Why Dragon*Con?

I’m heading out to a conference early next month, a special gathering of Australian skeptics. The agenda looks fascinating, the feedback should be great… it’s bound to be a valuable experience. I’m already starting to pull together notes and talk to people and read, read, read and research so I am able to contribute.

I feel about it… in kind of the same way I feel about Dragon*Con.

Sure, it’s not going to be exactly the same -- Wagga Wagga isn’t the USA for a start! Although, come to think of it… the eastern side of the country… a fair distance from the coast? We should start getting some massive interlinked hotels out there and start shipping in some people dressed as pirates! Dragon*Con Australia!!!

But there’s some things about Dragon*Con that also reflects much of what I think is vital to skepticism and a big part of what I want to see being discussed by the Australian skeptics (how’s that for a sneak preview)?

As you can see by the recent post by Dr Phil ‘The Bad Astronomer’ Plait, that there’s plenty of obvious reasons that people will go to Dragon*Con (I got a sneak preview of the show -- thanks Derek! I loved it!!) :

… Dragon*Pod, the official Dragon*Con podcast, which just released their premier episode. It’s hosted by Derek and Swoopy (MMMmmmmmm, Swoopy) from Skepticality and Kevin from the Firefly podcast The Signal. There’s music by my man George Hrab, too, so there’s no losing.

…I’ll be there, James Randi will be there, Michael Shermer will be there, and OMG OMG OMG guess who else?!

Phil Plait is clearly big fan of Science Fiction in general, as you’d know, so he’s got plenty of enthusiasm for that at Dragon*con too! It is naturally a big drawcard for the majority of the people who attend.

But this year in particular, I’ve been fortunate enough to have regular conversations with Derek of Skepticality about just how wonderful this conference is. Sure, there’s plenty of people that the BA mention, such as Randi and Hrab, the various great podcasts and vodcasts, scientists, science fiction and more science fiction, speculative writing, gaming, literature, television, graphic art and film icons than you can throw a pirate-reference at.

What a conference like Dragon*Con demonstrates by seriously and passionately committing this much effort in such massive multiple venues with so many involved -- makes me question if, in terms of not just the money (although it’s the best bargain I’ve ever heard for a conference attendance fee) what this conference really has that makes it get better every year for skeptics? I think much of it lies in how it’s run and the admiration of science that is shared by skeptics and fans of speculative fiction. It also raises the question -- are they truly linked? I know anecdotally that there’s an overlap and it’s a great chance to see more and even seriously look into.

I’m also interested in (as you can see by my previous posts on various resources, issues and through various interviews) sex differences and skepticism. Rather than touting (understandably questioned) research on female role models handing out test papers or just asking Intro Psych undergrads on the influence of same gender-role models -- let’s ponder something relevant about our views on role models in skepticism and what impact conferences have on learning about roles and perceptions.

There’s plenty we can see in the research about portrayals of women and their contribution to science-related fields, but there should be a considered look at Science-related conferences that feature women in that regard. What about younger women, who attend conferences too? Can we have the opportunity to say more about various groups like skepticism amongst science students, skepticism and gamers and even skepticism correlation to religious belief with such a large sample size to question?

Certainly Dragon*Con features an excellent example in terms of women taking a leading role (just have a listen to the latest Dragon*Pod by Swoopy!) Dragon*con, with its interaction of popular culture and science fiction, involves over thirty different Programming Tracks, features a great many women who celebrate the interaction of fiction and non-fiction in science. I know that Dr Pamela Gay of Astronomy Cast will be returning as well as Dr Ginger Campbell -- who wrote a fantastic account here (don’t forget their podcasts at Astronomy Cast and the wonderfully illustrative Brain Science podcast!). More and more just keep getting added to the list every day, it seems!

Best of all, there’s workshops, panels and presentations (such as the filmed ones that you can find online) that reflect the interaction of many people and passion for their professions. And seriously -- smack-downs for the sake of demonstrating one’s ‘dominance’ over the ‘credulous’? Why not get to know how to discuss the paranormal and pseudoscientific, with panel discussions like the one demonstrated here -- rather than have people criticise that we only ‘preach to the choir’:

I know my own enthusiasm does bias me somewhat -- if it wasn’t for a conference, like the one last year in Hobart, I would have probably never met Dr Krissie Wilson. Nor Loretta Marron. Or previously, Lynne Kelly. Or Swoopy, who is not only one of the Directors of Dragon*Con but presenting on the stage for Skepticality at TAM6.

Sure, the list of the Ten Outstanding Skeptics of the Century has been out for a while, we know -- so why pass up chances to meet the next generation of skeptics who write books and for academia on skepticism, demonstrate that they can prompt policy-investigations nationwide on dodgy health claims and take charge as track directors and moderators of events that promote skepticism -- and see them before they hit that list?

And more importantly, how well does this measure up to other conferences and meet-ups (as they should be compared) such as not only USA (Skeptic.com) and Australia but the many skeptic conferences worldwide?

If conferences are what we’re trying to encourage skeptics to do in order to network and build authentic academic and social relationships -- shouldn’t we look at what skeptics can get from such a conference and will prompt attendance? One of the big topics that I’ll be contributing to at Wagga Wagga involves educating young people and the relationship between teaching critical thinking skills to studying paranormal claims. If you think this is important to you too -- then why not start asking more about what skeptics could be investigating beyond ghost stories?

Better yet, encourage skeptical conventions to find out empirically how to get more people to attend and cater to a broad range as possible in terms of appeal, interest and identify with fellow science-enthusiasts? I’m also interested in the recent news item in the NY Times on recognizing transgender populations and whether the observations I’ve heard of people being unquestioningly accepted as ‘other fans’ at such conferences, regardless of one’s orientation, does prompt feelings of community and cohesion.

And there’s things that the Dragon*con conference show we can and indeed DOES consider for the wide range of people and needs -- even childcare facilities. Yes, I mean that this particular convention recognises that people who have young kids have to juggle (what I previously mentioned in an article I wrote in the Australian Skeptics back in ’07) a life beyond their passions for science, skepticism, what-have-you. Essentially, not just ‘life as an adult’ but quite young lives they’re trying to manage along with their own!

To use this service, simply register your child with the convention at normal convention rates (a bargain, for up to 30 hours of supervised care). Either pre-register your child through this web site or at the convention; sitters will not collect any rate “by the hour” during scheduled hours.

So, seeing that this particular convention features facilities for parent/s of young kids is something I totally support and see as another encouraging sign about how people should and can be included in events that introduce them to skepticism.

And…

..And I admit it. There’s gonna be pirates. Lots of seriously cool pirates. I mean come on!

I’ll have to wear my favorite Etchi pirate-girl shirt to Wagga Wagga, just to get the nod in. Here’s to networking and investigating in order to promote inclusive change -- for everyone.

Tagged as: astronomy, cool, Derek, Dragon*con, gamers, George Hrab, Harvard, Karen Stollznow, Lockwood, Math, networking, Pamela Gay, Parenting, Phil Plait, pirates, Randi, research, role models, Science, skeptic, skeptic conference, Skepticality, Skepticism, Space, survey, Swoopy, transgender, women