. . . but in a good way. I'm working frantically on a project due 31 Jan and then spent much of the weekend at various blogger gatherings associated with the NC Science Blogging Conference, the second annual unconference for those interested in writing about science topics for all audiences.
The conference was bracketed by a well-attended Friday evening dinner and a Sunday brunch, the former with Jim Neal, a Democratic candidate for US Senate, and the latter with Representative Brad Miller (D-NC) from Carolina's 13th District.
I could go on and on about all of the great people I met but everyone else seems to be doing it. I'm just fortunate to have about 150 new friends and 50 who I already knew. And, this may shock you, but Bora Zivkovic has links out the wazoo from everyone on the planet who is commenting about their conference experiences.
A few folks live-blogged the conference but I really wanted to be mentally present for the discussions and haven't quite mastered the skill of blogging while paying attention and participating. There were three rounds of four breakout sessions, very difficult to choose between because I would've attended all 12 if I could.
After agonizing over the program, I spent the morning attending Science Blogging Ethics led, obviously, by Janet Stemwedel; Gender and Race in Science: Online and Offline with Suzanne Franks/Zuska, Karen Ventii, Pat Campbell, and ScienceWoman (together with blogging celebrity, Minnow).
For the afternoon breakout, I split my time equally between
Blogging Public Health/Medicine with Tara Smith and Becky Oskin, and
Student Blogging Panel--from K to PhD with some great student bloggers: Shelley Batts, Brian Switek, Sarah Wallace, Anne-Marie Hodge, and Anna Kushnir.
I'll have more to say about each of these over the next few posts.