TAM London Updates-Everybody Post here

[Hutch]

Just a suggestion, rather than having 3-4 threads from people at TAM-London, feel free to use this one for your thoughts on TAM and the presenters. These are my thoughts off the top of my head tonight.


Well, the first day of TAM London is in the books, and it was a very good day indeed.

tim and I walked the 15-20 minutes from our hotel to the Mermaid meeting rooms, laughing at the people who we in line to get their badges (actually we didn't--well, at least not out loud). Got some juice and rolls at the breakfast rooms and started meeting old and new Forumites (zooerkin(sic), BillC, Geek, Darat, Rat, Fitter, Scrut, Patricio, 666, SusanM-B1, and many others whose names escape me after a full day (and two beers).

Richard Wiseman was the perfect host, mxing introductions and announcements with various sleigh of hand and humor. He ain't Hal Bidlack, but then again, why would he want to be??

The first speaker was Brian Cox, a professor of particle physics, and much younger than one would expect of a professor. He spoke about the work of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) with much passion and with a good deal of sense, making particle physics at least moderately understandable and made the case on why we need to do such 'big science' projects.

Next up was Jon Ronson, who spoke about the upcoming movie "The Men Who Stare at Goats" with George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges. He showed a couple of clips from the film and some other clips from people he had encountered during his research for his books. His presentation was interesting enough that I know own three of his books.

Ariane Sherine, who started the movement to get the "God Probabaly Does not Exist" adverts on buses in London (now a worldwide movement) spoke on what and why she ended up leading such a cause. She is a fine speaker, and as probably a number of photographs in the next few days will attest, quite attractive to boot--not that that matters at all to male skeptics....

I am not positive of the order of spreakers, but I believe Simon Singh was up next, speaking about his libel trial (for giving Chiropractic some very unkind opinions)--British libel laws are rather odd, I'm afraid, a fact that Simon hopes to help change with his case. He is a solid and easy to follow speaker and deserved the standing Ovation he received.

Ben Goldacre also spoke today; discussing science, the media, with errors of both ommission and commission. He's obviously comfortable on the stage, handled the topic well, and moved his presentation along due to time constraints.

We also got to talk, sort of, with James Randi via Video-conference from his home in Florida. We could see him but he could only hear us, but hopefully he could well imagine the Standing Ovation given him when he appeared on the screen. Mr. Randi looks good, spoke for about 25 minutes in answering questions, and sounded strong and alert. It was a nice moment for TAM.

There was also a "Skeptic of the Year - Great Britain" award that went to Simon Singh to great approval.

And that was about it--or at least all I can remember at this moment.

A number of us dropped into the Black Friar pub for a pint, and after most departed for the evening's entertainment, tim and I tried the large Angus Burgers. As a burger eater of some note, I can give them a hearty thumbs up.

A large number of folks availed themselves of a dinner of "Bangers and Mash" and a night of Comedy, so if they want to post more recollections here, please feel free to do so.

I'll reserve general comments about TAM-London facilities and presenters until later when I get home, but I will say TAM in London is different than Las Vegas--not saying better or worse, just...different.

But I for one am having a marvelous time of it. Even if I can't stay awake much later than 10PM.

Other folks at TAM-London, post your impressions here.

 

[Mojo]

Apologies for cross-posting:

I'd also like to get a group photo of everyone who has an RSL T-shirt or cap already, so we can send that over to Robert and Susan, so everyone who already ordered, please remember to pack them!!

I seem to have managed to volunteer myself to organise this, so could everybody with www.stopsylvia.com t-shirts/caps/whatever bring them along tomorrow, please?

I'm planning to do the photo at the end of proceedings - meet up in foyer area.

 

[big-E]

Just back in after the comedy/entertainment, which was superb - lots of jokes, thoughtful comedy, singing, evolution-themed rapping (yes really), and a live reading of a pulp horror novel with violin, opera and physical-expression accompaniment that really had to be experienced to be believed...

As stated above - Richard Wiseman a brilliant host, Brian Cox surprised us all slightly with some proper science first off the bat, Jon Ronson very funny, Simon Singh a legend-in-the-making, Ben Goldacre just great in so many ways. Absolutely great to see Randi 'on-screen' and looking well.

I have one minor quibble though:

Ariane Sherine, who started the movement to get the "God Probabaly Does not Exist" adverts on buses in London (now a worldwide movement) spoke on what and why she ended up leading such a cause. She is a fine speaker, and as probably a number of photographs in the next few days will attest, quite attractive to boot--not that that matters at all to male skeptics....

Only quite? I suspect a good proportion of the audience are now in love... and if Richard Dawkins is finished with her phone number, could he please forward it to me?

 

[666]

Only quite? I suspect a good proportion of the audience are now in love... and if Richard Dawkins is finished with her phone number, could he please forward it to me?

Well, she added some kisses when she annotated my copy of The Atheists Guide to Christmas so that bodes well for me. Sorry Mrs. 666.










I suspect she did the same for everyone.

 

[666]

666

Sorry I had to meet-and-run. I was rushing to fit in a phone call to the crematorium.

 

[tim]

I'm home now after a great weekend. It was great to see so many friends from around the world. Dammit, Dr Buzzo was there!
I'm off to bed now - more tomorrow. G'night!

 

[Ersby]

Aces ten.

Excellent speakers - especially Ben Goldacre, Jon Ronson, Simon Singh, Airane Sherine and Brian Cox. In other words, the first day.

For the second day I wondered how they were going to follow that, and I admit I wasn't too impressed with the idea of two musical acts. As it turned out, that was just the right thing to do, as it made a nice counterpoint to the rather talky (but fascinating) first day. Tim Minchin was especially good, and kudos to George Hrab for hitting the high notes (mostly) at 9.30 in the morning.

The Collingly Fairies speaker got too bogged down in religion. I was hoping for more of a telling of the story from the inside, and there was a brief mention of how much of a burden the hoax was on the girls/women who made those photos.

Very impressed with the organisation of everything. Richard Wiseman was a great host, and oh, just everything.

I forgot to check the forums to see who else was was going, so I didn't meet anyone new but oh wells. A great weekend.

 

[zooterkin]

I'm not sure what to say, except, "Me too"

I enjoyed all the speakers; some I had seen on TV before, others I had only vaguely heard of, and some that were completely new to me. The range of styles and subjects was excellent; I agree with Ersby about the middle of Glenn Hill's piece, but the beginning, where he covered the story of the Cottingley fairies, and the Q&A at the end, were well up to standard. The comedy on Saturday night was pretty good, too, though I had to leave in the interval to catch a train.

I also managed to meet up with some of the forumites I've met before (Cuddles, tim, Mojo, Darat, BillC, Ohp, Rat, SusanM-B1 and Carole) and a few new ones - great to meet Patricio, Scrut Hutch, Fitter (to whom I think I owe thanks for some maple syrup; yum!), big-E, tkingdoll (briefly) and her sister and mum (who were happy for me to sit and rest my feet a while after collecting my badge on Friday evening), almost certainly a couple who I've missed out, and a few others who don't really count because they aren't on the forum

I also managed to spot a celebrity - I almost literally bumped into Jonathan Ross when he arrived during Simon Singh's piece, as I'd popped to the loo during a short break while laptops were fiddled with, and walked back into the auditorium alongside him. I then proceeded to tell everyone else that he was there.

Very well organised, good venue. There were a couple of technical hitches, but they didn't hold things up and were dealt with efficiently (well, apart from the raffle ). I think the only thing I could criticise was the 'breakfast'. I arrived starving on the Saturday to find this consisted of one small pastry. Now, I don't have a problem if that was all the budget would cover, but it should have been described more clearly, and I'd have made other arrangements; it would have saved those around me from being deafened by the rumblings of an empty stomach. Oh, and the idea of serving bangers, mash and peas, but not providing knives or enough tables; not the easiest meal to eat standing up with one hand! (Luckily I'd sussed out where the one room with tables was.)

 

[Spiro]

Great meeting with excellent talks, and pretty well organized after the incomprehensible nonsense about shipping of tickets lleft to the last minute. Surely this could/should have been done weeks ago at the time folk first paid.

I really enjoyed all the presentations: always informative and often fun. Some (Brian Cox, Ariane Sherine, Simon Singh) were inspirational. The two latter showed it is possible for individuals to start movements that bring important messages to very wide attention. Brian Cox demonstrated how even complex science topics can be made enjoyable and comprehensible to non-specialists.

I liked Phil Plait's talk — essentially a witty oral presentation of material in his "Death from the Skies" book — but I do wonder what he's really doing in his role as JREF president. He hardly ever posts on Swift and could not exactly be described as dynamic in creating a JREF presence at TAM or on the website.

One grouch: we were all given a nice "Skepstick" USB memory stick containing some interesting essays and other material. Also a copy of Randi's introductory video IN A FORMAT THAT CAN BE WATCHED ONLY ON AN iPLAYER OR A COMPUTER WITH A VALID iSTORE LINK! I realize the complexities around of multiple video formats and codecs, but should a notionally neutral, rational organization hand out videos in a format that is linked to a single commercial organization? Have skeptics decided Apple Corp should have a monopoly of all digital material?

 

[zooterkin]

One grouch: we were all given a nice "Skepstick" USB memory stick containing some interesting essays and other material. Also a copy of Randi's introductory video IN A FORMAT THAT CAN BE WATCHED ONLY ON AN iPLAYER OR A COMPUTER WITH A VALID iSTORE LINK! I realize the complexities around of multiple video formats and codecs, but should a notionally neutral, rational organization hand out videos in a format that is linked to a single commercial organization? Have skeptics decided Apple Corp should have a monopoly of all digital material?

I'm watching it fine with VLC on Linux. VLC is also available for Windows; I suspect your problem is the software you're using.

 

[Jumile]

I think Ersby's assessment was pretty much the same as my take on the weekend, too. Was happy to meet so many like-minded people (the whole "so there are people who think like me!" skeptical revelation given a face), to spend a thoroughly enjoyable weekend being entertained, educated and shown examples of skepticism and science, and of course the socialising. It's even been the spark that seeing skeptical, atheist and other grassroots groups start around the country.

It's already been said it on Twitter, but it's worth repeating: my thanks to the organisers, volunteers, speakers and performers, and the delegates who all combined to make it a very enjoyable weekend. I really hope this is just the first of many TAM London conferences, and indeed European skeptical events (nothing against North American events, but costs and time can be challenging).

I spoke with a number of people who actually felt a pang of regret at having to go back to their ordinary lives, some either having to keep quiet (or even deceive) about the purpose of their weekend away, or knowing that they'd not be able to share their experiences with friends/family for various reasons. It's a good thing we have skeptical forums such as this to fill in that gap.

 

[PadainFain]

So much fun!

Not much to add really except that it was a fantastic weekend! Oh and I managed to corner David Deutsch for a conversation on Quantum Mechanics over coffee on Sunday morning. That really made my day!!

 

[Spiro]

I'm watching it fine with VLC on Linux. VLC is also available for Windows; I suspect your problem is the software you're using.

Thanks a lot: you're right, and VLC is a neat player I'd not heard of before. I still wonder if a format that runs automatically on one of the really universal players (Windows media player or quicktime) might not have been a smarter choice.

 

[Patricio Elicer]

On a side note,

Just came back from a 3-hour walk on rainy Hyde Park-Kengsington Gardens. What a wonderful piece of nature, so well taken care of. The trees are awesome, very old living beings of so many different varieties. Simply wow!

Now I'm revitailized for a good bye evening of noisy crowded pubs, and .... beer .

Comments on TAM London to come.

 

[big-E]

Managed to have a good chat with Brian Cox in the pub on Sunday night, great bloke. Wish we could have seen a bit more of the speakers mingling during the breaks and lunches, but maybe I was just in the wrong place(s). Adam Savage was great doing the photos-with-fans thing for sure.

 

[luke burrage]

I just posted this on my blog, but thought comments with suggestions for future meetings would be more helpful in a thread like this:


This morning I got home from a trip to London. This trip was one part spending time with my brother, one part business (no, really, Mr. Taxman) and one part TAM London, "The Amazing Meeting - London" (TAM) being the biggest part by far.

I've been reading a few reviews of the event on various blogs, and agree with most of what's out there. But a large element of the conference seems to have gone ignored; an element I think is very important for addressing in the future.

But first, for those who don't know, TAM is a science and scepticism conference, held annually in Las Vegas. It was set up by James Randi, whom I wrote about meeting back in April. The London event was an offshoot of the Las Vegas event, not a replacement.


TAM London featured a really strong lineup of scientists, journalists, comedians, activists, musicians, illusionists and writers. For example:

- Brian Cox, particle physicist and LHC/CERN type guy, who gave a great talk about exactly what is going on down there in Switzerland/France.

- Ben Goldacre, writer of Bad Science (blog and book), was REALLY funny (actually a lot funnier than some of the comedians in the evening entertainment event, in which he also took part), and he mainly talked about the lack of good science writing.

- Jon Ronson, also very funny, talking about the story of and the stories behind the upcoming film The Men Who Stare at Goats, which is based on his book of the same name.

- Phil Plait, ripping apart the movie Armageddon and praising the film Deep Impact as examples of science portrayed in film. I must admit I dropped off to sleep for a second, but my tiredness, and him being the last speaker, was the real cause, not his speaking skills.

As for entertainers, Robin Ince was in charge there. He hosted the evening show, and also did some readings from various books. These were often accompanied by interpretive dance, violin or opera singing. My favorite was Sheila and the Swarm of Killer Grasshoppers (or similar). The acts that stood out for me were A. Chris Cox, the mindreader who can't read minds, was very energetic and had a very engaging stage presence, and B. Baba Brinkman and his Rap Guide to Evolution, who had some mad lyrical skilz.

The highlight of the entire event for me was the awesome Tim Minchin. Compared to the other musicians and comedians, he blew them all out the water. He we funnier than all the comedians put together, and a better musician than the rest of the musicians put together, had a better stage presence too. He was about two levels above anyone else when it came to constructing comedic creations… as in, he didn't just talk funny or say funny or sing funny words, he managed to make comedy out of his music, not just comedy attached to his music, and comedy out of his pacing and actions and facial expressions. It's a good job I'm better at juggling than him or I'd feel like just giving up my career as an entertainer…

I can sum up everything so far by saying this: Everything that happened on stage was entertaining and professionally presented, and a joy to watch. I only learnt one or two things at the entire event, but I didn't go to be educated.

In fact, in an audience of 500 or 600 people who are interested enough in these speakers/entertainers to spend 200 quid plus travel and hotel to attend, I think the material presented was a bit old. For example, Richard Wiseman asked "Did anyone hear my interview on the SGU podcast the other week?" and 90% of the audience raise their hands. But he went on to tell the exact same story again, word for word, that he'd shared in that previous interview.

I don't mind, because I'd also heard and seen Tim Minchin's songs too, yet I was there to see him and all these other perform live. It was worth it too.


On to the part of the conference that was, in the words of the internet, epic fail: everything that didn't happen on stage, and all the people who didn't do something on stage.

Image the scene: 600 science and scepticism nerds in one place at the same time. 90% of these were 20something and 30something white males, all with patchy beard growths, and with long hair that is more the result of simply not cutting it than any style decision. I'm not kidding when I say I was probably the fittest person there (after George Hrab). So far I'm just making an observation, not a complaint, as big groups of geeky science types aren't inherently FAIL.

The complaint comes from the fact that most of these people probably got into the subjects in question through inherently soloist internet activities, like reading blogs and listening to podcasts, and reading books. Which means that 90% of the delegates booked a single ticket to the event, traveled there alone, and stayed in a hotel room by themselves.

And then, during the pauses of the official events, a huge number of people didn't bother speaking to each other! Sure, there was some interaction visible, and I struck up plenty of conversations myself, but about half the people stood around in the foyer, not talking to anyone!

Maybe I'm too used to juggling conventions and festivals, where the subject matter is intrinsically participatory: you are there because you like doing and learning, and the way to do either is usually a social activity, and that is besides all the other social activities and shows and events.

But the atmosphere at TAM was the opposite. For a start, there was nowhere to sit down and chill. Between the auditorium events, everyone had to clear out and stand about drinking tea or eating.

I thought "Well, I guess at the dinner tonight we'll be sitting around tables and we can get chatting properly for an hour or so…" but no, we were expected to each bangers and mash while standing up! Sure, an edge-of-plate drinks holder is handy, but trying to cut sausages with one hand, on a plate hovering in mid air, with a glass of wine hanging off the edge of the plate? Not handy.

This entire setup is probably great for a business conference, as everyone would be looking to network. At TAM, nobody was there to network, as what are you going to be trying to get out of the event? And if you struck up a conversation with someone, what are the chances your area of interest are going to overlap?

And here's another big point: what the hell are two scepticism nerds going to say to each other?

"I think homeopathy is false!"
"Me too."

End of conversation. Which is really weird, right? A conference centered around a method of enquiry that deals just in facts… it's hard to get discussions based on massive differences of opinions going when the reason you're at the same event is that you agree with the same message.

Other conventions don't have the same problem, as they are either about specific topics, like tech products, or about a kind of media, say something like science fiction. The second is ripe for discussion about favorite books and worse episodes and even, at the real geek events, costumes. The first are probably industry events, where those attending want to make money in some way, or spend money wisely.

Business happens. Or socializing happens. At TAM there seemed to be a distinct lack of either. Unlike a political party conference, where the vast majority of the delegates really ARE activists, at TAM the people actually DOING stuff could have been, and for the most part were, confined to the two front rows of the auditorium's seating.

Everyone else just watched, and reported on was happening using twitter.

I had a great time at TAM, and would like to go back next year. However, I think the event could be a lot more interesting and enjoyable by:

- give the audience more to do! Not just watch, but to do.
- have some non-auditorium events where the delegates can do things in smaller groups.
- rope in technology, and have live feedback and planning via twitter. Richard almost got this right by text messages… but seriously? Text messaging? Is it still 2002?
- have conflicting events. Do something smaller scale in the auditorium at the same time as another talk in the foyer/bar. Give people choice of two or three really specific, in-depth topics, rather than one generic, good for everyone talk.
- get some more new faces on stage. I'd rather see (like in the evening show) 4 people give a ten minute talk each than hearing the same material and stories for an hour than we've all just listened to on a podcast two months ago.
- schedule some people who disagree with each other about something to have a panel discussion on stage. That'll give people something to talk about!
- nerds aren't that good at working out social stuff; TELL them which pub to go to after the event, as they won't work it out themselves!
- get Tim Minchin back to do his full show, not just an hour. And Baba Brinkman too.
- maybe try to work out if the conference is going to be about science and scepticism, or atheism and religion, or both, and program accordingly. Ariana Sherine's presentation was entertaining and moving, but was it out of place? Glenn Hill was certainly interesting, but his expressed views on religion were VERY shallow, and if you're going to be quoting the bible, please do so from the point of view of critical scholarship.
- have an autograph session where people can queue up once and get their books signed by four authors, instead of the stupid mad rush that happened at the end of every session. Ariana Sherine did it right by standing at the bookshop signing copies as people bought them, but usually those doing the signing didn't even have a table to rest on, or a pen handy...


That's it! I'm sure looking forward to the Turkish Juggling Convention, and I leave tomorrow morning. Think of me, as you're sitting in your cubicle this week… I'll be spending time on the beach, eating good food, hanging out with good friends, watching and performing good shows, learning and teaching new skills…. ahhhhh…

 

[ohp]

I did far more socialising at Tam London than TAM Vegas.

 

[ohp]

And here's another big point: what the hell are two scepticism nerds going to say to each other?

"I think homeopathy is false!"
"Me too."

End of conversation. Which is really weird, right? A conference centered around a method of enquiry that deals just in facts… it's hard to get discussions based on massive differences of opinions going when the reason you're at the same event is that you agree with the same message.

Hmmmm. that’s a good point, let me think for a bit......

 

[Ersby]

While I myself only spoke to people I already knew, I noticed a fair amount of socialising. Sure, one or two people standing by the wall, watching, but not 90%. An enduring memory is squeezing past groups of people whenever I had to go anywhere. Unless these groups were all staring at each other in baffled silence, I'd say your impression of the event was wrong. Sure, more things to do would be nice, but that's kind of obvious.

Lots of chatting in queues, certainly. (About the queue, mostly!)

 

[tkingdoll]

Hey all,

So glad to hear you had a good time.

I have had almost entirely positive feedback, with the only quibbles being ones I entirely agree with (limitations of the venue). The breakfast thing was annoying. We'd agreed they'd provide coffee and pastries, as that's what happens in Vegas. We didn't agree they'd provide one tiny pastry per delegate. But that's for me to hammer out with the venue! The other issue with the venue was lack of seating for meals - whilst that was OK for most people for most meals, for the bangers and mash it did seem to be problematic. Sausages are kinda hard to eat with one hand.

Well, we learn, and we move on. I can't fault the auditorium, but it would be amazing to find a venue in central London that has big enough extra rooms for seated meals. Not found one yet though (at least not that's affordable), and I searched for a long time before finding the Mermaid. The problem was we'd outgrown it before we'd even started!

Pretty much everyone is demanding another TAM London next year. So nice to hear. I can't comment on whether that will happen or if I'll be involved, of course, but it's lovely to know the demand is there. Even the massive headaches we had with the postal strikes and email server issues seem to have been forgotten, although I should once again apologise for those. Very frustrating, especially as our venue-registration printing system died so we ended up hand-writing all the badges. Not what we planned, but we got everyone in and still managed to start more or less on time!

The speakers (what bits I saw) were incredible. Everyone loved the Tim Minchin Storm animation I'm producing, right?

(Hey, I'm allowed a little plug for my own project, shurrup).

My only regret is not getting to spend more time with individuals. I got in a quick hug with Tim and a quick hello at Darat, in between running (as best as I could in heels) around. I spend some good pub time on Sunday night with a couple of you, but nowhere near enough.

We'll be sending out feedback forms by email (saves a LOT of admin if we don't have to type them up!), so please do fill those in.

Spiro - the video format is mp4. The laptop it was run from at the venue doesn't have iTunes installed so it's definitely not restricted to that, although you might need to install a codec for other media players. Sorry if you had any issues.

Anyway, I have to run, still lots and lots to do despite it all being over! Don't forget the final free fringe event tomorrow at the Penderel's Oak, the TAM London Pub Quiz! 7pm. Sign up here: http://tamlondon.org/signup/pubquiz.php