This blog network has decided to put on a show. We go to conferences a lot, we have conversations with all kinds of atheists, we have things to say and we know you do, too, so we have decided to put on our own conference, with our themes and interests. And because we’re a blog network, we’re entirely comfortable with doing it all in our pajamas, so we propose to do this entirely with the technology our readers have on hand already: the internet. And further, we’re going to do it entirely for free — if you can get on the internet, you can access the talks and panels. If you can type, you can converse with everyone in our chat room.
An Online Conference
19-21 July 2013
FtBCon is a free, online conference organized by the Freethought Blogs network. It will take place on July 19-21 and will focus on social justice, technology, and the future of the freethought movement. Without travel, registration, or hotel costs, FtBCon will be accessible to freethinkers around the world. Conference sessions will be held through Google+ hangouts, and attendees will have the opportunity to interact with each other in chat rooms and to submit questions to moderators.
We are currently assembling our schedule. If you or your organization are interested in participating, submit your session ideas for consideration by e-mailing PZ Myers with a proposal.
See that last bit? The event is a month away, and our schedule is filling up, but we also want to make this a participatory event that draws out your voices. If you’re part of a group that you’d like to see represented, if you have something valuable to say that fits into our overall theme, contact me soon and we’ll see if we can fit you into our programming grid.
There is a long list of scheduled speakers at FtBCon.org. Want to listen to them? Want to join them? Come right here to FreeThoughtBlogs on 19-21 July.
I’ll be back from Europe by then, and happy to participate if asked. I think it’s a great idea, it eliminates the disparities between those able to attend conferences and those who are not, and it gives the latter a chance to be heard.
B-b-b-but TOTALITARIAN BULLIES. And someone named Godwin. And the Internet is not Real Life. And…
Ok, I just can’t. It sound really exciting and I will make sure to be there, and it will be awesome.
Will there be a policy on acceptable behaviour?
Yes.
*Happy Dance* I’m even off work on Friday, so I might actually get to watch some live!
Awesome.
Jump on the anti-harassment policies sooner than later. I’m sure the MRA’s are doing warm up spam laps even now.
We know the assholes will be out in force for this one, so our logistics prepare for them. No worries.
PZ:
Were the Google+ Hangouts a test drive for this?
I agree with rorschach @1. Great idea.
Since it’s a meeting of the minds rather than bodies, it’s also an FTBCONsciousness. Hivemind unite!
PZ, will y’all be needing chatroom moderators? And I take it participation will be limited to those with Google+ accounts.
Rorschach: We’ve got this scheduling grid we’re filling out that has global time zones in it — we’d like to have stuff going on at all hours, although right now it’s deeply UScentric. We’d love to have someone to fill in the void during Australian daylight hours.
Yes, you’ll need Google+ to participate, but not to watch. Ask people around here, though — it’s fairly easy to get an account that preserves pseudonymity.
We’re going to use IRC for chats. My daughter is going to be chat boss, but maybe you can get on her good side and she’ll auth you to use the chatbot. She’s not going to be up 24 hours a day through this thing, I hope.
PZ, I’m back home July 17, so if I can participate during the US night shift in this new event thingy, I’d be happy to, I’m sure other Aussies like Wowbagger or Alathea would be too…
Bloody hell. Sure, you schedule this on the last three days of the Tour de France. The one and fucking only entertainment event that a actually look forward to now has credible competition for my time and bandwidth*. Grrrr…. and I have a topic I’d love to see discussed.
*Both are severely limited due to finances.
This sounds great! I’m looking forward to it.
Damn it, you are going to drag me kicking and screaming into Google+, aren’t you.
Aha! This is the culmination of all your years of effort and Machiavellian machinations. I knew this day would come, I knew your true interests would be revealed. You clearly viciously massacred defenceless conference organisers to drain their resources so you can channel them by charging for a… oh… totally free and fantastic online conference? It sounds wonderful and I look forward to learning a great deal from whomever is featured. Thank you very much to all involved for investing their time and energy into such an open event.
I think y’all are geniuses. This sounds awesome.
Quibble from a designer: bright red “CON” next to the word “science”…
Just sayin’, next time someone gripes about comic sans being a poor design choice…
Yes, we are, and yes, it is.
Pitters: Oh, other conferences not good enough for you, eh? With your *waggles fingers* “harassment policies” and your “welcoming speeches that are actually welcoming”. Why don’t you organise your own then, Captain Cleverpants?!
FTB: OK.
Pitters: *fumes*
YaY! I’d love to organize a panel, but I don’t have a topic. Yet.
Hivemind represent!
Its funnier than that… One of the very few good ideas I’ve seen from them was to have their own conference over Skype/G+ to “save the planet” as the evil “FfTB’ers” jet all over the place pumping out CO2. John Welch even had a topic of scepticism in IT ready to present on.
So not at all impressed at FTB stealing the Pitters idea here, I mean they would *totally* have done it themselves despite discussing this roughly a year ago… Its not like they never do anything positive, oh wait!
There are a few names on the speakers list that I am very happy to see there. Not only because they are great scientists or bloggers, but also because they are openly aligning themselves with FtB by participating in the online conference.
You’re only doing this so FTB will have the cheapest-to-attend conference, undercutting TAM. Admit it!
Wonderful idea, I’ll be there with both feet.
With both feet wearing slippers, or flip-flops, or nothing at all. We can do that. We have the technology.
Oh thank goodness. I don’t have any pajamas.
I do, on the other hand, have mukluks.
Your friend,
Janice from the Great White North.
A de-conversion room?
What the hell are “mukluks” and do I dare to look them up?
PZ – – are there currently any plans to address climate change and other environment-related issues with a dedicated panel on the topic? Thx!
Nothing sinister, just far, far, far north boots. Very warm, needless to say.
That’s cool and I won’t be doing anything those days. I’m going to have to find out how all that technology stuff, Google+ whatever thing works before then, aren’t I? I’m sure you must all be very busy but could you somewhere, somehow post a few instructions that don’t assume too much? That would be really nice, thanks.
Ooh, this sounds like fun. I’m looking forward to it.
One request: can you put up a technology page for internet-simpletons such as myself explaining, as to a youngling, what tools to use and how to use them? I’m a bit leery of internet video, not having had good experiences with it.
This.. is the most amazing thing in the history of ever. I can’t afford to attend cons as is the case for many of us-this is a chance to be a part of something big!
Kristjan,
Good to see Bora and Silverman, yes.
Disappointing that even the stupid Novellas can’t be bothered. Let alone Stephen. No Plait either.
I hope Richard Wiseman doesn’t turn out to be an idiot too.
I will look into a way to do a group viewing for at least a part of it. We have some great free library rooms around with audio visual if their wi-fi is up to par. If not that, then maybe a house party. Also discussing presentation ideas with others.
With the allegations against David Silverman why is he included?
Don’t be so hasty! We’ve got invitations going out to a number of other prominent speakers — that they aren’t listed doesn’t mean they won’t be, nor does it imply anything nefarious if they refuse. We almost had Jamie Kilstein and Alison Kilkenny, for instance — they were very enthusiastic, but will be taveling abroad on that date.
Oh wow. This is ORSUM!
Sili, don’t read too much into who isn’t on there. The program so far has been limited by who is willing and has time to organize panels/invite speakers. Programming is still ongoing.
What allegations and by whom?
Yes. It is probably important to mention that signing of for participating shows that the person aligns with FtB. Not participating, on the other hand, could be due to a number of reasons.
@40
http://news.atheists.org/2013/06/17/johnson-response/
“On Monday, an article was published about former development director AJ Johnson filing a lawsuit against American Atheists for wrongful termination based on a claim of alleged discrimination.
She’s suing for racial discrimination. I’m surprised so little mention was made on the FTB network about a serious issue.
I’ve emboldened the key word in your question as that should give you keen insight as to what the answer might be.
Jacksonp – why don’t you just lay the ‘tu quoque’ upon FTB and stop beating around the bush, mmkay? Stop being so coy.
Jacksonp: I’ve mentioned little about it because I like both AJ and Silverman, and both sides have made a case and allegations. This is a situation where I’m not happy with any likely outcome and so I’m waiting for signs of some resolution. OK?
You seem to be someone with a cheap history of drive-by sniping, and your comments here contribute nothing to the subject at hand. Stop now. Only warning.
Why do you sound like Slymepitter, trying to slyme somebody with unsubstantiated allegations?
Sorry, I didnt’ mean it that specifically.
I haven’t heard from those people in general. Wiseman in particular is someone I admire, and I’m afraid he’ll turn out to be an arsehole, too, if he weighs in on the issue of feminism. On the other hand I really wish that he would weigh in and be awesome.
Also be careful about assuming blanket acceptance for everything FtB stands for from agreeing to speak at this event. I’m negotiating with one group right now that wants to have a session in which they air some grievances with FtB, and I’ve told them that’s fine. If criticism can make us better, we’ll listen.
Make sure to virtually hug and feel up Justin Vacula in after the non-introductory speech (you’ll need an experience pitter for that one, to voice all the “concerns” there are with the FTB echo chamber and to freeze everyone’s peach ahead of time).
Darn, I’ll actually be free that weekend, so I might actually be able to participate in one of your USian Atheist Con things!
I’ve had personal conversations with Wiseman — we were in Romania together, remember? He’s on the good side, don’t worry.
He’s also good friends with Rebecca Watson. I think that means she planted mind-control eggs in his brain with her ovipositor, so he’ll never cross us.
Justin Vacula and the other slyme will not be participating. It’s free and open, though, so I suspect they’ll be watching some of it and sneering at it.
@46
I don’t think a lawsuit filed by AJ Johnson qualifies as “unsubstantiated allegations”.
PZ, You give a valid reason as to why you haven’t mentioned it, just surprised he’d be included while this is going on is all, given how serious it is.
[Enough derailing. Bye. –pzm]
Anybody can file a lawsuit over anything, as any intelligent person knows. Which is why it is still unsubstantiated. You are behaving exactly as a ‘pitter would, trying to show hypocrisy at FtB on the flimsiest of evidence. Not buying anything.
jacksonp:
http://www.skepticink.com/incredulous/2013/06/17/american-atheists-sued-for-racial-discrimination-wrongful-termination/
AJ Johnson’s suit involves a few allegations <–(Key word)
http://news.atheists.org/2013/06/17/johnson-response/
Dave Silverman's response above clears up some of the 'rash of recent departures under unusual circumstances' my first link mentions as well as giving a broad idea behind the reasons for her termination. If the allegations are true, AA will almost certainly face strong criticism from various quarters of the movement-deservedly so. Until then though, is there any documented reason Mr Silverman should not be involved with FTBCon?
An excellent considering that PZ didn’t say “unsubstantiated”.
I don’t think you were deft or insightful enough to dodge the banhammer with that comment.
My condolences.
Jacksonp:
Additional relevant info about the case– http://news.atheists.org/2013/06/17/johnson-response/
Also, check out Black Skeptics, where this *has* been brought up. If you want to discusd this more, the Thunderdome is the best place.
I’d love to contribute, but the best ideas I can come up with (pre-coffee) are:
And that’s it.
I believe I shall attend, though. This sounds mighty keen.
Good to see Beth Presswood on the roster, the world could do with more Godless Bitches ;)
I know there’re lots of Australians around FTB, but I’m wondering what will be going on around European time zones.. I don’t have any science expertise, but it would be great to participate in some kind of Czech Republic/Central Europe panel. Maybe it would be interesting to share experience from a mostly godless country with the mainly US-centred atheism movement. I’ll send info about the event to our local atheist community group.
PARTY IN MY ROOM!
Seriously cool though, and probably in the top 2-3 cheapest conferences you can go to, once you factor in meals and travel.
I know little of conferences, but would it be possible for there to be a panel or discussion of some kind on immigrants’ rights / open borders / immigration reform? It’s a social justice issue which is far too often neglected.
Damn, those are the dates for the Cleveland GiveCamp I’m volunteering for.
Won’t be able to participate much as I’ll be on a boat coding for charities, but I’ll watch every now and then.
Walton, you’re in the UK timezone, iirc? Could you volunteer to host such a panel? I’d love to hear it, and there needs to be some UK-timed content.
—
Debbie Goddard is signed on to speak – and she’s from CFI. Good times!
This is absolutely brilliant! Naturally, I’m out of town on family business that week but I will be able to watch at least some of it – they can’t keep me busy with family stuff 24/7!
This is such a great idea – seriously, all of you at FTB, please accept this shiny new internet from me! :D
Is this pronounced “FT Bacon-Science”?
… Annnnd, now I have ‘Bulbous Bouffant’ by Radio Free Vestibule going through my head. Thank you ever so much.
Cool! I’ll be watching for sure.
faehnrich #60- Are you in the Cleveland Skeptics or Northeast Ohio Secular Woman? I’d love to meet you.
Awesome! I’m in! Gonna need to make a G+ account for my pseudonym, but that shouldn’t be a problem at all!
Bummer…i will be bass fishing the Potomac on the 20th, but will try and pop-in on Friday and Sunday. Of course, WHY MUST YOU ASSIMULATE ME!
Google+….damn. From what I understand, Google+ uses your real identification, which is good. The assholes are easier to identify, and it sounds like you can still somewhat masking your real name. The issue for me is that I do not want to be annoymous to other APlusers, but I want to remain behind my cloak from the assholes. I do not want to be “investigated and doxxed (Slimers doxxed not real, Annoynmous type doxxing). For those who are watching but not logged onto Google+ is it possible to mask participant’s names unless you are signed onto Google+?
I am an out of the closet atheist with my friends and family, which is not the issue. I just want to be out of the closet on my terms. Hence, the ability to mask names from those only watching and not participating?
I am only slowly coming out withing the A+ community….(Thanks, ‘Pitters! You made me more powerful…MWAHH!!!)
I have applied to be a volunteer with the Atheist Hotline: http://recoveringfromreligion.org/hotline-project/. My first forray into organized Atheism – again, Thanks, ‘Pitters!
Can we have a session about the Atheist hotline, or more general, various avenues to get involved, make your voice heard, and support atheism with a social justice component.
How much of this will be doable in text?
(I don’t have a relevant disability, and there’s a tiny webcam built into my laptop, but it’s much easier for me physically to put the laptop behind a larger monitor and better keyboard, so I have never used the webcam. I can view/listen to video, but am not sure I could comment/participate in that mode.
I’m with comment 38! :-)
(Can’t tell yet if I’ll have Internet access or be in the field. Probably not both.)
Yes yes yes!!!!!
What does it mean to host a panel? To moderate a session?
(“Our conferences are different” should be a TV Trope.)
:-)
Outstanding idea. Really looking forward to this event. Think I might try to arrange a house party for it.
faehnrich, G Pierce:
Clevelanders unite! Solidarity! And so on, so forth, etc.
I’d host a party for this thing, but my house is a mess.
dogfightwithdogma:
Jinx! I think you owe me a beverage, or something.
This things seems perfect for house parties.
Just chiming in to say- Awesome! I so look forward to this. I’m not one that can easily travel to such things, so I am extra appreciative of the opportunity to participate.
Ideally (and this is pretty darn ideal) someones would volunteer to liveblog/live-transcribe the video streams. This is not an easy task – professional real-time transcriptionists use stenographic shortcuts and hotkeys to manage it, while dedicated bloggers can manage approximate notes. Thibeault did liveblogging of the WiS sessions, for an example. Alternately, if G+ has an automated transcribing option… which doesn’t fail as horrifically as the youtube automated captioning does… yeah, not likely.
IANA FTBCon organizer, but in general, hosting a panel would mean you’re familiar enough with the topic to introduce a discussion about it and keep the conversation moving for a session’s worth of time, probably 30 to 45 minutes. It also might mean that you know who else to invite or suggest to participate in that discussion. In my estimation, Walton knows enough about the need for immigration reform to talk knowledgeably about it for that long, but he’d do better with a couple other participants to take some of the load – otherwise he’d be doing a solo presentation.
Moderating a session, which may overlap with hosting a panel, means less speaking your own piece and more guiding the participants to keep the discussion productive, give them each statement time, provide questions to be answered, and keep an eye on the clock. In this case questions will be incoming from the audience somehow via G+, probably through specific audience-moderators or chat-moderators who are open to receiving messages during the discussion (as opposed to the speakers or session-moderator, whose primary responsibility is the discussion itself).
Not fully awake yet so saw the date as the last few days and Ihadasad. Then noticed it was actually July, yay, sad gone. I shall look forward to this with anticipation. Good show ftb.
G Pierce – Not in any groups.
nigelTheBold – Fuck yeah Cleveland!
Cool, cool. I live on the internet so maybe I’d actually check it out.
… If I give up on my pointless refusal to use Google-.
Sounds fun — I’ll try to set aside some time, though I’ve other things going on that weekend.
Bah, this is the weekend I’m going to visit my parents! I may be able to watch some of Friday, but sadly, Saturday and Sunday are right out. But it’s a pretty awesome plan and I hope it goes off wonderfully!
The way it’s going to work so far:
We have a group of people with Google+/youtube accounts who will be managing channels at the con. I’m herding people into a couple of science and media sessions, for instance. I’ll be in charge of hosting and moderating each session.
The idea is that I won’t be participating much in those sessions. I’ll be collecting comments that can be given at the Q&A (if time allows) and doing channel management. If a panel has a lull in the conversation, I’ll throw out a brilliant provocative question to fire it up again. At the end, I’ll do a little web tweaking, posting links to a central website that will be part of the scheduling.
If you’re an outsider to Ftb and want to do something, you propose it to me and if we’re interested, I’ll find an FtB person who will do the hosting/moderating. If you’re organizing the panel, he or she won’t have much to do other than keep the software running smoothly — they’ll just be the custodian for your session to keep it in sync with everything else we’ll be doing at the same time.
nigelTheBold – Be more than happy to pay up. I live in Tallmadge, just south of Cleveland and am a regular in the skeptics and freethinkers community in the Cleveland-Akron area. Name the place and time. Be happy to host a party at my house.
faenich – Akron area ain’t so bad either. Hell, I like pretty much like all of Northeast Ohio.
G Pierce – how about we organize something locally?
Unless you’re actively participating in a panel/talk, YOU DON’T NEED GOOGLE+. You’ll be able to watch on youtube and leave comments in the chat room, or by email to the moderator.
If you are signed up to do a panel or talk (and keep in mind, we can’t have everyone in the world do that, and we’ll be limiting it quite a bit), then you do have to sign up for Google+.
Atheism with a Conscience.
I suppose atheists outside the group are those conscienceless atheists with no morals the fundy Christians keep talking about.
[No, that isn’t even implied. But there are a lot of stupid disingenuous ones out there who will hoist themselves up on that cross. So stop now. –pzm]
[Never mind. This is Abdul-Alhazred sneaking back on. Banned again. –pzm]
@86:
Referring to them as Pitters is much more succinct.
Dogfight- We’ll be in touch. ;)
There must be a lot of people in Cleveland/Akron who comment on FTB. I see people say so all the time, and they are the ones who admit to living here. (I like it hear and about a third of people in Cleveland/Akron areas identify as non-religious.
I wonder if “run for the cure” type events get people complaining “so you’re saying the rest of us are purposeless people running for NO REASON WHATSOEVER?”
No, they get people saying, “So you’re saying the rest of us aren’t allowed to run?”
Any DFW/north Texas Hordelings interested in meeting up for part of it IRL? I’m willing to host at my house which is centrally located in Grapevine.
@85: PZ – Got it! Thanks for the clarification!!!! Looking forward to it….wine in hand and boxers on!
When was Abdul banned? The lack of Dungeon makes it hard to keep track.
Sili, yesterday.
Also, putting in a request for Natalie Reed as a speaker, if she’s available and interested.
LOVE. IT.
SO looking forward to this. Thank you PZ and FtBers!
dogfightwithdogma – I’m down with the AK Rowdy.
Pteryxx, yes, I’m in the UK. And yes, I’d be happy to do that, though I’d need volunteers/suggestions for other participants.
dunno about “australian daylight hours”, but I’m volunteering for the U.S. graveyard shift :-p
what we need is a panel with Europeans dealing with the deeply annoying and ubiquitous “unlike you frothing-at-the-mouth Americans, we Europeans know it’s not a big deal” meme (see: “in Europe, being alone in an elevator is not threatening”; “in Europe, we know how to deal with racism”, “in Europe, we aren’t politically correct” etc. blah blah blah.
if you put something like that together, let me know, i’ll volunteer to participate in it. Given that I’ve got 2 citizenships, 1 greencard, and am planning on emigrate again, I’ve got some personal experience with immigration systems in the west. it’s largely from the uber-privileged perspective, but it’s always useful to compare what it’s like for a privileged person vs. what it’s like for disprivileged ppl
can’t do live-transcription, i don’t type fast enough. but I’m volunteering to do after-the-fact transcripts for the videos of panels etc., and I’m sure other people who (used to) participate in A+Scribe would be willing to help out, too :-)
Delurking to say that I will be one of the silent ones watching in. And quite honestly? I can’t wait! Thank you so much for making this possible: all of my favorite bloggers in one, easy to reach space, low cost (just bandwith), new names that I don’t know but will make a point to get to know, Richard Carrier already announced his topic of discussion and it sounds great, Feminist Hivemind cooking something up ….all of this and I don’t have to take days off from work or get on a plane.
Many thanks ! So excited!
safest way to protect yourself from google’s occasional tantrums about pseudonyms is to make a g+ account with an alternative gmail.
not really. they’d love to, for marketing purposes, but until they start asking for your passport before signup, it’s still quite possible to be pseudonymous on g+. I am, for example.
that would indeed be awesome
Jadehawk:
This would be so glorious. Thank you, and thanks to anyone else who volunteers to help out with this, too. There are so many details I end up missing, and there are a lot of people who have a far harder time than I do.
Topic proposal: a panel of godless webcartoonists.
Sure, it’s not as weighty or serious as the scientific, political, or philosophical discussions that seem to be most of what everyone else is talking about, but the venue does seem uniquely suited to it, and the arts in general are an important part of the atheist community that seem to get overlooked often.
I’d like to vote for honoring the female intellectual life as a panel topic. I think it’s important to discuss ways to maintain that space, especially since we are so often treated as if we are cannot be intellectual (sometimes by male atheists.)
And I just read the news. Maybe organizing locally to protect women’s rights would be a better topic. Jebus, Texas. What the fuck?
I’m happy to volunteer to do captions and/or transcriptions. I captioned the last couple of Tropes v Women videos for Anita Sarkeesian using http://www.amara.org, which allows teams of people to add captions and subs to YouTube videos. I wouldn’t be able to manage real time, but I can do it pretty quickly. I
Otherwise, I’m really just looking forward to another conference. I haven’t been to anything since the Jim Jefferies debacle at the GAC.
I’m happy to volunteer to do captions and/or transcriptions. I captioned the last couple of Tropes v Women videos for Anita Sarkeesian using http://www.amara.org, which allows teams of people to add captions and subs to YouTube videos. I wouldn’t be able to manage real time, but I can do it pretty quickly.
Otherwise, I’m really just looking forward to another conference. I haven’t been to anything since the Jim Jefferies debacle at the GAC.
Oops – apologies for the double post.
“Without travel, registration, hotel costs, or elevators… ”
/@
As an atheist living in an official theocracy, I’d like to see some discussion of the challenges of living as an atheist in an official theocracy.
FtB CONscience?!? You are dividing the movement and going against science!
@111
Since I don’t live in a theocracy, it’s a solid bet that I don’t know as much about it as you do. I think I need to shut up and listen, so that you can talk. Religious concerns shaping public policy is definitely a real issue.
(Are you in Great Britian? I have a tiny smattering of knowledge about the Tudors.)
Hmmph. I would have loved to put my hand up as a helpful Australian, but you’ve scheduled this during my winter exodus to tropical paradise. The timezones are nearly the same, but I’d get sand all over my wifi.
FtBullies strike again!
This reads a lot like snark, but is this really necessary? I know there are genuine differences between different US States and different European nations and I don’t see why genuinly exchanging experiences about atheism and social justice issues between continents couldn’t be a part of FTBCon.
Humans are humans the world round, but racism, sexism and political language definitely play out differently comparing parts of the US to parts of Europe. Universal Healthcare is a social issue for instance, and its no stretch to say that much of Europe has (unlike the US) got that right. Yes, there’re lots of bad things on the old continent as well, but it does sound like you’re broadly dismissing European perspectives because of the bad arguments of some overly dismissive Europeans.