We’ve recently added the following skeptical groups to our Group Index. If your group isn’t on our list yet, let us know!
Washington:
Kitsap County Skeptics
Amber Kost, Bryan Shorten
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=138477179510747
Austria (Vienna):
Vienna Skeptics in the Pub
Christian Weihs
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=255021530033
Are you an organizer or event planner for a local skeptics group? Are you thinking about starting a group in your area? Would you like to meet other skeptical organizers in a friendly, informal setting?
Are you attending Skeptrack at Dragon*Con?
Do you like to eat a meal approximately halfway between breakfast and dinner?
If you answered yes to at least [some number] of those questions, then you should join us for a networking event on the first day of Dragon*Con in Atlanta, on Friday, September 3rd. We’re teaming up with Virtual Drinking Skeptically to organize a lunch for skeptical organizers to get together, share ideas, and put names and faces to groups (and impending groups) from around the country.
If you think you’d like to join us, please let us know. You’re not committed to anything, but a tentative headcount will make choosing a venue much easier. Thanks! We hope to see you at Dragon*Con.
We’ve recently added the following skeptical sites to our Website Index. If your blog or website isn’t on our list yet, let us know!
Debunking Pseudoscience Course
Randall J. Scalise
http://www.physics.smu.edu/pseudo/
The Finch and Pea
Josh Witten
http://thefinchandpea.com/
We’ve recently added the following skeptical sites to our Website Index. If your blog or website isn’t on our list yet, let us know!
Michigan Skeptics Association
Adam Bourque
http://www.miskeptics.org/
PJZen’s The Big Picture
PJ
http://pjzen.wordpress.com/
Despite my two previous appearances, Desiree Schell, host of the radio show and podcast Skeptically Speaking, has agreed to have me back to talk about our Grassroots Organizing workshop at The Amazing Meeting 8. She’ll also be speaking to the James Randi Educational Foundation’s Jeff Wagg and Auston Luton about all the other exciting things scheduled for this year’s TAM. The show airs live at 8 pm Eastern on Friday night, or you can listen at your leisure when the podcast comes out early next week.
We’ve recently added the following skeptical groups to our Group Index. If your group isn’t on our list yet, let us know!
Maryland:
UMD Society of Inquiry
http://sites.google.com/site/umdsocietyofinquiry/home
Pennsylvania:
SkepStitch
Kiera Herbert
http://www.skepstitch.org/
The Amaz!ng Meeting 8 kicks off on July 8th, and we’ve been busily working out the details of our workshop on Grassroots Skeptical Organizing.
The workshop starts at 2 pm on Sunday, July 11. We’ve got two hour-long sessions planned, featuring a fantastic lineup of local skeptical organizers and activists. They’ll share short presentations, and answer audience questions, in order to arm you with plenty of practical advice for starting a local skeptics group, attracting new members, and planning great events.
The first session will focus on founding and growing a local skeptics group. The presenters are:
Travis Roy, co-founder and president of Granite State Skeptics
Chip Denman, co-founder of National Capital Area Skeptics
Michael Feldman, co-founder of New York City Skeptics
Robynn “Swoopy” McCarthy, co-host of Skepticality and co-director of Skeptrack at Dragon*Con
This session will be moderated by Michael Blanford, Director of Education at the James Randi Educational Foundation.
Session two is all about planning and running events for local groups. The presenters are:
Maria Walters, member and event organizer for Atlanta Skeptics
Maggie McFee, tech wizard for the Boston Skeptics
Naomi Baker, founder of the Houston Skeptic Society
Reed Esau, creator of the SkeptiCamp open conference model
This session will be moderated by Desiree Schell, host of the Skeptically Speaking radio show and podcast.
We’re really excited about this event, and we hope to see you there. You can register for TAM and get more scheduling info at the JREF’s website, randi.org.
We’ve recently added the following skeptical sites to our Website Index. If your blog or website isn’t on our list yet, let us know!
Freethinkers for Liberty
David Richards
http://www.FreethinkersForLiberty.org
Skeptorcism
Tonya Keyser
http://www.skeptorcism.blogspot.com
Grassroots Skeptics is pleased to announce that we’re partnering with the James Randi Educational Foundation to present a workshop on grassroots skeptical organizing at The Amazing Meeting 8. We’re assembling a fantastic group of skeptical organizers and activists, who will share their experiences, and offer lots of practical tips. If you’re looking for advice about starting a local skeptics group, how to grow the membership of your existing group, or ideas for events you can plan to help spread critical thinking in your community, then we’ll have something for you.
The workshop is scheduled for Sunday, July 11th at 2 pm. Stay tuned here for more information, as we confirm the roster of presenters and hammer out the specifics of the program. You can visit randi.org to check out the entire TAM schedule and sign up for the workshop. You can also register for the All Workshop Pass, which will grant you access to all the workshops happening that weekend.
The JREF is devoting an unprecedented amount of time at this year’s TAM to promoting the efforts of grassroots skeptical groups, and we’re excited to be a part of it. We hope to see you there!
Granite State Skeptics, a New Hampshire group of critical thinkers, is bringing the successful model of skeptics at comic conventions to the Granite State later this month. They’re on the program at the Granite State Comicon, with a panel on the science behind a broad range of paranormal phenomena.
Group president Travis Roy moderates a panel that includes educator Dale Roy, badalien.org owner/operator Kitty Mervine, and a representative from the James Randi Educational Foundation. The convention takes place on Saturday, May 23rd, at the Radisson Center in Manchester, NH. For more information and to register, visit http://granitecon.com/.
