While I'm still recovering from the bus ride back from New York, share your stories of the inaugural Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism. What worked? What didn't? Do you have a crush on Steve Novella? Why won't you admit that you have a crush on Steve Novella?
I thought, overall, it was great. Paul Offit gave a great talk, the live SGU taping was nice but a bit to long. Jamy Ian Swiss was a great host.
Having the place in a basement meaning no cell service was kind of a bummer. At TAM7 being able to tweet what was going on and organize stuff on the side was a huge benefit. -NO- food or drinks (including water) in the theater was insane, especially for the amount of time we were in there. I brought water in my bag after lunch. Speaking of lunch, having George Hrab give a lunch time show in a room where no food or water was allowed was probably the biggest mistake. As a result I missed his whole show :( Finally, not having a lot of mingle time in between talks was also a slight annoyance.
Jamy addressed some of that at one point saying that they'll be at a different venue and set it up so there will be more mingling time.
I generally agree with everything you said, although I'd add that I think the moderators could have done a better job keeping the questions from the audience on track and not quit so rambling. That's a tough skill to learn, though, so maybe by next year they'll have that worked out to.
And, may I add, it was great to meet you and your wife. =)
I agree with all of Sc00ter's comments. I thought the panels, though the guests were all interesting people, were rather unfocused and dragged on. Zimmer's and Offit's presentations were definitely the highlights. But it was their first try, and a noble one at that. Looking forward to the next one.