Jul 09 2010
At TAM 8, Having Great Time, Wish You Were Here.
I am currently at TAM 8 – The Amazing Meeting in Las Vegas. If you consider yourself a skeptic, and you have never been to a TAM, I recommend you make it your mission to attend one. This year the conference is co-sponsored by the JREF (James Randi Educational Foundation), the Skeptics Society, and the CSI (committee for skeptical inquiry) – all three national skeptical organizations. I guess that means it is now officially the annual meeting of the skeptical movement (it has already been that de-facto).
I am having a great time meeting people who listen to the SGU or read NeuroLogica or SBM regularly – putting faces to some commenter pseudonyms. But I am also very busy. Yesterday I held two SBM workshops (the room was packed for both). Friday and Saturday morning we are recording two live SGU episodes. And Saturday I am moderating an SBM panel. Friday night we are hosting the SGU dinner. In between I will be interviewing as many of the speakers as possible.
This is all my elaborate way of saying that I really don’t have any time left over for blogging this week. So for today all you get is this electronic postcard telling you what a great time I am having at TAM.
Richard Dawkins is the keynote – I have never seen him before, and I’m looking forward to hearing him speak. And last night I ran into Aubrey de Grey – he is not a speaker, he is just attending the conference. We were sure to secure him for a future interview for the SGU.
Randi announced last night that next year there will not only be TAM Las Vegas, but TAM London, TAM Australia, and TAM Zurich – four TAMs. This year will be the second year of TAM London and the first year of TAM Australia. I will be attending TAM Australia this year with the SGU crew and I understand it is already sold out.
DJ Grothe, who is doing a great job running the JREF, also announced that attendance at TAM this year exceeds 1,300 – that’s 300 more than last year. I hope this is all a sign that the skeptical movement is still growing. It seems so.
Well – I have a show to put on – back to my regular blogging schedule next week.
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15 Responses to “At TAM 8, Having Great Time, Wish You Were Here.”
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Are you still on East Coast time, too?
I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday’s workshops and am looking forward to Saturday’s panel. Thanks to you and your colleagues for all your hard work.
Yep – up at 5:30 local time. I usually get on West Coast time just in time to return home.
Good to hear you’re having a fun time, it’s a shame that we Australians won’t be graced by your presence until November.
Did the Novellatron partake in “Skeptics in the Tub”? Are your circuits sufficiently waterproof for such an activity? I wonder how accommodating TAM is for skeptical robots…
:p … AAAGH! I am taking a statistics summer class, and the conditional probabilities are driving me crazy. I am so jealous.
Wish I’d know earlier! I’ll be there for the next one
Couldn’t make it this year. Deep in the process of converting to an electronic health record right now. Hope to make it there next year. Had a great time last year.
Enjoy your time there steve!
My first email to the SGU was a request for Aubrey de Gray interview. His views are right on edge of science and I think they are perfect for a skeptical discussion. I’ll be very much looking forward to that interview.
Sounds like great great fun. I was planning on attending, but like most others, something came up. My excuse is that I needed to take summer classes and my funds went to that. I offered to volunteer for it, but no one got back to me. Oh well, their loss. Well… not really.
rockstatue, I hope your summer class is going better than mine.
I used to be smart, but then I had kids.
Oh, crud… I did not even get your name right! Should have cut and pasted “rokstatue”… why did you have to leave the “c” out?
TAM Zürich!!!! Awesome.
These chem labs are killer! I’m not sure why I left out the “c”. I didn’t really have a reason.
But since I missed TAM I better do extra well in class. Good luck… wait not luck. Work hard? No that sounds too comrade-ish. Do your best! haha
I just finished my homework that is due tomorrow. I love problems that involve anachronistic stuff like newspapers costing only fifteen cents!
Here is to good TAM recovery for Dr. Novella and the rest who went to TAM. I want to see pictures of you and friends at the Skepchicks party!
Hi Steve
TAM 8 (1st for me) was an awesome time. I knew it was going to be fun, but the whole experience was above and beyond my expectations. I didn’t get around to talking to you, but will definitely be back next year!
If anyone has even a small urge to go, do it! You won’t regret it (well, not the TAM part, maybe the Vegas part). I am a TAMvangelist now.
I desperately want to go to a TAM, but can’t quite conceive of how to sell it to the wife. I suppose the fact that I don’t believe in sin wouldn’t assuage her concerns with me going solo to a city named after it – let alone for more of that ’skeptical crap’.