Last Saturday, the 19th of June 2014, I was lucky enough to head along to the very first ever Brisbane Skepticamp. It was held at Hamilton, a handsome river-side suburb in gorgeous Brisbane. Queensland really did turn on the beautiful weather for us too! It was quite the sub-tropical treat for Scotty Harrison and I considering we started our morning in Armidale and a fresh -5C!
If you have never been to a Skepticamp, I would highly recommend you tag along to one. They are generally free events, where just about anyone can put their hand up to speak on any topic they like! Skepticamps have been organised by grass-roots skeptic groups all over the world. A few that have been held close to home include: Sydney, Melbourne, Great Ocean Road and now Brisbane. Due to the dynamic nature of the event, the topics are often widely varied which keeps it very entertaining. Topics in Brisbane ranged from “A Scientific Approach to Swordsmanship” by Scotty harrison, to the “Northern Rivers Vaccination Supports” by Alison Gaylard, and “Weight a minute, That’s Bullshit!” By Chrys Stevenson and so many more! Skepticamp also gives an opportunity for people to present when they mightn’t usually get invited to speak at more formal skeptical conferences. People like me. Most importantly, skepticamp is a chance to touch base with like-minded people and catch-up with facebook friends in the real world!
Brisbane Skepticamp blew everyone out of the water! It was A-maze-ing! From the slick organisation by the newly formed Brisbane skeptics to the high level of the speeches, Brisbane Skepticamp has really raised the bar for skepticamps nation wide.
Scotty and I with the big man himself, Carl Sagan, live in the cardboard.
A few honorable mentions and shout outs go to: Ross Balch of the “Skeptically Challenged” podcast, who put in the hard yards to get this off the ground (and continues to work hard, now putting all our talks up on youtube, complete with transcripts.) Ross and Jake Farr-Wharton, not only MCed the event but also wrote and performed an awesome love ballad dedicated to, of all things, water. Peter Bowditch, of ratbags.com took the opportunity to launch his new book: “things I think about“. Finally to Loretta Moran, who is one of the key figures behind Friends of Science in Medicine, and deserves each of her many accolades. After Loretta’s talk about FSM, my respect and admiration for her have increased even further.
So, I’m going to leave you all now with a link to the introduction, produced by Ross Balch, which opened the event.
Click for the Intro to the Brisbane Skepticamp 2014
Steaming Pile of Consciousness 