Nice things people said about ScienceOnline2010 on their blogs:
Tara Richerson
“I don’t really know how to eloquently sum up the whole ScienceOnline 2010 experience. All I can think of is a Keanu Reeves’ like “Whoa.”’”
Hilary Maybaum
“So there I was at the last session of Science Online 2010, awash in wonderment at how energized I felt (as opposed to a more typical end-of-conference malaise), and thinking that it couldn’t have gotten any better than it already was, when lo and behold along comes Stacy Baker and her students from Staten Island Academy. Their session, “Blogging the Future—The Use of Online Media in the Next Generation of Scientists,” blew me and the 30-odd participants in the room right out of the proverbial water. “
Xan Greg
“The fourth Science Online conference just wrapped up, and it was as lively as ever.”
Scott Huler – Charlotte Observer and Raleigh News & Observer
“Welcome to ScienceOnline2010, a three-day conference of about 250 scientists, bloggers, journalists and interested others that concluded Sunday in Research Triangle Park. Dedicated to using the Web to encourage collaboration among scientists, people who write about them and the people who read about them, ScienceOnline showed that face-to-face meetings can be important, even to a very wired crowd, organizers said. “
Brian Switek
“Last weekend I attended the annual North Carolina sci-shindig (called ScienceOnline2010 this year), and it was the best iteration of the conference yet. I am still reeling from everything that happened during the three days I was there.”
Dave Munger
“Last week’s Science Online conference was an amazing gathering of some of the brightest minds in science communication. “
Steve Koch
“I had a blast at ScienceOnline2010 last weekend! Thank you Anton, Bora and others who spent so much energy organizing it! Approximately 250 people attended and it was a very diverse crowd of scientists, science writers, publishers, librarians, science outreach specialists, high school teachers, even high school students.”
Allison Bland
“For months, I had watched the Facebook event, the #scio10 hashtag on Twitter, and the Wiki. I had my hotel roommate and a Google map of directions to each conference location. But it was a couple days before leaving for ScienceOnline 2010, and I was nervous. I had experienced blogger star-strucked-ness before, and I didn’t want to clam up during such a great opportunity to learn from some of the best science communicators out there.
Fortunately, I had nothing to worry about. ScienceOnline retained the “dinner party” feel you often get on Twitter, where the person sitting next to you, shaking your hand, or leading your session could be a book author, a trained scientist, or someone from one of the many institutions and organizations in the Research Triangle Park area. All forms of participation were welcomed and rewarded, and I left feeling more connected to a community of science bloggers than I had before. ————————- The diversity of the body of ScienceOnline made for lively sessions and informal conversations, and there are many themes not considered here. Based on the amount of content created during ScienceOnline—video, Twitter, blogs, images and Slideshare—I think you could spend a couple days sifting through it and feel as if you experienced the conference firsthand. All content should be marked with the #scio10 hashtag, so keep that in mind in your searching and posting.”
Jacqueline Floyd
“I returned today from the ScienceOnline 2010 conference. It was a jam-packed few days of talks, talks, and more talks. By the time I arrived home, I had to decompress from all of the chatter.——————-This year’s conference only fit around 250 attendees and left behing a long, unhappy waiting list.—————————Thanks to Anton and Bora for creating this amazing event. “
Genome Web
“Now that the ScienceOnline 2010 meeting — a conference about scientific blogging — has ended, bloggers are having a field day sharing their views on how it went. That’s a good thing for those of us who couldn’t get in to the sold-out event.”
Joanne Manaster
“This past weekend was the 4th annual Science Online conference. It was a marvelous experience and I met so many amazing people, all of whom want to share science with the world!”
Rob Gluck
“And then at ScienceOnline the energy, diversity, and even almost hive-like intelligence of the attendees (and their parental-like love for their blogs), reinforced my optimism in the underlying value of blogs. —————————— Witnessing the vibrant change-agents and early-adopters at ScienceOnline bolstered my faith and trust that those forging the digital future generally (and thankfully) have their heads in the right place —- in fact frankly it’s hard to imagine how they could possibly screw things up any moreso than previous generations have already done!!”
Kevin Smith
“There was a fascinating array of topics discussed and an interesting crowd of 270+ that included many working scientists, librarians and even journalists. It was a great opportunity to listen to scientists talk about how they want to communicate with one another and with the general public.”
Emily Fisher
“Over the weekend I attended ScienceOnline2010, a raucous gathering (if conferences can be raucous) of scientists and journalists.”
Andrew Thaler
“Science Online 2010 is over and we’ve had a few days to de-fragment our thoughts. First off, thanks to Bora and Anton for another exceptional conference. They put a ton of work into it and it shows. I’m sure they’ve already begun planning for Science Online 2011.”
Molly Keener
“If this conference’s sessions weren’t as great as they are, I still might consider going just for the awesome food…but fortunately I get both! ———————— SciO is consistently a fabulous conference, getting me really energized, and it’s hard to beat the price and location.”
Dave Munger – Seed Magazine
“Last weekend, I went to a virtual conference in real life. Science Online is an annual gathering of leading science communicators and scientists from around the world. Superstar journalists like Carl Zimmer and Michael Specter were there, as were editors and publishers of major science journals. ………….. It was the first conference I’d ever attended where the wi-fi never failed, which meant that robust conversations could happen throughout the weekend without ever losing their frenetic pace……..the interplay between the online world and the real world was perhaps the most prominent theme of the conference. ………….. As many of the conference attendees have pointed out, it’s difficult to leave the conference with a single overriding impression of the event, except that the intersection between the online and the real, in science and in all other spheres of life, is likely to get even murkier in the future.”
Sheril Kirshenbaum
“A highlight was the past weekend stopover in North Carolina for ScienceOnline2010 where I was delighted to meet dozens of interesting science writers and new media folks in person while getting the opportunity to spend time with my favorite science bloggers from around the world………….Everyday it is a delight, privilege, and honor to share the science blogosphere with the incredible, inspiring, and wonderful individuals that participate here. I am already looking forward to next year’s event!”
Salman Hameed
“This was the 4th year of the conference. It was bigger, better, and was running as a well-oiled machine. The best way to gauge the quality of a conference: Its attention to providing coffee for participants (see this earlier post about coffee at the same conference in 2008). This time they not only had free, unlimited coffee, but they had a big-ass coffee truck parked next to the Sigma XI conference center providing lattes and cappuccinos on request……………The conference was, as usual, lots of fun and I had chance to meet new people and catch-up with others. Yes, for next year too. Congrats to Bora & Anton (and others) for running it so spectacularly! “
T. DeLene Beeland
“…the conference gave me a wider look at the culture of science blogging, the people behind the pixels, and the fact that online interaction — as fun and stimulating as it can be — is no substitute for in-person networking….”
Christie Wilcox
“I’m writing this while on the plane, flying back from a fantastic weekend in North Carolina. Before I can even begin reflecting on the past few days, I have to thank NESCent again for their generous travel grant which allowed me to go to Science Online in the first place. Without their funding, I’d have spent the weekend laying out on a beach instead of freezing my butt off with over 200 amazing people who, thought diverse in many ways, all have one thing in common: a passion for science communication. Sure, the beach would have been a lot warmer and more relaxing, but going to Science Online 2010 is an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything. Besides, the beach will be there when I get back.”
Bonnie Swoger
“One of the major themes of the ScienceOnline2010 conference was actually personal relationships. Despite the stereotypes of scientists, effective communication of science comes down to effective personal relationships online or off. For bloggers, journalists, researchers and librarians, personal relationships are an essential part of doing their job well……….Of course, one of the best parts about a small conference like this is the chance to talk with folks over snacks, tea and available power outlets. I got a chance to talk with some other librarians and a few scientists – these conversations are wonderful for helping me make sense of the formal talks and giving me ideas for how some of the concepts I learned about can be applied at my library and my college.”
Ryan Somma
“Thanks so much to Bora Zivkovic, Anton Zuiker, and Blog Together for once again organizing such an inspiring and energizing immersion into the world of online science for community-building and activism.”
Elia Ben-Ari
“I’ve finally decided to take the plunge and start blogging, after attending a most stimulating, cool, and fun conference (actually, an “un-conference”), ScienceOnline2010, in North Carolina this past weekend. The meeting, which began four years ago with a group of science bloggers from the Research Triangle area, has grown to include sessions on a range of topics related to communicating science online, including journalism, education, and scientific research.”
SignalShare
“And Science Online was just that and I’m not just talking about the Wi-Fi. The event had an incredible enthusiasm, dynamic personalities and speakers from across the globe. We were blown away by the passion and expertise of the crowd from RTP area as well as attendees that came in from as far away as Australia………………We want to thank Anton and Bora Zivkovic @boraz for creating such a great conference and making us a part of it. Also thanks to everyone at Science Online 2010 for their kind words and tweets!”
Greg Gbur
“Well, I’m back home from ScienceOnline 2010! I only stayed for the first day of the conference this year, but I enjoyed all of the sessions that I attended and collected a lot of food for thought. It was especially nice to catch up with blogging friends that I met last year, meet in person for the first time plenty of people I’ve only interacted with on the internet, and meet lots of new folks as well! It was a fun time, and I hope to run into all of you again soon!”
Eric Michael Johnson
“This past weekend I was in Durham, North Carolina (my old stomping grounds) attending the annual ScienceOnline Conference that focuses on science communication in the digital age. I am pleased to report that Anton and Bora have built on their previous successes to accomplish something rare for a conference: it was both relevant and refreshingly innovative.”
Lenore Ramm
“This year, I won’t go into the gory details, but Anton Zuiker and Bora Zivkovic put on yet another fabulous event, with scientists, science bloggers, journalists, educators, students and a lone food blogger converging on Sigma Xi for a weekend of informative sessions, fellowship and food.”
John Logsdon
“I am a very frequent attendee and eager participant at scientific conferences: I have logged ~100 in my ~20 years in science. To me, meetings are easily one of the top five things that make being a scientist so much fun. Exchanging ideas (new & old), meeting people (new & old friends), showing off your work (usually new, but sometimes, old), having a good time (which never gets old!)….these reasons are all part of the experience. But sometimes meetings just get you fired up about something(s) and you leave with a fire lit under you. This was one of those for me. And although I knew that I would enjoy myself at Science Online 2010 (aka #scio10) and meet at least some of the criteria above, I was not prepared to leave with my rear side roasting with so many ideas and so much inspiration………………….. Even in the currently-difficult times for both science and journalism (and many other things), there was a clear sense of “Yes we can!” that permeated #scio10 ………………………There’s so much more that I didn’t say here, but I hope that my account will give you a sense of how pleased I am to have participated in #sci010. Thanks to Bora Zivkovic (pictured above), Anton Zuiker and everyone else (including the generous sponsors) who contributed to ScienceOnline 2010!”
Jennifer Ouellette
“It was a whirlwind Saturday at Science Online 2010 (a.k.a. Bora!Fest), where I had the chance to catch up with old friends I hadn’t seen since the last Bora!Fest in 2008……Geez, people, I skip one year, and you go and add tons of smart, funny, creative people to the roster — that’s what keeps the scientific blogosphere so vibrant.”
Janet Stemwedel
“Last night I arrived home safely from ScienceOnline2010. As expected, the conference was tremendously engaging and useful, as well as being a rollicking good time — so much so that the only blog post I managed to post while there was the Friday Sprog Blog. (Major props to the elder Free-Ride offspring for taking notes from our conversation and letting me bring them with me.)”
Darlene Cavalier
“The science blogging community gathered (in person) at the increasingly popular Science Online 2010 conference in Durham, N.C. this past weekend where I was invited to chat about Adult Science Literacy, Science in the Media, and Citizen Science. I had the chance to unveil this beta version of Sci4cits to an enthusiastic reception from the science bloggers. They smiled, they tweeted, they blogged, and they provided lots of helpful suggestions.”
drdrA
“I’m on the plane home from Science Online 2010. Can I just say- that meeting was TOTALLY EXCELLENT. I usually attend meetings in my field that are all seriously hardcore science, seriously 24/7. I mean seriously. So this was a totally different population and a set of subject matter than my usual meeting fare…………….Finally, the meeting itself was exquisitely organized, orchestrated, and executed. Hats off to Bora Zivkovic and Anton Zuiker, and the army of others and volunteers that was undoubtedly helping them out, for accomplishing this Herculean task and labor of love.”
Henry Gee (Nature)
“For a self-organized unconference, Scio is unbelievably well-organized, largely through the efforts of Anton Zuiker and the ubiquitous Bora Zivkovic, who seems to be awake at all hours, presumably having learned a thing or two in his career as a chronobiologist…………….The second thing was its intensity – I’ve experienced nothing like it since SciFoo, and I don’t think I’ve networked faster or harder, ever.”
Beth Beck (NASA)
“This weekend, I participated in the Science Online 2010 conference at the Research Triangle in North Carolina, at the request of Karen James of the HMS Beagle Project. We connected on Twitter. She works in the UK. I work in DC. We met for the first time in North Carolina. Pretty cool, huh!”
Rabiah Mayas
“So I’m in North Carolina right now (Raleigh-Durham, to be precise) for the Science Online 2010 conference. Now in its third year, the meeting brings together science journalists, bloggers, educators and other science communicators to share findings and experiences about talking science in the online environment. I totally feel like a groupie, as many of the science journalists and bloggers whom I follow are here, in the flesh! Carl Zimmer, John Timmer, Dr. KiKi and many others are here for the weekend, and already I’ve learned quite a bit.”
Isis the Scientist
“This last weekend at ScienceOnline was exactly the blogospheric recharge I have been needing.”
Andrew Farke
“I am just freshly back from ScienceOnline2010, where I was graciously invited to talk about the Open Dinosaur Project by Bora Zivkovic (who co-organized the “un-conference” with Anton Zuiker). Simply put, this is one of the best conferences I have attended in a long, long time. So what was it that got me so excited about the event?………………..In the afterglow of the conference, the wheels in my brain are turning in multiple directions. This is a sign of a great event, and a sure indication that you’ll be seeing more blog posts (and projects) inspired by my weekend here. “
Jeremy Yoder
“So now I’m sitting in the Raleigh-Durham airport, writing up the weekend over dodgy, overpriced WiFi – I’ve been badly spoiled by SignalShare’s fantastic service. Many, many thanks to organizers Bora Zivkovic and Anton Zuiker, and to the sponsors, who put on a fantastic conference – and especially to NESCent, who made it possible for me to attend. It was a great time!”
Antony Williams
“#scio10 is different….there’s an energy in the air that I haven’t experienced at any other scientific gathering other than SciFoo………Bora and Anton have done a tremendous job organizing the conference. Clearly there is a great team supporting them and the Sigma Xi facility is excellent. Terrific conference all around….glad I spent the weekend this way…. ….it’s been a very long time since I enjoyed a conference so much. I really hate giving my weekends to conferences for work and there’s only been one in recent years that I didn’t regret…Scifoo. I can now add ScienceOnline… terrific meeting and a GREAT way to spend a weekend.”
Tara Richerson
“The event has not begun in earnest yet, and I can already tell you that ScienceOnline 2010 is the best. conference. ever. It’s a place where egos do not appear to exist—-only enthusiasm to share and learn. People are very friendly, always willing to strike up a conversation and share a story. Bora is a delightful host, boundless in energy and as genial as I had always imagined.”
Richard Grant
“Bora, as you probably know if you’re reading this, co-organizes the Science Online unconference in North Carolina each year. By all accounts the one this year was as amazing as the previous ones—I had the opportunity to go but decided not to for reasons that don’t concern you. A colleague went instead, and had a fantastic and useful time.”
Catharine Haxton
“This is where I think Science Online 2010 got it so right. They did it all – they had a keynote speaker, and they used the best tools the web has to offer to build up a conference program in advance. Through wikis, blogs, twitter, facebook, email, and general arm twisting, a diverse and vibrant science communication program was created. I’ll own up to having attended Science Online 2009 which was organized in a similar manner and found it fantastic. This year I couldn’t go for a variety of reasons, but would love to go next year again. —————————- The beautiful thing about Science Online 2010 is that the majority of the sessions were recorded, video and audio. So anyone who was there and missed a parallel session, or anyone who wasn’t there can catch up and join in the conversation. ————————More conference organizers should look at the precedent being set by Science Online 2010 – they could learn a lot from the model.”
David Butterfield
“These were the types of questions asked and answered at Science Online 2010, a conference in RTP designed specifically to give science researchers and bloggers a common forum. Hosted at the Sigma Xi Center between January 14-17, the conference focused on the ways new Internet technology is changing how science is done and how information is distributed.
A wide variety of topics were covered using the unconference format, where the presentations were not lectures so much as large discussion groups. The program catered to all levels techie. The novice could learn what Twitter is and how to tweet, the casual follower was presented with a variety of demos to further spark their interest, and the advanced IT gurus could learn from other members in the audience, as the conference allowed for a unique overlap of experts from academia, industry, and the blogosphere.”
Ed Yong
“This post is long overdue. It has now been over two weeks since ScienceOnline’10 and the withdrawal symptoms (along with the SciPlague and jet-lag) have now subsided. I’ve already talked about how much I enjoyed attending the conference, catching up with old new friends, and moderating a panel on rebooting science journalism with three excellent gents – Carl Zimmer, John Timmer and David Dobbs.”
Walter Jessen
“There has been a number of posts written about the ScienceOnline2010 conference. Rather than write another one simply about my personal experiences, I thought it would be interesting to have a discussion about the conference with a number of people that both attended in person or via the Internet. Since discussion is often challenging on blogs, I posted four questions about the conference on FriendFeed. I also cross-posted the questions to my personal Twitter account. I loved the idea of using Web 2.0 technologies (social media, blogs) to discuss a conference about science communications. Below is an amalgamation of the discussion that followed.”
Hope Leman
“….ScienceOnline2010 …and that conference is an absolute must for those interested in scientific communication….”
Fabiana Kubke, New Zealand
“Science Online 2010 was a great experience, albeit difficulties with flight changes that made me miss the last morning of the meeting. It was great to put some human faces to people I knew only from their online persona. The experience was absolutely brilliant, and I will soon be posting on some of the fantastic stuff I learned while I was there.”
Tabitha M. Powledge (NASW)
“I described this polyglot conference last time. Despite its name, ScienceOnline2010 was not exactly online. But it resulted in a cascade of tweets, blog posts, and more from science writers and scientists who attended—and plenty who didn’t. Chronobiologist Coturnix thoughtfully provided links to zillions of blog posts about scio10, but the list was so long it popped the buttons on its wiki. So he conveyed it to his own time zone, A Blog Around the Clock, where you will now find it.”
Cara Rousseau
“ The recent ScienceOnline event is a testimony to the strength of organic gatherings as a way for science communicators to learn, share and collaborate with their peers.”
Jack (Miss Baker’s student)
“I personally thought that the conference was just an incredible experience all around. Even though the entire event was fantastic, what really got to me were the sessions about citizen science. It was cool to see how everyday people can help scientists anywhere by recording information or executing simple experiments.”
Ana Ivkovic (translated into English by Google)
“Last week was, 14th to 17 January, was held the already famous conference, despite being only the fourth in a row, ScienceOnline2010 in Chapel Hill in North Carolina. Who is behind the conference? – Sure Bora Zivkovic with his colleagues, bloggers Anton Zuiker, Stephanie Willen Brown and David Kroll.
Being able to attract sponsors, colleagues and volunteers this exciting and fun Unconference was a great success.
It was indeed the Wonder-Conference-ScienceOnline.
This includes the reactions by the participants of the conference who not only spent these three days working, but they had good fun. You have to agree that the online publishing and social networking – fun!”
Princess Ojiaku
“After a long hiatus from blogging, I am back, and inspired by the awesomeness that is the ScienceOnline2010 conference here in Research Triangle Park, NC. ———————————— The conference definitely did not disappoint. There were a couple workshops on the Friday before that I attended on blogging and on podcasting. I was sitting in the second workshop on podcasting waiting for it to begin and trying to do my best impression of the lurking I do while browsing science blogs online when one of the wonderful creators of the conference, Bora Zivkovic, came up to me and greeted me by name. It was completely awesome and kind of surprising considering that I’d only interacted with him through Twitter. That first burst of friendliness was a great representation of the overall spirit of the conference. It seemed that little steps were taken at very turn to ensure a pleasant and fun experience, including a tasty locally grown lunch from two of my favorites, Saladelia’s and Locopops.——————————————The sessions were spectacular. I attended a few that were really helpful in gaining perspective on career options in the broad fields covered by the conference. Actually, one of the most exciting things was the sheer diversity of the professions present at the conference. I got to mingle with authors, journalists, scientists, professors, educators, lawyers, bloggers, and people involved in the entertainment media. I don’t think I’ve ever come across a conference so teeming with energy and excitement about new media, technology, and the places that it can take us as a society. The whole experience was extremely positive, and inspired me to keep typing away at this lil’ ol’ blog.”
Danielle Lee
“Originally conceived as a Science Blogging conference for science bloggers in the Research Triangle, North Carolina (because obviously that little piece of real estate is the center of the science universe) it has expanded into something more, something grand, something viral. ScienceOnline is an international meeting of hearts, minds and modems of scientists, communicators, and students of all ages & levels who have at least two things in common – Science and the Internet.”
Maria Pellum
“Science lovers were elated this past month at the ScienceOnline event that is best described at its website”
David Crotty
“Science Online 2010, the annual meeting for cutting edge users of Web 2.0 technologies in science, was held last month. It filled the science blogosphere with coverage and allowed far-flung colleagues to meet in person.”
Tamara Krinsky
“I must admit, I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting myself into when I agreed to head out to the Research Triangle. Compared to the rest of the attendees, I’m relatively new to the science blogging community, though I’ve had a lot of experience in the online space. But something about the participatory nature of the way the conference was put together (and the exuberant nature of Bora’s Tweets!) gave me a good feeling, and now I’m so glad I followed my gut and made the trip. I knew it would be a weekend full interesting discussions about science; what I never expected was that there would be so many wonderful conversations about writing as well. Indeed, Science Online is just as much a conference about 21st century communication as it is about what happens in the lab.
Another unexpected delight at Scio10 was the diverse group of panelists and attendees. In addition to the expected authors, bloggers and scientists, there were museum outreach directors, high school students, teachers, science pranksters, iPhone app developers, underwater cinematographers, librarians, software developers, and more. The connective tissue amongst the group was a love for science and an interest in how it’s being explored in the online space.”
Ammar (Miss Baker’s student)
“This past January, I had the humbling privilege of attending the fourth annual Science Online conference. At the conference, I had the opportunity to meet hundreds of scientists from around the world and make a few contacts in the process. This conference allowed me to learn how to truly converse with scientists and broadened my knowledge on technology and science in general. During and after the conference, it become lucid to me that technology, science, and medicine are all bound to essentially fuse into one topic sometime in the future, whether it is in a decade or in a century.”
Alex (Miss Baker’s student)
“Science Online is surely an experience my classmates and I will always remember. It was a fun, enriching experience that I’m sure is one of the highlights of my 2010. Against all odds, the tangible feelings of nervousness and inadequacy from the terrifying plane to hotel bus ride melted away as we made our way through Sigma Xi.
Not exactly looking forward to a weekend of boring lectures and concepts you need a PhD to comprehend, my 14 year-old mind rebelled against Science Online. But, much to my surprise- Ms. Baker and Dr. Ward were right. Despite my obvious lack of a college diploma, I somehow understood what was going on. And seconds after the beginning of Carl Zimmer’s presentation on journalism in science (which eventually turned into a session on ‘duck sex’), I realized I could do more than learn to understand science and technology- I could learn to love it, too.
Nothing can beat the rush when you realize “I get it!” and that you’re excited about science. And ever since I returned, all I want to do is get everyone else excited about science. My main goal: to remind people that science isn’t all memorization and structure. Science is a way to change the world- whether it’s through blogging and video games, or journalism and duck sex jokes. All I can hope for is that Science Online will continue to grow along with an appreciation for science among students.”
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