I'm dorkily excited about the Science Online 2010 conference starting tomorrow in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. No, not because I'm going (sigh), but because of all the cool ways to follow what's going on from afar. After all, what would you expect from a conference about science and the Web? I plan to eavesdrop via Twitter (hashtag #scio10). There's also a dedicated FriendFeed room (whatever that is--see? I have so much to learn!) and a Facebook event page.
In addition to workshops on blogging and podcasting, I'm particularly interested in 'Rebooting Science Journalism in the Age of the Web', for obvious reasons. Concurrent sessions on open access and the 'An Open History of Science' bring up fascinating questions. And who could resist 'Online Civility and Its (Muppethugging) Discontents', where the moderators "reserve the right to use the words 'balls,' 'muppethugger,' and 'wackaloon'"?
The meat of the conference happens Saturday and Sunday, so it looks like it be another exciting weekend of staring at the computer for me. I'd love to attend it in person some day (hint hint). But in the meantime, people are arriving now and the Twitter stream is heating up. My burning desire to know who's meeting who for drinks makes me wonder if I'm more voyeur than eavesdropper. Whatever. Got to go.
Photo courtesy of Joe Howell
