
Flex is correct: Although it's run by the Ann Arbor Science Fiction Association, and half the convention committee live in Ann Arbor, the event is held an hour's drive away. For the third year in a row, ConFusion will be at the Marriott in Troy, MI, a suburb just north of Detroit.
There is an event called the "Coffee With (fill in name of a Guest of Honor)" on Sunday morning of that weekend. We should pack the "Coffee With PZ Myers" full of Pharyngula readers.
Faithful Reader asks: "Wow. Orac, PZ, and Howard Waldrop! Where do I sign up?"
http://www.stilyagi.org/cons/2007/index.php
Hmm, last Confusion I was at was in 1977; I imagine it's changed somewhat; congrats.
I'm extremely sure, though, that you won't possibly be the weirdest person in attendence. I expect you'll be, if not in the middle of the norm, than off in the skewed way towards the extremely unweird side.
A commenter says "A scienceGOH?!?!? My how things have changed since I gafiated."
Cons have been having Science GOHs since the late Seventies.