The live video scicomm chat at Easter didn’t entirely go as planned. I had everything set up to go live from a scheduled event in YouTube, but when it was time to go live, YouTube refused to broadcast the stream. Everything seemed fine, with lots of happy green icons, it just wouldn’t work. It took me 45 minutes to get a backup stream going, so I know a lot of people left during that time. I’m sorry! It made the chat a lot less interactive than I had hoped it would be, so I ended up just talking for about half an hour about potential topics for future chats.
Which brings me to an important question! Now that I’m better prepared (in the sense that I know how to set up a new stream much faster in case something goes wrong) would you be interested in another future live video scicomm chat? You will need a Twitter or YouTube account to participate.
Topic ideas
I mentioned some ideas in the video of the previous chat. These included:
- using online media to reach international audiences (challenges and opportunities)
- funding online scicomm projects (grants? ads? sponsorships?)
- focus on the science or on the people doing the science? Both are valid forms of science communication, and different media may work better for certain approaches. (sharing ideas)
See the video for more:
So what should the topic of the next chat be? What would you like to learn about?
How to participate
I will announce the next stream when we’ve decided on a topic. That’s the collective “we” that includes YOU! The goal of these videos is to attempt to be an online version of a very casual meetup or unconference event. It’s driven by what people suggest before or during the chat. If you don’t suggest anything I will also prepare something, but then I might not address your specific interests or questions, because I won’t know them unless you tell me!
You don’t have to be a scientist or science communicator to join in. Anyone is welcome and no questions are dumb questions!
The chat will happen on Twitter and on YouTube, but you’re more likely to get a timely response on YouTube.
