Head to the Australian Skeptics website for a news item on the event!
I would like to think that there’s several factors that contributed to the sparse attendance of Meryl Dorey and Judy Wilyman’s second lecture at the State Library of Western Australia (called the Alexander Library) in central Perth on Tuesday, 20th July. There may have been a few that were significant, but hopefully each played a part.
When I met up with fellow members of the Perth Skeptics Meetup.com group last night, we only saw a handful of men waiting outside for the lecture to start. There was no crowd outside, even before the 6.30pm official start.
Unlike the last time they lectured (on 1st June), there were no parents I could see, no babies in arms or children, and a few sparse flyers and pamphlets on just one, rather than a splashed array of paperwork on two tables. Overall, we were the youngest standing outside the hall before it started.
The first time? The venue pretty much filled the 200-seat capacity. This time? Less than a third, probably only 50 people – and as one of the Perth Skeptics reported:
A good deal of people left either during the seminar or in the break before the question time.
There was a significant difference in the running of the event the second time too. For the first lecture, both myself and Dan of the Perth Skeptics Meetup.com group were flagged with a circle and a ’star’ on a piece of paper they had from internet bookings. I even read via comments on the AVN blog that we were touted as ‘the reason’ that there were two security guards specially hired (apparently I’m nicknamed ‘The Black Cat‘? Well, a childhood hero of mine was Nancy ‘The White Mouse‘ Wake… ).
The second time? Well, the security guards remained – with just as boring a job as it must have been last time, with well-behaved skeptics only politely handing out our flyers or taking notes (including live-blogging). There was no list of names to be seen; a fellow skeptic was able to buy a ticket at the door – clearly bookings ahead of time just weren’t popular for Dorey the second time around.
What could have happened? Why was this such an obvious failure for the efforts of the Australian Vaccination Network to promote their ‘Never Inject Them‘ spiel the second time around? Was the packed 200-seat lecture theatre the first time round filled with people who felt that their support was only needed once a year? Were they that turned off or disinterested in the kind of content that the AVN claims is necessary for parents?
I have a few ideas myself as to what might have led to the shocking absence of the intended target audience of Dorey and Wilyman.
Firstly – the free public information seminar by the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research (TICHR) on ‘Vaccination. The Experts, The Facts’. Held on July 1st, it featured the latest scientific evidence surrounding childhood vaccination.
It ‘provided an opportunity for parents, health professionals and members of the public to hear from and ask questions of the State’s leading experts in immunology, infectious diseases and vaccination.’ Hosted by Professor Fiona Stanley AC, the evening consisted of informative presentations and a panel discussion with Dr Peter Richmond, Paediatrician, head of The Vaccine Trials Group; Clinical Associate Professor Deborah Lehmann, Infectious Disease Researcher; and Mr Bruce Langoulant, Chairman, The Meningitis Centre. You can view the presentation slides and other useful information here and I live-blogged the presentation at ‘LiveBlogging Vaccination. The Experts, The Facts’ at Podblack.com.’
Of all the resources, the TICHR seminar was probably the most likely to catch the attention of those parents who were just questioning, just wondering whether the messages promoted by the likes of the AVN have any weight to them. I was particularly impressed with how Professor Fiona Stanley stressed that they ‘was not on any side – they are there for the kids.’
How did the AVN respond?
Judy [Wilyman] spent a good deal of her time accusing Telethon of using anecdotal evidence to sway the viewers to the pro-vaccination side. Her last half hour consisted of anecdotes about the horrors of vaccination. Go figure.
There was also a specially created website I made in preparation for the AVN’s first appearance at the State Library – called “Vaccination Facts – A Response To Meryl Dorey And The AVN At Perth’s State Library“, it features a variety of useful links and resources for anyone who may be searching for news about the lecture. Perhaps that ranked highly in searches for the AVN’s appearances at the State Library?
In addition – we have probably all seen the HCCC ruling and the investigation by Lateline (’Anti-Vaccination Group Accused of Harassing Parents’), which was blogged at The Sceptic’s Book blog – ‘The AVN’s Reputation In Tatters‘.That news story and the efforts of many to ‘pass it on’ via Facebook and Twitter, blog-posts and email, might have allowed it to gain the attention of interested community members in my town.
What might have also contributed? The pro-skepticism flyers we handed out the first time around to those attending and the kind efforts of fellow skeptics interstate to supply the Perth Skeptics with an updated flyer. These can be made available on request of the podblack.com site and it is greatly appreciated just how many took time, effort and even donations to make these available.
Will we ever know? Could it have been a combination of these factors? What I do know is that it must have hit the AVN hard to discover that maybe the West coast isn’t as welcoming of content that promotes of Andrew Wakefield’s discredited research.
What will remain with me as a result of these lectures by the AVN? The first time Meryl Dorey presented, before the Q&A session, she proudly announced that despite emails being sent – urging not only Margaret Allen, the Chief Executive Officer and State Librarian but several politicians and health ministers to stop the lectures – that they succeeded in their goal to be at the Perth Alexander Library and they were very appreciative of the venue’s unquestioning support of the AVN. She mentioned how she thought she was being compared to a bikie-gang presentation by critics and pretended to manically rev up a motorbike, ‘brrmming’ loudly and laughing with obvious glee at how she ’showed those skeptics!’
No, not really Meryl. Your laughter only demonstrated how little you seem to care about both sides of the story and an astounding lack of sympathy and understanding of science, as reflected in the Lateline program. It is a pleasure to know that the people of Perth, for whatever reason, have voted with their feet and do not support your return. Let’s hope it stays that way.
Many thanks again to the people of the Perth Skeptics Meetup.com group, the Skeptic Zone podcast, the ABC Lateline program for such a well-timed report on the HCCC and the AVN, various supporters and internet groups nationwide and internationally who sent advice and encouragement – and the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research for making available a wonderful seminar and a continuing interest in what is being presented to the local community in the name of ‘health’.
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{ 19 comments }
Hear, hear.
I support Meryl Dorey’s right to utter whatever drivel about vaccinations she sees fit to imagine, but the HCCC ruling was bang on. Where that drivel is taken by members of the public as medical advice, and when Meryl claims to be “that second opinion” that people should seek then the AVN and Meryl need to post a clear statement that their beliefs do not constitute advice and that Meryl, Judy and the AVN are unqualified to offer such advice.
As Meryl wrote on her own blog two days ago – “All I know is that there is no public vaccination debate”. So she can get some things right.
Not to water-down the likely impact of all that’s happened in recent months, applying Occam’s Razor I’d suggest they attracted almost their entire support base (plus friends colleagues and a handful of intrigued onlookers) the first time around. Who needs to hear the same message a few weeks later?
Actually, it would be interesting to know how many of this week’s visitors were card-carrying members and repeat visitors.
No matter what the real reasons are for the dismal turnout – you’ll be blamed. How did you do it this time Kylie? Bomb threats? Barricades? Mind implants? Or did you just bring the AVN bad luck by “crossing their path”?
Oh no! Did I get spam-trapped or are you moderating?
I can garuntee you that Ms Dorey will have a peculiar explanation for why there weren’t many people there. Maybe they were herded into unmarked vans and taken to re-education camps?
Good work Kylie, Dan and the WA skeptics
or guarantee if you prefer real English
Occam’s razor is an approach not beloved by conspiracy theorists to whom the only explanation for an event must be the most improbable and convoluted. So I think Sean is right, it will be interesting to see what rationale they have.
Okay, I laughed out loud at that one, Sean!!
Bugger spam trapping! Will release it, don’t worry Andy!!
Thank you so much for all the hard work you have put in to keeping us informed about this topic, which has sparked lots of discussion in our house.
Another possibility is that the first time around the W.A. vaccination scare was still pretty fresh, and parents were super worried and the AVN fed of that. Now, however, it’s all in the past, and everyone seems to be OK, actually, so most parents are no longer especially concerned about vaccination safety and hence no longer amenable to the AVN scare tactics.
Well done everyone. I like the interpretation that all the anti-vaxxers in Perth turned up to the first one, and the rest of Perth is sane.
It’s fantastic that you were able to get people on the ground at both seminars. Getting material out at the same time as the AVN’s material is really invaluable. Thanks to everyone who made it there.
I also wonder whether guest-starring on Sattler attracted a core of nutters (I don’t know too many parents of young kids who listen to him) to turn off ordinary punters even further.
Well done to all
And to Perth for ignoring the AVN.
Meryl really is becoming her own worst publicity nightmare, and I for one welcome that. The more that she shows her true self and actions, the less chance she has of ever being taken seriously again.
And that’s a good thing for public health, and for children.
I wondered about the impact of Sattler as well? I mean, I thought (if anything) that might have boosted numbers… perhaps it was a deterrent, maybe it was ‘too little, too late’. Hmm.
One thing is for certain – the audience for the free (and I’ll mention that again – FREE, as opposed to $10 the first time and then $15 for essentially the same lecture the second time by the AVN!) Telethon Health lecture was significant. It was absolutely packed. There were people everywhere, loads of parents and I was lucky to run in ten mins before it started and nab a seat in the third row so I could get blogging. And they made a point that the material would be online ASAP, which was nice.
What heartens me most about your summary is not so much the low turnout but that people left before it finished. It’s interesting to speculate their reasons and the anticipation of Meryl’s “rationalisation” of it is overwhelming.
I don’t know much about this “AVN” group or what ever you call them…All I know is that THAT is the BEST t-shirt I have ever seen and I am not sure why
!
@podblack,
The re-education camps jibe or my appalling spelling which I assure you only happens here
?
Is that the woman Richard was interviewing on the last show, who kept going on about her “20 years of research?” I’d like to know what this “research” really consisted of. I’m guessing it probably didn’t involve anything resembling serious academic discipline.
I think Fiona Stanley took Meryls audience. Apparently people value truth more than paranoid conspiracies.
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