…because I’ll be speaking at The Amaz!ng Meeting 9!
I’ve been dying to announce this since I found out, since it’s an honor to be invited to speak at such a large and truly amazing skeptical event. And it’s even more of an honor now that the speaker’s list has been announced, and I see what awesome people I’m listed with (and I made it in before the “And many more” cut!):
Elyse Anders
Greta Christina
Rachel Dunlop
Pamela Gay
DJ Grothe
Harriet Hall
Jennifer Michael Hecht
PZ Myers
Steve Novella
Bill Nye
Jennifer Ouellette
Penn & Teller
Phil Plait
James Randi
Adam Savage
Eugenie Scott
Michael Shermer
Karen Stollznow
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Rebecca Watson
…Just to name a few. Go check out the whole list here. The weird thing about my life is that I’ve actually met or even befriended most of that list already – I’m mostly excited because I know it means it’ll be an excellent conference. …Well, and I’m still flailing about meeting Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye. BILL NYE! *swoon*
Oh, and I should add that 24 out of 49 speakers are women. Way to go, TAM! See, who says these amazing skeptical women don’t exist? And no, I’m not just going to be speaking on the panel on diversity (though it’s great they’re having that discussion). Isn’t that awesome?! EDIT: Sadie Crabtree, Communications Director of the JREF, just informed me that the women actually outnumber the men as solo presenters this year. I think that’s a first for a skeptical conference! Go TAM9!
TAM9 Goal: Get Phil in the hot tub again, along with as many other speakers as possible.
I hope I’ll see you there this summer!
24 comments
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Alt 3
March 14, 2011 at 7:05 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I like how everyone has this nice, professional looking photo; the kind you’d put on the back of your book, and yours looks like they just grabbed the first thing they found on facebook*.Way to ghetto it up Jen!*or the third image of the first google images page for “Jen McCreight”
Jen
March 14, 2011 at 7:06 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
It’s not my fault, they didn’t ask me for a photo D:
Alt 3
March 14, 2011 at 7:11 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Well, at least the girl in the picture is you. Googling your name returns many non-you images.
BeamStalk
March 14, 2011 at 7:19 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Congrats!
Gus Snarp
March 14, 2011 at 7:25 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I wonder if there’d be a copyright violation if they used one from your magazine shoot. Not everyday you get to have a high quality professional photo done for free.
the_Siliconopolitan
March 14, 2011 at 7:54 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
“Oh, and I should add that 24 out of 49 speakers are women. Way to go, TAM! See, who says these amazing skeptical women don’t exist? “But … but … but … I thought complaining and making a fuss was supposed to be counterproductive. Someone with nice hair and teeth told me so.
Charly
March 14, 2011 at 9:13 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
There are times when I am not happy with living in Europe. Times like this…
Julie
March 14, 2011 at 11:40 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I’m jealous. By the time I can attend another TAM everyone will have forgotten who I am and I’ll have to fall back on, “I’m Jen McCreight’s friend” in order to talk to the cool people.
Sadpanda
March 15, 2011 at 12:01 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
You know what would be great? They should live stream the whole meeting on the Internet. They did this for TAM 7 and it was awesome watching the whole thing live from a distant country. It was quite disappointing when TAM 8 came around with no sign of video streaming.
SpitefulFox
March 15, 2011 at 12:48 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Bill Nye?! :OI’m jealous.
Hadeze
March 15, 2011 at 1:44 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Watch out for Caesar’s Legion I hear that there are a lot in the area.
NotThatGreg
March 15, 2011 at 2:58 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
When are you speaking ? Cos there’s a computer engineering conference starting right after and it now looks like its going to be really important that I attend it and maybe arrive a day or two early.
Charon
March 15, 2011 at 4:33 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Vegas… July… whyyyyyyy? I know, I know, they hold it there every time. But whyyyyyy? Why not somewhere that’s nice in July, like San Francisco, or Seattle?
Charon
March 15, 2011 at 4:38 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
The desert around there, including Death Valley, is a really beautiful and fun place to visit. But no one is going to leave the AC when it’s 110F – or 130F, in Death Valley. But it’s generally lovely and mild in the winter! WTF is wrong with a January TAM, if it has to be Vegas?
breadbox
March 15, 2011 at 6:35 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I assume it’s because all those old white men need to be in a warm dry climate.
Sam Barnett-Cormack
March 15, 2011 at 12:43 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
That sounds fantastic. Sometimes I wonder about potential tension between your careers in science and in writing, but looking at the speaker bios suggests that it’s very possible for the two to coexist.
Bruce Coppola
March 16, 2011 at 4:00 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Try to keep your head around Bill Nye. I understand that, behind that mild exterior, he’s quite the Lothario, with a trail of broken hearts behind him. You don’t want to be just another notch on his lab bench!I could be wrong, though. Or even just making shit up.
Julie
March 16, 2011 at 6:47 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Pretty sure Jen wouldn’t mind being a notch, as long as she gets to notch hers, too.
facebook-740856118
March 17, 2011 at 3:56 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Great job! I remember waking up at an indecent hour to see you present your paper. I’m glad you’re moving up in the world.Now to see if I can move up from HAM show to TAM paper. :)
Pieter B
March 17, 2011 at 4:11 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I’ll see you there, Jen.In response to “Why Vegas in July?” — many who want to attend TAM are teachers. It is difficult if not impossible for many of them to take time off right after winter vacation. This does not just apply to teachers, but they are probably the most affected group.Also, winter room rates in Vegas are higher than in the summer.
kiwiyogurt
March 17, 2011 at 9:50 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
“Oh, and I should add that 24 out of 49 speakers are women. Way to go, TAM! See, who says these amazing skeptical women don’t exist?”What about how incredibly white the speaker line-up is? It’s great to see so many women, absolutely, but there’s not great diversity across the board.
Deanna Joy Lyons
March 18, 2011 at 10:22 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I’m so excited for you Jen! Enjoy TAM extra for me, please!
Erik Leve
March 19, 2011 at 7:27 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Bill Nye!!!!!!!! God, he’s my hero. Very jealous!
Valh587
March 20, 2011 at 4:11 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
They need scholarships for broke people who want to go to TAM! Have a great time for me :)