CSICon II - Nashville

[table=head]User Name|Real Name (optional) |Notes
BrianEngler|Brian Engler|2nd CSICon, but first in MusicCity.
Chevstriss|Chevy|short drive for me:p
Hutch|David Hutchinson|Newbie, only 100 miles away
nowoo|Fred Bremmer|First CSIcon, but 7th or 8th SGU dinner
Shadowsot|Michael Fulford|Second CSICon, second conference
The Central Scrutinizer|E. Guy|Second CSIcon, First time in Nashville!
Idoubtit|Sharon Hill|Speaker
SkepticScott|Scott Romanowski|First CSIcon[/table]
 
[table=head]User Name|Real Name (optional) |Notes
BrianEngler|Brian Engler|2nd CSICon, but first in MusicCity.
Chevstriss|Chevy|short drive for me:p
Hutch|David Hutchinson|Newbie, only 100 miles away
nowoo|Fred Bremmer|First CSIcon, but 7th or 8th SGU dinner
Shadowsot|Michael Fulford|Second CSICon, second conference
The Central Scrutinizer|E. Guy|Second CSIcon, First time in Nashville!
Idoubtit|Sharon Hill|Speaker
SkepticScott|Scott Romanowski|First CSIcon
Allecher|Lei|might need a (female) roommate[/table]
 
[table=head]User Name|Real Name (optional) |Notes
BrianEngler|Brian Engler|2nd CSICon, but first in MusicCity.
Chevstriss|Chevy|short drive for me:p
Hutch|David Hutchinson|Newbie, only 100 miles away
nowoo|Fred Bremmer|First CSIcon, but 7th or 8th SGU dinner
Shadowsot|Michael Fulford|Second CSICon, second conference
Idoubtit|Sharon Hill|Speaker
SkepticScott|Scott Romanowski|First CSIcon
Allecher|Lei|might need a (female) roommate[/table]

I'm bailing. Couldn't get my schedule to work out. :(
 
[table=head]User Name|Real Name (optional) |Notes
BrianEngler|Brian Engler|2nd CSICon, but first in MusicCity.
Chevstriss|Chevy|short drive for me:p
Hutch|David Hutchinson|Newbie, only 100 miles away
nowoo|Fred Bremmer|First CSIcon, but 7th or 8th SGU dinner
Shadowsot|Michael Fulford|Second CSICon, second conference
Idoubtit|Sharon Hill|Speaker
SkepticScott|Scott Romanowski|First CSIcon
Allecher|Lei|might need a (female) roommate
Krelnik|Tim Farley|First CSICON[/table]

Phew, now that Scrut can't go it's safe for me to attend!
 
The Central Scrutinizer said:
Any attendance figures?
Click to expand...

Well, I was there....


I would guess at best about 200, although it seemed fewer in the room at any one time. The room was configured for around 320 people and there was plenty of open space.

Some very good presentations, and rather than do 'talking heads' panels as TAM does (which usually are my break times), the CSI panels were configured around one topic and each panelist gave a presentation within that topic, with 20 minutes left for questions. I thought it worked well.

The speakers in general were quite good, and Richard Wiseman was quite brilliant as a host (I hope he made it back to England before Sandy hit the coast).

For other (non-speaker) notes:

* The hotel was quite nice but a bit off the main road, so if you did not have a car you were pretty well stuck with the bar and single restaurant there.

* Nowoo was a good roommate, I went to bed about 11PM, him about 2:30am, I got up about 7am, him about 10am, but as far as I know, we never woke the other one up and he never complained about my snoring (that is, if I ever snored...)

* BACON for Breakfast every morning!!!

* Next year's CSICON is tentatively planned for Seattle, WA
 
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Hutch said:
Well, I was there....


I would guess at best about 200, although it seemed fewer in the room at any one time. The room was configured for around 320 people and there was plenty of open space.
Click to expand...

Sounds the same as last year. A CSI person told me 275, but I think it was closer to 200.

Hutch said:
Some very good presentations, and rather than do 'talking heads' panels as TAM does (which usually are my break times), the CSI panels were configured around one topic and each panelist gave a presentation within that topic, with 20 minutes left for questions. I thought it worked well.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the same format as last year.

Hutch said:
* The hotel was quite nice but a bit off the main road, so if you did not have a car you were pretty well stuck with the bar and single restaurant there.
Click to expand...

While my schedule was the biggest impediment to my attending, had it been in downtown Nashville, I likely could have found a way to make it. Last year in New Orleans, it was downtown on Canal Street. No need for a car, because New Orleans surrounded you. I really had no interest in renting a car or having to take a 20 minute cab ride to get to a pub or a non-chain restaurant.

Hutch said:
* Next year's CSICON is tentatively planned for Seattle, WA
Click to expand...

Awesome. Been there several times, although again, if it's in a hotel by the airport, I may not attend. Plus, those annoying Peterman's live there. ;)
 
Very much still a more "business casual" event. Very different vibe than TAM or NECSS.

I sat at lunch with one of the older attendees and he seemed to like the straight and serious science bits and nothing on ghosts or hoaxes or fun stuff like that. Others thought those panels, while informative, were REALLY tough to absorb and appreciated the fun stuff like "The Walrus was Paul".

I didn't care for the panel format. First, I HATE looking at the people who are not talking (and hate being looked at if it's me). They don't need to be sitting up there. There was not a lot of interaction in the panels. I like lively panels which you rarely get because no one seems to prepare for them, they just yap about stuff. So, haven't seen many good ones.

I'm actually getting quite bored with skeptic conferences. Same talks, same people, same topics. The best parts are the social interactions. So, I wish that we could have more meaningful discussions and actually relate to each other instead of the preaching and avoidance that is currently occurring.
 
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The Central Scrutinizer said:
Too late. It's already sold out.
Click to expand...
First of all, I doubt it.

Second of all, even if that was the case: I know a few people. I might be able to pull a few strings.

Third of all: Even if that didn't work, I'll just try for 2014, then. (Unless, of course, I end up getting banned for life, because it turns out those "people I knew" happened to be the wrong people to know.)
 
First day Ray Hyman sat down at my table while me and my folks were eating breakfast and started regaling us with the history of the skeptical movement in the US.
(He also noted there were around 200 people who registered over all, but that on a day by day registration there were fewer.)

Pretty much set the tone for the entire conference for me.
I go to these things not so much for the speakers, but for the chance to interact with fellow skeptics and hob knob with known names in the "community."
I did find that some of the talks sort of dragged on and I'd have liked for there to be more discussion panels than just having one person speak at a time with little interaction.
It was me, my dad, and my mother. We all had a good time but my mother didn't take much from it.
She enjoyed the science (when it didn't contradict what she believes works, ie chiropractics), hated the discussion of religion, and figured since Steve Novella used a reference to a Jewish research hospital in his talk he must be Jewish. *sigh*

But altogether had a great time. Especially when we went downtown in Nashville and was talked into getting a few drinks.
The city was great, and for myself the local geology was a pleasure.
 
Hutch said:
Well, I was there....


(snip)
For other (non-speaker) notes:

* The hotel was quite nice but a bit off the main road, so if you did not have a car you were pretty well stuck with the bar and single restaurant there.

* Nowoo was a good roommate, I went to bed about 11PM, him about 2:30am, I got up about 7am, him about 10am, but as far as I know, we never woke the other one up and he never complained about my snoring (that is, if I ever snored...)

* BACON for Breakfast every morning!!!

* Next year's CSICON is tentatively planned for Seattle, WA
Click to expand...


Bolding and edit for length both mine.

Dudes and dudettes, Seattle is my area! Please tell me lots of you are attending!! I am probably doing this instead of TAM, because the economics for me are much friendlier AND with the local access, I can take my family as well !

Oh boy oh boy oh boy, Miss_Kitt
 
As far as the CSI website and the internet generally are concerned, there is no CSICON this year - no one says there isn't but other than reference to this JREF thread and some similar it is nonexistant. Functional references are to earlier only.
 
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