One month until ScienceOnline Oceans: Here’s what you need to know!

davesquare sciooceansScienceOnline Oceans starts on October 11th, one month from today! Here’s what you need to know in order to make the most of the meeting.

1) There are still spots available! If you’ve been considering attending (or if you are already planning attending and know others who might be interested), there are still spots available! The conference registration fee remains $150 for students and $200 for others. Register here.

2) Make your hotel reservation this week!  If you haven’t yet made your hotel reservation, you need to do it THIS WEEK! We strongly recommend staying at the conference hotel, as bus transportation to conference events and field trips is to and from the hotel. Additionally, the hotel bar is the evening social gathering place for the conference. We consider time at the hotel as part of the conference! You don’t need to pay at the time you make the reservation, you pay when you check out.

Information about hotel reservations can be found here: http://oceans.scienceonline.com/hotel-information/
If you do not reserve before the weekend, then
  • you may not be able to get a room at the conference rate
  • you may not be able to get a room at all, and, most importantly
  • ScienceOnline is financially responsible for paying for the rooms we contracted for (if we don’t get enough reservations)!
There is also a roomshare Wiki: http://sciooceans.wikispaces.com/Roomshare

**Please note that if you are planning on participating in a Friday afternoon workshop, it may be easier to fly in Thursday night, and if you are participating in a Sunday field trip, it may be easier to fly home Monday morning. A limited number of hotel rooms are available at the conference rate on both Thursday and Sunday evening.** Read More

5 reasons you should attend ScienceOnline Oceans

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sciooceansThis October, I’ll be hosting ScienceOnline Oceans at the University of Miami. Registration is now open (register here), and we still have a few spots available. Here are 5 reasons why you should join us.

1) The people. The list of ScienceOnline Oceans attendees includes scientists, students, conservationists, journalists, and science communicators from all over the country, as well as (so far) Belize, South Africa, and Canada. It will be an excellent networking opportunity in addition to a lot of fun.

2) The program. Our program includes a huge variety of topics focusing on how marine scientists and conservationists can use the internet for collaboration, education and outreach. There’s something for everyone.

3) Be a part of the ScienceOnline community while trying something new. Since 2007, ScienceOnline has hosted conferences that have brought together thousands of scientists, science communicators, and science enthusiasts. There have been several regional meetings, but ScienceOnline Oceans ( and ScienceOnline Climate ) are the first topically themed conferences.

4) Miami. Miami is a beautiful, fun and active city. All conference attendees will get to experience some of the local charm on Saturday night, when we have dinner in the city in small groups at a variety of nearby restaurants. Attendees will also have the option of experiencing South Florida’s marine and coastal environment through post-meeting field trips, which include exploring the Everglades, snorkeling on a coral reef, or tagging sharks.

5) The hotel. Regular ScienceOnline attendees know that the conference hotel is the social hub of the meeting. For ScienceOnline Oceans, we chose a beautiful hotel in a great neighborhood (Coconut Grove). Expect lots of late-night socializing in the rooftop pool bar overlooking the ocean.

SciOctopus enjoying the Sonesta rooftop pool bar

SciOctopus enjoying the Sonesta rooftop pool bar

What are you waiting for? Register now.

ScienceOnline Oceans update: Registration information and costs

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sciooceansI have exciting news about ScienceOnline Oceans to share! General registration will start in a little over two weeks. As this is a little different from traditional scientific conferences, I’d like to explain the process in some detail.

Registration 

Registration will take place in four stages.

1) Session moderators and workshop leaders. If your proposal for a session or workshop at ScienceOnline Oceans has been accepted (more information on that soon), a spot is automatically reserved for you, and registration will be a separate process. Please DO NOT register through the regular process.

2) Open registration. Open registration will take place on Wednesday, May 8th. To accommodate people in different time zones, there will be two registration times: 9:00 a.m. EST and 2:00 P.M. EST. There are 50 available spots during each timeslot, and they are first come, first served. In the past, ScienceOnline open registration spots have filled up in as little as 5 minutes, so please be sure to be prompt!

3) Lottery. The remaining spots will be filled by lottery. If you do not get a spot during open registration, sign up for the lottery and we’ll get back to you soon to let you know if you got a spot! Please note that the lottery is for the opportunity to register, not for a free spot.

4) Waitlist. There is also a waitlist for those who don’t get a spot during open registration or the lottery. As additional spots become available due to cancellations, people will be accepted off the waitlist.

Costs

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ScienceOnline Oceans: The planning wiki is now open, and other important updates.

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sciooceansI have a few important updates to share about ScienceOnline Oceans! For those of you who haven’t yet heard, ScienceOnline Oceans is a conference (affiliated with the NC-based ScienceOnline) that will explore how marine scientists and conservationists can use the internet for collaboration, education and outreach. The meeting will take place October 11-13th at the University of Miami (Miami, FL), and will include an expert panel discussion on current ocean conservation issues, a day of conference-style programming, and a day of field trips allowing attendees to explore south Florida’s marine environment. Scientists who want to learn more about collaboration and outreach applications of the internet are welcome, as are science communicators who want to learn more about ocean issues.

1) The Planning Wiki is now online, and will be until April 1st! If you have an idea for a session, now is the time to submit it!  For those of you new to the ScienceOnline community, theplanning wiki can be thought of as similar to a traditional conference submission page, but there are three important differences:1) everyone can see what everyone else has submitted, 2) anyone can add to what anyone else has written (including questions, suggestions, etc.), and 3) the person who proposes a session can, but does not have to, actually run that session- you can simply suggest a topic that you’d like to see discussed and ask people to volunteer to run it (and you can also volunteer to help run sessions that others have suggested).

We are offering four kinds of sessions at ScienceOnline Oceans. Skills workshops (taught by a hands-on leader to help people learn a skill), panel discussions (3-4 experts on a topic sharing their expertise, possibly including time for audience questions at the end), directed discussions (led by 1 or 2 discussions leaders, primarily consisting of the audience asking questions of the discussion leaders), and facilitated conversations (unconference-style discussions, essentially discussions between audience members facilitated by 1 or 2 moderators, which can be a follow-up to a panel discussion or directed discussion). Here is the link to the planning wiki.

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Introducing ScienceOnline: Oceans!

I am thrilled to officially announce Science Online: Oceans, which will take place in Miami this October! ScienceOnline: Oceans is affiliated with the North Carolina based ScienceOnline organization and meeting, and we hope to incorporate much of what makes those meetings so special, but there is one key difference that regular ScienceOnline attendees should be aware of. ScienceOnline: Oceans will focus exclusively on ocean science and conservation (and, of course, how these topics relate to the internet and social media).

scio_oceans

Who can attend? Anyone! Any interested scientist, journalist, student, blogger, communicator, activist, or member of the public is welcome.  Due to logistical limits, we will have to cap total attendance at 200 (previously it was 150), including organizers, presenters, and attendees. Registration will open in March, stay tuned!

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