A couple of four years ago, a few dudes I just met around town had this idea to bring together a few bloggers who write about science. One was Anton Zuiker and the other was Bora Zivkovic, also known as Coturnix or He-Whose-Mind-Teh-Intertubes-Pass-Before-Going-Out-To-The-World. Anton also has a title, bestowed upon him by News & Observer columnist Dan Barkin back in 2007:
He's a quiet visionary. He's a low-key doer. He's a let's-get-together-and-see-where-this-goes guy. It's the Zuikers of this new, interwoven world who may play a significant role in determining how far Web 2.0 goes from being a sociable network to a social force.
With two other visionaries, Paul Jones and Brian Russell, the tradition began in 2007 of gathering on a chilly North Carolina January weekend to talk about all things online in science communication.
I had no idea that these four boys are known internationally for their work online, especially Prof Paul Jones for his founding of ibiblio.org as an offshoot of UNC SunSITE, "one of the first electronic repositories on the Internet to incorporate emerging networked information discovery and retrieval tools."
I, on the other hand, just stumbled upon these guys in coffee shops and grocery co-ops around town. If Sedona, Arizona, is thought by metaphysical folks as dense with energy vortices, then the Research Triangle area of North Carolina is some sort of bloggy, online vortex.
As a result, I've come to know literally hundreds of you all around the world who share the enthusiasm and gifts for using these media to promote various professional activities, secondary and higher education, and the general public understanding of science. For this, my life has been enriched immensely.
Brother Coturnix has now put up information that we're about to do it again. Go forth and read as he surprisingly has all the links to pertinent information. I'll be there and am working on a session to honor Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, on whose weekend of honor this conference has been held - we'll do something along the lines of online communication about health disparities, bioethics, and social justice.
I hope to see you there.
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GOLL-DANGIT!!! I will very likely have an approximately two to three week old baby on those dates, so I really doubt I'll be going this year. Blargh!
I am totally rhomboidal, and will be for the next quarter century or thereabouts. ScienceOnline coincides with one of the courses I direct and in which I have major lecture and lab responsibilities.
Don't suggest attending in SecondLife or whatever either ... in my first visit, I fell off a bridge, got lost, and developed motion sickness.
*sad* :-(
@Arlenna - Congratulations! We'll be missing you but we'll expect baby pictures.
@Barn Owl - I'll probably be doing some teaching but this time almost always finds me reviewing grants. As for Second Life, I can barely negotiate a real life!
We need to get back to the roots....I hear 2Cups got a new espresso machine....just sayin'...