Come join ASC Victoria for our last hurrah of 2015 as we celebrate with our AGM followed by some of the best science stories of the year at the Laborastory.

The Laborastory brings together five scientists from different fields to tell the remarkable stories of the heroes of their field. Each story is just ten short minutes. They tell the tales of the tragedies and triumphs of the men and women who made science their passion, and left legacies of ground-breaking discoveries that inspire the scientists of today.

We have three tables reserved for ASC members to dine together, have a chat and then enjoy The Laborastory’s “Best of” end of year wrap up. This is your opportunity to hear what the ASC has planned for 2016, or to put your hand up for a role on the committee (further information about the AGM below).

No doubt these tickets will be in hot demand, to secure your ticket and spot on the table and have your say on the direction of the ASC for 2016 RSVP to George Aranda george.aranda@deakin.edu.au.

Where: The Spotted Mallard. 314 Sydney Rd, Brunswick http://thelaborastory.com/
When: Wednesday December 2^nd , 2015
Time: The AGM will kick off just after 6pm
What: ASC members who attend the AGM get FREE entry into Laborastory and we will shout you a drink.

Need some inspiration? You can catch up on all Laborastories on YouTube before the event.

Victorian Branch AGM – Further Information

Only paid up ASC members can participate in the formal business parts of the evening, including electing Branch Committee. If you can’t make it on the night do send along a proxy so your voice is heard.

Meeting Agenda

·         Confirm minutes from 2014 AGM

·         President’s report (George Aranda)

·         Treasurer’s report (Anneliese Gillard)

·         Nominations for 2016 committee

·         Other business

Branch Committee Positions

·         President

·         Representative on ASC National Executive

·         Secretary

·         Treasurer

·         Ordinary Committee Members

Nominating for committee positions

Nominations for committee positions are open. Self-nominations are acceptable.

The current Committee encourages new applications from ASC members who would like to get involved in shaping and leading activities and events.

Nominations for Branch Committee positions are encouraged in advance of the AGM (please send these to george.aranda@deakin.edu.au). Nominations will also be accepted at the AGM.

Any ASC member based in Victoria can stand for a branch committee position.

Voting by proxy at the AGM

If you cannot attend the AGM you may wish to nominate a proxy, prior to the AGM.

Note proxy nominations cannot be accepted at the AGM. We require them to be emailed to George by 12pm on Wednesday 2 Dec.

You can nominate any ASC member based in Victoria as your proxy, but you both need to be financial members of the ASC.

To nominate a proxy all you have to do george.aranda@deakin.edu.au saying who you are, and which member you are giving your vote to, e.g.

Dear George,

I’d like to assign my proxy vote for the ASC Victorian AGM to Joe Bloggs.

Best wishes,

Jane Doe

Toni

(ASC Vic – Secretary)

Great science stories are often out there waiting to be discovered and told to a broader audience. ASC is fortunate to reflect a community of storytellers, journalists, science writers and broadcasters as well as scientists with media savvy and a passion for communicating their discoveries. But do we do enough to bring them together?

ASC Victoria saw an untapped opportunity, and Toni Stevens put together an event, ‘Science/media speed dating’, looking to connect great stories with people who can help disseminate them.

The evening of Tuesday 2 June saw an eager crowd of ASC members and non-members meet at Southbank’s Belgian Beer Cafe for a series of short ‘speed dates’. Before the 2-minute power chats commenced, scientists heard from the perspective of print journalists, broadcast and radio presenters as to what they look for in a science story and how best to pitch to their particular medium. The crowd took to their seats, and 26 scientists and science communicators launched into a networking frenzy over a beverage or two.

Despite some hiccups of being first-timers to the speed dating format (hint to other ASC branches: have table numbers to help direct participants around the room!), the event was wildly successful and many participants stayed on for further networking after the official component of the event was finished. The perspective from the journalist side of the room was that there were many gold nuggets of scicom out there, ready for the big league. Scientists and those with a science message noted it was a great platform to help give them a better idea of how to refine their pitch, and provided them with encouragement to take their tales out to a broader audience, as well as identifying potential resources to help them do so.

ASC Victoria would like to thank all the members who joined us for this terrific event; we hope to revisit this very successful format again next year.

Anneliese Gillard

Event details

Cost: $15
Date: Thursday 25th June
Time: 6:00 pm start
Place: Kino Cinemas, Collins St. Melbourne