Memorable Dragon*Con 2009

I would say that Dragon*Con 2009 featured several memorable events for me.

Seeing Patrick Stewart crash the photography line for Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner, screaming how he was their biggest fan as he snogged Shatner (Nimoy collapsed under the table with laughter, so he escaped the tonsil-hockey). The security teams went bonkers at that one – how do you tell a Star Trek-star not to act like a Trekkie and harass the Trek-stars?!? They dealt with it by yelling at all of us bystanders. And to think that experience didn’t even cost me $200, as I was simply seeking the bathrooms at the time!

There was also tormenting Riedford… Rudfind… Roodnaught… some goofy skeptic who will be very, very respectful towards a female compatriot in the future if they ever want to keep faux-pickles-that-really-look-more-like-a-cucumber on their dinner plates. Then there was the crowd in the elevator who sang enjoyably lewd songs about how full our elevator was as we lurched to every single floor out of 27, all the way down. We were practically carrying each others offspring by the end of that hour.

Oh, and the monitor lizard that some fellow dressed up as a dragon (complete with biologically-improbable wings) who told us how over the years the costume would have to get bigger and bigger to match the lizard and then we’d all be in some trouble if it figured out how to break its muzzle. The logistics of taking a potentially dangerous reptile to a place already crawling with plastic H.R Giger-esque nightmares kept me hoping that it’d develop a taste for those stars charging exorbitant prices (particularly if all the money only got you the opportunity to run past their plexiglass-covered booths at full-speed in a steampunk corset, for a three-second glimpse through a pin-hole camera at their non-prime-time-TV shininess).

There was dinner with podcasting friends, dessert with the Skepticality fans (‘Dr Mabuse’ and Liselotte) and the nineteenth-floor crew on the last night. There were all-too-brief conversations with the best room-mate in the world, Dr Ginger Campbell and working to secure fourteen out of the required twelve interviews for Dr Martin Bridgstock’s research into activist skeptics. Every single person who was interviewed were more than kind and generous with their time and I appreciate them letting us snap them up during a very busy convention. There was also working the Skeptic Table with the likes of Mykel and Anne and very, very early mornings with Derek in the Track room, as I trotted off to fill the ice-bucket, test microphones and other enjoyable busy-work. I like being useful most of all.

But best of all were the panels and the people I worked with on them all – the level of professionalism, preparedness and enthusiasm was matchless. I was really proud to stand with you all. This year (I just double-checked on the schedules I left in my suitcase) the members of the Skeptic Zone podcast presented on a total of thirteen panels and/or presentations between the five of us. Mine included Gender and Science/Maths, ‘Darwin’s Bulldogs’, the investigation of luck and delusions and the Skeptic Zone live show, amongst others.

One of the ones that got a lot of feedback from the audience, featured on the very last day. It was called “Skeptic Psychology and in the Classroom”. Here’s the members of the panel (sadly, Daniel Loxton couldn’t make it) – Dr Martin Bridgstock seated wearing red; myself (wearing Wheels and Dollbaby, in case you’re wondering – there were a few questions about some of the items I wore!), D.J Grothe of Point of Inquiry standing with me; Barbara Drescher and Matt Lowry on my left.

I think that the panel was recorded, so I’ll make an effort to go over the audio later. But as I recall, one big issue that people wished to discuss was the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act in the USA. I replied (after Matt also responded, and quite correctly, in the first place) that it’s a broader political issue beyond skepticism and critical thinking. But because I completed a Masters degree in Education which had a final year unit on ‘Perspectives on Curriculum’, I was introduced to a good overview of the NCLB Act.

It is called “Benchmarks and Growth and Success… Oh My!” by G. Gage Kinsbury (pdf). This paper discusses some of the recent research concertning attempts in the USA to use student proficiency levels and content standards to identify schools that were struggling. As the paper says, “the issue was that a key element in the NCLB metrics which was ovelooked was individual growth. A more complete accountability system would reqard schools for the growth they nurture in students. Proficiency standards are useful in measuring status, but they can create inequity by focusing schools on the relatively small number of students who are nearly proficient, and diverting their attention from those who are far from proficient.”

If you came across this blog looking for that document – there it is. I’ll continue to do some more research, particularly since I’ve been asked to write more on the topics raised. Many thanks to all of those teachers and parents who came to the convention, it was one of the biggest hopes that I had, to provide some relevant content and network with particular demographics who should be better supported.

Tagged as: aliens, Children, Dragon*con, Education, Leonard Nimoy, No Child Left Behind, panels, Parenting, Patrick Stewart, Science, skeptic track, Skepticality, Skepticism, Star Trek, William Shatner