Monthly Archives: August 2012

Agreement forged between ASC and Inspiring Australia for 2012-14

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We have great news for ASC members! The Inspiring Australia Strategy and the Australian Science Communicators have reached an agreement which brings diverse benefits to members and the association.

The ASC will communicate IA activities and outcomes to ASC members and encourage discussion about the Strategy. The IA Strategy is closely aligned to the interests of the ASC and several ASC officials and members have been actively engaging with IA. The aim of this agreement is to further raise members’ awareness of and engagement with the Strategy.

The agreement provides funds for the ASC to upgrade its website, manage the project, and to pay writers fees to prepare the messages.

The ASC will post IA articles, stories and announcements to our main media channels including the ASC website, Facebook and LinkedIn pages, and Twitter feed. We’ll also post content to our Flickr, YouTube and Vimeo sites as appropriate. The first IA message was posted 31 July.

The agreement runs from mid-2012 to mid-2014. This allows time to
•             refine the message posting system,
•             develop the relationship between IA and ASC,
•             increase members’ involvement with IA and
•             increase members’ involvement with this project.

How things will work:
The ASC Communications team, which works to improve how ASC communicates across a range of media channels, has the task to deliver our side of the agreement.
Currently on the team are
•             Jesse Shore, president and chair of the team
•             James Hutson, webmaster
•             Sally Miles, Scope editor
•             Kali Madden, executive officer.

Inspiring Australia sends each message to the liaison person on the ASC Communications team, currently Jesse Shore, who will assign one of its members to republish it in the voice of the ASC. This involves writing introductory text, summaries and end pieces for each message as needed and then posting it. For the moment Sally Miles and Jesse will deal with the flow of information from IA.

The ASC Executive has approved a modest fee scale for various tasks and is monitoring progress during a three month trial period. In a couple of months we will invite ASC members for expressions of interest to join the Communications team and take part in the program to report IA news.

Editorial control of messages will be held by the ASC with the understanding the intent of the project is to portray the Inspiring Australia Strategy in a positive light.

We’re thrilled to have this new alliance and welcome your comments about how to get the most out of this project.

Jesse Shore
ASC national president

Café Scientifique launches with “The Science of Cocktails”

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18 August 2012
7:00 pmto9:00 pm

A networking evening for scientists, science communicators and science enthusiasts.

Join Dr Geoff Garret,Queensland’s Chief Scientist and Dr Ian Galloway, CEO of Queensland Museum for an evening of cocktails and canapés, discussions and networking, live music and photography.

WHAT: The closing ceremony of National Science Week coincides with the launch ofQueensland’s first Café Scientifique, a space for scientists and science enthusiasts to meet and share ideas

WHERE: Collectors Café, Queensland Museum, South Bank

WHEN: Saturday 18th August 7 – 9pm

Scientist, mixologist and bartender Andrew Cameron will talk about the science of smell and taste, demonstrate how scientific methods and liquid nitrogen can improve some of the all-time classic Martinis and provide samples of his work as tasters.

The Martinis are translated into edible cocktail-canapés while live music and an award-winning science photography exhibition will set the scene for this event.

Tickets $35 adults, $25 students (use promo code ‘student’)
Includes three sampler cocktails and canapés

For information and booking head to cafescientifiqueaustralia.eventbrite.com.au

This is an 18+ event

Science Week after-party

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21 August 2012
6:30 pmto11:00 pm

Science Week After-party
Come along and celebrate the end of Science Week after-party, a networking evening for Melbourne science communicators.
When: August 21, 2012, 6:30 pm
Where: Three Degrees, QV Square
First drink and nibbles are on us!
ASC members (& guest): Free
Science Week organisers: Free
Non-members: $15
(Discounted memberships on the night)
To book: http://sciencecentric_2012.eventbrite.com

Workshop: Make a science film with your iPhone

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11 August 2012
11:00 amto2:30 pm

Want to learn how to make a short science film?

Got an iPhone (or iPod Touch)?

Then this workshop is for you!

The Australian Museum, Australian Science Communicators and the Apple Store, Sydney, are offering up to 16 lucky people the chance to get some guidance on science filmmaking. This workshop is open to anyone aged eight and up. It is part of the Australian Museum Science Festival, and booking for the workshop gives you access to the other Festival activities.

When:
Saturday 11 August, 11:00 am to 2:30 pm

Where:
At the Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney, then at the Apple Store, 367 George Street, Sydney.

What:
First up, science filmmaker Daniel Keogh will talk about how to make science films and show examples of his work. Then you’ll be let loose in the Australian Museum to get footage on your iPhone (or iPod Touch). After that, you’ll head over to the Apple Store (as a group): here staff will help you download the footage and help you edit it in iMovie. And at the end you’ll have a finished 5-minute science film to take away.

How to book a place:
First, book online for Festival events at http://australianmuseum.net.au/event/Australian-Museum-Science-Festival. Then, turn up early to claim a place in the workshop. There are eight (8) computers for editing: two people can share a computer if they wish.

Cost (includes Museum entry and other activities during the day):
$22.19 adults, $16.89 students, $11.59 for children aged 5-15.

What to bring:
• Your iPhone or iPod Touch
• A flash drive (to take your film home)
By the time you come to the Apple Store, you should have about 30 min. of raw footage on your phone that you’ll edit into a movie. You can bring footage you’ve shot before the day of the workshop, or you can shoot it all at the Museum.

The competition:
Leave a copy of your film with us and judges from the Australian Science Communicators will pick the best. If it’s yours, you’ll win a Looxcie Bluetooth headset — a head-mounted camera that connects with your smartphone.

Enquiries:
Australian Museum Science Communication unit: 02 9320 6389.

Daniel Keogh

Daniel Keogh is a science presenter and film-maker. His work has appeared on ABC TV’s Hungry Beast and Catalyst, Radio National’s Science Show, Health Report and Download This Show and online as part of National Science Week. He specialises in taking science research out of the library and into the real world through self-experimentation, animation and creative storytelling.

Next ASC national conference – February 2014

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The ASC Executive has agreed that the next ASC national conference will be held in early February 2014. I’ll keep you on tenterhooks by saying that we’ll announce the city and venue soon.

The feedback from ASC2012 delegates have helped guide our planning and we’ll use their input to make ASC2014 even better than the terrific outcome Rod Lamberts and his team achieved this year.

We have started to consider the structure of the conference committee and will invite members to participate. The good amount of lead time should allow us to explore new ideas and get more supporting partners for our big biannual event.

That’s all the snippets of conference news for now but be ready for lots more substantial information to come.

Jesse Shore
National President

National Science Week 2012

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I hope you are paying attention to the increasing flow of announcements and promotion about National Science Week, which officially runs from 11-19 August 2012. Several related science festivals and events occur before and after the official dates to make nearly a full month of national science engagement activity.

Many ASC members are involved in organising and running events. Perhaps those of you who aren’t tied to delivering an event will have time to see a variety of what’s on offer. Let us know about any activities which cover new ground or are particular successful for whatever combination of reasons.

Here’s wishing everyone to have a successful and well attended National Science Week.

Jesse Shore
National President

Recommended TED talks

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Science related TED talks are often good examples how to engage an audience and communicate your message. The audience for TED talks has diverse interests so it’s great to see when they really appreciate a novel or solid presentation.

Here’s one example of each. The first is by virtual magician and Techno-illusionist Marco Tempest and is about Nicolas Tesla and is a must-see (and only 6 minutes long), http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/marco_tempest_the_electric_rise_and_fall_of_nikola_tesla.html. (If you have time check out Marco Tempest’s video of Making of “Nikola Tesla in Sound and Light”, http://vimeo.com/43684443.)

The second is a talk by a scientist about a new kind of battery (the missing link to renewable energy), http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/donald_sadoway_the_missing_link_to_renewable_energy.html. He gives a good clear explanation although he likes using the occasional big word in his narrative.

Jesse Shore
National President

Renewal date approaching for many members – 1 September 2012

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Many ASC members have the renewal date of 1 September, which is fast approaching. Kali will send reminders to those who need to renew then but it’s timely for me to offer a few reasons to make sure you’re financial.

We have had a busy year to date with our very successful national conference in Sydney in February. Since then we have been participating in the National Audit of Science Engagement Activities. The audit report will come out by mid-November along with data visualisations to enable you to interactively compare key data fields.

We have also struck an agreement with Inspiring Australia to communicate updates of the IA Strategy to our members from mid-2012 to mid-2014. There is an opportunity for financial members to participate in this communication activity.

We are planning the next national conference to be held in February 2014 and will be inviting members to help develop the program. The conference will be bigger and even better than before with an enhanced science-as-art exhibition, more workshops and social events.

The ASC has grown to over 540 members. Our branches are busy with events and workshops which are either free to members or at generous member’s discounts.

We have closer relationships with the federal and state chief scientists, and federal and state science departments and communicators in various groups. Other organisations are seeking to work with us or benefit from our expertise. Over the year numerous job opportunities have appeared on our e-list. Members have been active in expressing their views on a range of issues both on the e-list and website.

My impression is that opportunities in science communication are increasing and your membership and activity contribute to this positive change.

Renewing your membership enables you to make use of benefits and powerful communication tools such as:

  • access to the national conference and local ASC events at members’ rates,
  • posting rights on our two e-mail lists reaching a database of more than 1100 readers,
  • author rights on our web site (see http://www.asc.asn.au/),
  • receipt of our online magazine SCOPE,
  • access to our professional networking social media groups such as LinkedIn and Facebook,
  • access to ASC-associated organisations’ events at discounted rates,
  • voting rights at General Meetings and much more.

The cost of membership is still:

  • Individual membership is $88 per annum (incl. GST)
  • Student membership (with appropriate ID) is $35.20 (incl. GST)
  • Associate membership (with explanation) is $35.20 (incl. GST)
  • Corporate membership is $528 (incl. GST).

Jesse Shore
ASC President