I’m thrilled to be attending and participating in ScienceOnline2011 – the fifth annual conference on science and the web in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.  My first time!  I’ll be leading a session with Joanne Manaster on communicating science with humor, and I’ll be speaking/performing at the Saturday night banquet.  I’m looking forward to reconnecting with some friends and making some new ones.

#scio11

Uri Alon of the Department of Molecular Cell Biology & Department of Physics of Complex Systems at the Weizmann Institute in Israel, gave a particularly fun presentation entitled, “Peace Love Science Happiness.”

He performed his song “I’ve Been Scooped Again” – with audience participation from across the globe.  Here’s a snippet:

Music & Lyrics ©2009 Uri Alon

“Let’s Have An Awesome Time Doing Science” was a 3-day science conference (and part unconference) held at UCSF’s Mission Bay Campus, Oct. 8-10, 2009. Scientists from various fields and at all stages of career development met to discuss ways to help make science as fun, supportive and nurturing as possible.

Visit the website

He began by telling us that he has friends in more lucrative jobs that are anxious to retire.  They’re always talking about how they hope to be able to retire five or ten years early – not because they have something in particular they long to do – they just don’t enjoy their careers and want them to end so they can do something else.

Ron said that someday he will retire from his position as a university professor – but he doesn’t look forward to it.  Like his family, his job is integral to his life and who he is.

His presentation was entitled, “Why I Love My Job,” and was structured around a Letterman-style Top 10 List (though in no particular order).  He spoke for several minutes on each point, and the list itself doesn’t really do the presentation justice, but he successfully conveyed how much he loves his job.

Ten Things I Love About My Academic Job
by Ron Vale

1.  Freedom to choose your own directions (like Ira Mellman said earlier, “I am serially interested”)
2.  Reinventing oneself throughout one’s career – flexibility
3.  Participating in a great era of discovery
4.  Being part of an international community joined by common interests
5.  Pleasant travels
6.  A social and “youthful” job
7.  Many measures of “success”
8.  Flexible daily schedule (“I don’t have to report to the office when the stock market opens”  “I own one suit and a bunch of t-shirts”)
9.  Doing some good
10.  Scholarship

But between now and Monday I have what promises to be one of the most memorable weekends of my life…

Friday through Sunday, I’ll be attending Science Foo Camp 2008 (“SciFoo”).

What is SciFoo, you ask?

Well, it’s an invitation-only gathering organized by Nature, O’Reilly Media, and Google, and hosted at the famed Googleplex in Mountain View, CA.

It’s a weekend of interactive sessions. All delegates are also presenters. There’s no agenda until we get there and then it is determined collaboratively and subject to change throughout the weekend.

And who was invited?

“About 200 people from around the world who are doing groundbreaking work in diverse areas of science and technology.”

And they aren’t kidding… it’s an impressive collection, an All-Star Game of scientists, writers, artists, investors, and other thought-leaders. And we’re talking elite, world-class, Olympic-style thinkers, giants in their fields.

199 geniuses and one science comedian (that would be me).

I’m thrilled and not a little intimidated.

Here are a few of the attendees with whom I’m already familiar -

Ann Druyan (co-writer of the COSMOS television series), Dean Kamen (inventor of the Segway), Eugenie Scott (who fights the good fight against creationism), Stewart Brand (creator of The Whole Earth Catalog), Dan Tani (an astronaut who spent four months on the International Space Station), Nick Bostrom (modern philosopher and transhumanist), Neal Stephenson (author of Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon), a gaggle of superstar physicists: Lee Smolin, Martin Rees, Max Tegmark, Paul Davies, the entire Dyson clan (Freeman, Esther, and George), and not one but two(2) identically-spelled Chris Andersons – Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine and Chris Anderson, curator of the TED Conference.

… and there are 180 more doing amazing and exciting work in all fields of science – from molecular biology and bioengineering to quantum physics and cosmology, from neuroscience and chemistry to evolution and mycology… robotics, mathematics, climate science, informatics, conservation science, bioacoustics, molecular cell biology, space science and astronomy, earth science and remote sensing, computational science, economics, ecology, semantics, art history, paleontology, and more.

There are doctors, inventors, entrepreneurs, investors, engineers, professors, open source evangelists, broadcasters, bloggers, writers, filmmakers, and at least one surfer.

Whatever will we talk about?