Archive for Events

Star Party Tickets on Sale Now!

It’s time! Tickets for our 2nd Annual Charity Star Party are on sale now! Are you coming to Dragon*Con this year? If so, you should seriously consider coming in a day early to attend. This year’s entertainment includes renowned astronomers and hosts of AstronomyCast, Pamela Gay and Fraser Cain with special appearance by musician George Hrab! Plus, Skepchick Rebecca Watson will be hosting the event. The Emory University Physics department is sponsoring the event and will be showing off their observatory and telescopes.

This event is in honor of Jeff Medkeff, the Blue Collar Scientist, astronomer, skeptic and friend to many of us. Jeff succumbed to liver cancer in 2008. All proceeds will go toward the Light the Night Fund: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in Jeff’s name.

Food, drinks and conversations with astronomers. What more could you ask for? Oh yeah, star gazing!

We have a bit more space than we did last year but tickets will sell out. Get them while you can!

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Skeptics in the Park II: Post Mortem

I’ve been remiss in my recapping duties on this, but here’s a brief summary at last of how things went. Once again, any suggestions/comments are welcome

To be continued after the break:

» Continue reading “Skeptics in the Park II: Post Mortem”

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Skeptics in the Park – June 12th

Announcing our second ever Skeptics in the Park!

The Atlanta Skeptics will once again emerge from the pub and wander outside on Saturday, June 12th from 11AM-3PM at Jones Bridge Park.

Details after the break:

» Continue reading “Skeptics in the Park – June 12th”

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Two notable skeptics appearing in Atlanta in June

Two internationally known skeptics are appearing in Atlanta in June. Outspoken atheist and political pundit Christopher Hitchens is touring in support of his new book Hitch-22 and the well-known mentalist Banachek is doing a ticketed mentalism show at the Academy Theatre.

Update Friday June 4: Details on Banachek tickets updated! See below.

Full details on times and tickets after the jump…
» Continue reading “Two notable skeptics appearing in Atlanta in June”

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Atlanta Skepticamp 2010 – I Was Told There Would Be a Pony

On May 15th and 16th, we held our 2nd Skepticamp here in Atlanta. This year’s event included presentations from 18 attendees, a poster presentation session, a round table discussion on “Skepticism for Everyone through Social Media”, sword fights, a pony made of cake and 60+ attendees each day!

Atlanta Skepticamp 2010

Atlanta Skepticamp 2010

For me, the presentations that stood out came from LaVerne Knight-West and Dr. Ginger Campbell (host of Brain Science Podcast and Books and Ideas). Each shared their personal journeys and experiences with the skeptical community, and warm, fuzzy feelings ensued.

Dr. Ginger Campbell at Atlanta Skepticamp 2010

Dr. Ginger Campbell at Atlanta Skepticamp 2010

Certainly the most unique presenter at Skepticamp was martial arts expert, John Clements. In addition to the fact that he brought SWORDS, he himself was highly entertaining. One of the more quotable Skepticamp moments: During a demonstration with SWORDS, John matter-of-factly states, “People with weapons KILL people without weapons, that’s why we have so many of them.”  I was afforded the opportunity to challenge him in duel. I could have killed him, but the 2nd rule of Skepticamp is “Be Awesome. And Don’t Kill Anyone.”

Presenter John Clements is no match for Taylor Proctor's sword fighting skills.

Presenter John Clements is no match for Taylor Proctor's sword fighting skills.

I was personally excited to see the presentations from Brian, Laura, Veronica, Sean and Bob, who participated in our SkeptiBOOTcamp workshops over the weeks leading up to Skepticamp. The whole thing was a bit of an experiment, and I hope to develop the idea further before next year’s Skepticamp. I do encourage other organizers to consider doing something like this before Skepticamps. I think each participant’s presentation benefited in some way from the support and assistance gained through the different workshops.

Presenter Laura Ross at Atlanta Skepticamp 2010

Presenter Laura Ross at Atlanta Skepticamp 2010

Another notable aspect of Atlanta’s Skepticamp was our theme, “Critical Thinking For Everyone.” I felt the message successfully resounded throughout the weekend. Each presenter shared their own unique perspective on skepticism, and the panel on “Skepticism for Everyone through Social Media,” yielded a lot of discussion and sharing from the audience. I felt an overall sense of humility from participants throughout the weekend, a sentiment that can seem sometimes lacking in the skeptical community.  I want to give extra thanks to Swoopy from Skepticality, for helping me out with my idea for a theme and really running with it.

Maria Walters and Tim Farley during panel discussion at Atlanta Skepticamp 2010

Maria Walters and Tim Farley during panel discussion at Atlanta Skepticamp 2010

I definitely learned a lot more from organizing this year’s Skepticamp than I did during the planning of Atlanta’s first camp last year. The discussions and events of last weekend’s event, raised interesting questions in my mind to consider as I think about how we can move forward for next year’s Skepticamp. Namely, What is primary goal of having community events like Skepticamp? Is it to promote skepticism and critical thinking, or is it to nurture the skeptic?

There was marked shift in the nature of presentations from last year to this year. Last year, a majority of presentations were informative overviews of topics like logical fallacies, neuroscience, evolution, detox myths, etc. This year, more presentations addressed a skeptic’s humble lesson learned. Presenter Russ discussed how our fears, often fueled further by media sensationalism, can lead to the presumption of a crisis and unnecessary hysteria; Christian gave us an account his pleasant and relaxing visit to an acupuncturist, (despite leaving with an unhealed knee injury); Brian shared an anecdotal example of how even the most rational of skeptical critical thinkers are not immune to irrational thought. I’m excited and very interested to see the direction in which presentations might go for next year.

Thanks to all who volunteered, gave a talk, and attended Atlanta Skepticamp 2010!

I personally want to give extra-special thank yous to:

Maria Walters – for taking charge of planning when I was stressed and over-committed.

Mark Ditsler of Abrupt Media – for all things A/V club; equipment, recording, streaming, time-keeping. His contribution was priceless, as always

Derek Colanduno- for offering up our venue (even if it was quite toasty) :)

David Rodriguez – for designing our Skepticamp logo and shirts.

Derek (again) and Swoopy of Skepticality – for being our badass MCs.

Brian Thompson of Amateur Scientist Podcast- for coming all the way to Atlanta to record a live podcast at our Skepticamp Fundraiser in March.

Kylie Sturgess, George Hrab, A Kovacs and Surly Amy – for their recorded messages to Atlanta Skepticampers.

Shayna Glick – for making my Skepticamp dreams come true! All I wanted for Skepticamp was a pony!

SkeptiPony, official mascot of Atlanta Skepticamp 2010

SkeptiPony, official mascot of Atlanta Skepticamp 2010

Thanks to all our sponsors!

JREF

Skeptic Magazine

Fund For Thought

Skeptical Inquirer

Skepticality

Amateur Scientist Podcast

Thinking Man Tavern

Skepchick

Surly Ramics

Tree Lobsters

Abrupt Media

Bluefox Graphic

Skepticamp, created in Denver, perfected in Atlanta!

Skepticamp, created in Denver, perfected in Atlanta!

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Helping out fellow Skeptics

One of the greatest things about being in the Skeptical community is how quickly we rally around a cause. It seems that no matter what the subject, we have at least one person who’s a domain expert in the field; We have a belly-dancing astronomer for Pete’s sake!

I got a message on Google Talk today from my good friend @MasalaSkeptic, asking if I knew anyone who was hiring. It seems that a member of the Atlanta Skeptics had just been laid off and was looking for a job. Since the Atlanta Skepticamp is in a few days, I mentioned that we should make an effort to help that person and others out. Bringing together smart, critical thinking job-seekers and employers that value those same skills really is a no-brainer.

That’s probably why it occurred to me.

If people show interest and some good comes from this, who knows, maybe there will be a website in the near future. For now, I’m starting small. It would be great if a few people actually get some help out of this, but what I don’t want (and refuse) to do is detract from why we hold Skepticamp in the first place – to encourage participation in open discussion about science and skepticism. I want to prevent headhunters and commercial job sites from being involved; just friends in the community connecting with others. To borrow from Google’s alleged motto and “not be mean” is the goal.

Job seekers: If you’re attending the Atlanta Skepticamp and are looking for a job, please send your resume and a cover letter to skeptijob at gmail dot com. I will NOT give your information out to anyone except those people who attend Skepticamp without your consent.

Employers (or people who know about a job): If you are attending Atlanta Skepticamp and are looking to fill a position, please send a job description and the pertinent info to skeptijob at gmail dot com.

Thanks!

@JoeAnderson

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Atlanta Skepticamp 2010: Call for Participants!

I’m excited to say our speaker time slots for “Atlanta Skepticamp 2010: Critical Thinking For Everyone” are currently all filled! I’m looking forward to hearing a wide range of talks this year!

I also realize there are people  really looking forward to giving a talk this year, who did not register in time to get a speaker time slot.  I’ve heard from people who would love to contribute a presentation to Skepticamp, but are really not into the idea of giving a talk in front of on an audience. To accommodate more participation, we’re announcing a Skepticamp “Poster Session” which will take place Saturday May 15th 10am-12pm (Day 1 of Skepticamp)! We’ll also begin May 16th, day 2 of Skepticamp, earlier at 10 am and we’ve got something special planned that we’ll be announcing soon! If you’ve been on the fence about attending Skepticamp, you REALLY don’t want to miss this!

We’re asking people to contribute their most creative submissions for Skepticamp, not just poster presentations! For more suggestions, please visit our page on Other Ways to Participate at Skepticamp. Personally, I’m hoping to see at least ONE skeptical diorama!

If you’re having trouble thinking of a topic for your contribution to Skepticamp, I encourage you to address, in your own way, the idea of “Critical Thinking For Everyone.” We’re taking the opportunity of Skepticamp this year to champion this idea, and invite our participants to explore the topic. I discussed  the upcoming Skepticamp and “Critical Thinking For Everyone” with Atlanta’s own Derek and Swoopy on a recent episode of Skepticality. I encourage everyone to check it out, and I’m looking forward to seeing/hearing great things from my fellow skeptics in a few weeks at Skepticamp!

Note: Don’t forget to register for Skepticamp, if you haven’t done so already!

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Skepticamp Help-A-Thon!

Join the Help-A-Thon!

Skepticamp is all about collaborating, and as an organizer, I am ALL about some delegating. It’s been easy not to worry about that so far. People have been coming to us with help, finding us a venue, designing our t-shirts, giving us $5 to be able to listen to Brian Thompson AND see him at the same time.

I created a google group to use for communication while we all plan and organize Skepticamp together. I haven’t sent a single message.  But, I want us to actually use it to talk about ideas, and give everyone a chance for their idea to be a part of Skepticamp. I personally have not been doing a good job of motivating, or even including others to be a part of planning Skepticamp.

The truth is, right now we need some help. Skepticamp is still 5 weeks away, and everyday we’re going to need more help, and more help, and so on. Not only do we need help, but people want to help and want to be a part of planning and running Skepticamp because THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT OF SKEPTICAMP!

So, Atlanta Skepticamp 2010 Help-A-Thon starts now! If you’re ready to help, if you want to be a part of Skepticamp, join our group and start talking about it!

Join Atlanta Skepticamp Help-A-Thon
Email:
Visit this group

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REGISTER NOW! Atlanta Skepticamp 2010: Critical Thinking For Everyone

Atlanta’s 2nd Skepticamp is coming up May 15th-16th! Registration for the event is now open! Register for Skepticamp.

We’re calling this year’s conference “Atlanta Skepticamp 2010: Critical Thinking For Everyone.” Find out more.

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Announcing Atlanta Skepticamp 2010 & SkeptiBOOTcamp!

We have enough details confirmed to finally officially announce…

Atlanta Skepticamp 2010: Critical Thinking for Everyone

WHEN

Saturday, May15th, 12pm-6pm
Sunday, May 16th, 12pm-6pm

***Skeptibrunch, snacks and beverage will be provided for participants both days

WHERE

Lakeside Commons
990 Hammond Drive NE #400
Atlanta, GA 30328

With the help of our friend Derek of Skepticality, we have use of a great, roomy conference space both days!

***We’ll announce details as far as where to park, and directions to the building and the conference space as we get closer to the date

» Continue reading “Announcing Atlanta Skepticamp 2010 & SkeptiBOOTcamp!”

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