As you may know, The Amaz!ng Meeting is just around the corner, one month from today (July 14-17). Even though today I am a secularist, I get the same feeling about TAM that I used to get about Christmas as a child, or religious Holy Days when I was in a fringe church as a teenager. This is because TAM is a time for my kind of people to gather together: skeptics and pro-science types from around the world convene in Las Vegas for four days of celebration — of science, skepticism and the skeptics community.
I know a number of my fellow skeptics who would bristle at seeing TAM this way. Leave religion for the religious, they'd say. And I'd agree, except for the fact that fellowship and community and the other social aspects of religion are not religion per se, but only happy by-products of it. And why would I want to give that up to religion, and not experience those social and human benefits myself?
Here are six reasons I am especially happy about TAM this year.
1. We have one of the best-line-ups we have ever had.
We have an expanded offering of workshops this year, on everything from making your own UFOs to defending evolution in the public sphere, from grassroots skeptical activism to advancing skepticism online and in the classroom. From the relationship between skepticism and spirituality to skeptical parenting. Almost 40 people are volunteering to put-on the 10 add-on workshops this year, and we are excited.
We have more panel discussions than ever. Panel discussions include Skepticism on TV, featuring Richard Dawkins, Adam Savage Phil Plait and others; Our Future in Space featuring Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, Pamela Gay and Lawrence Krauss; and other panels exploring the ethics of paranormal investigation, diversity in skepticism, science based medicine and the placebo effect, skeptical activism, and communicating skepticism. This is all in addition to two live tapings of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe.
We have amazing speakers and panelists on the main program — and more of them — than any prior TAM. (I think it may be hard to top next year!)
And we are pleased to offer a program this year that is more diverse than any prior TAM or any other skeptics conference, with speakers and panelists on the main program who are an equal ratio of women to men, for instance.
The evening shows and events this year are dynamite! Paul Provenza and the comedians presented in ¡SATIRISTAS! — Live in Concert, Rebecca Watson's Game Show and Variety Hour, Max Maven's amazing Thinking In Person, Penn Jillette’s Private Rock & Roll, Doughnut and Bacon Party — more folks have purchased tickets to these evening shows and events this year than ever before and I am looking forward to each and every one of them.
2. More people will attend TAM this year than any previous TAM.
TAM keeps growing every year and it looks like we will have to close registrations in the next week or two at 1500 attendees because of capacity issues. There are still a few spaces left, and if you would like to join us for TAM, please register soon.
3. Good things come out of TAM.
Because so many skeptics are not content merely to gather and talk skepticism and science (as fun as that can be), but instead are inclined to get to work together combatting the trends of unreason in society, a lot of planning and networking at TAM often results in new projects getting launched, such as the founding of new local skeptics groups, and the creation of grassroots activism campaigns, web initiatives, and numerous podcasts and radio shows focusing on skepticism and the speakers at TAM. I have heard from so many folks about amazing things coming out of the Amaz!ng Meetings. If you are involved in such a project, let me know so we can highlight it in the future — email me at djgrothe [at] randi.org.
4. More students will attend TAM than any previous skeptics conference.
Although the skeptics movement has always skewed a bit older (I am 37 and Randi is soon to be 83), I am happy to say that close to 200 high school and college students from around the world have taken advantage of the discounted student registration option this year. Not only is this more students than have ever been at TAM before, but we are pretty confident that this will be the largest gathering of skeptic students ever. And with representatives from Secular Student Alliance and Center for Inquiry On Campus attending TAM with exhibitor tables, these students will be able to get more involved with student skeptical activism if they are so inclined.
5. Lots of new faces.
Partly a result of more people attending TAM than ever, there will be over 700 people coming to The Amaz!ng Meeting this year who have never before been to one. I think that this means that new folks are getting involved in the skeptical movement, and that TAM, among other things, is an outreach vehicle. I know how welcoming TAM is to new people, and I know that all of these new faces will be greeted with smiles and open arms, even by those of us who have been to many previous TAMs and for whom it is something like a family reunion where we get to see old friends whom we have known for years. I'm happy to say that this year more than ever, it will be possible to make new friends from all over the world at TAM.
6. The TAM community is generous.
More attendees this year will have been awarded grants that cover their registration fees than at any previous TAM. The JREF has committed a portion of its budget to help folks attend who otherwise could not afford it, and thanks to the generosity of the JREF Forum community, in addition to the fundraising work and generosity of people like Amy Roth from Surly-Ramics, Heidi Anderson from SheThought.com and others, over 60 registrants will be able to attend TAM this year through a grant.
I have never been more excited about one of our Amaz!ng Meetings. I look forward to seeing you at TAM Vegas 2011!