Skepticamp Ohio: Recap!

The first ever Skepticamp Ohio was a resounding success! By some estimates we had around 40-50 people show up from all across Ohio and Indiana. I met alot of really interesting people and definitely had some thought provoking discussions with them. Jen Myers from Skepchick.org and Central Ohioans for Rational Inquiry and Ashley Paramore from Students for Freethought at OSU did a fantastic job organizing the event, and I have to sincerely thank them for putting everything together. One of the people I met, Colin Thornton, blogs over at at Science-Based Parenting, so I suggest everyone check out his site as well (I've added his RSS feed to my blog list).

The most important thing I learned at this conference was that people join groups for one reason: community. When I created the Kent State Freethinkers, I did so because I love talking about science and reason and wanted to bring together like-minded people. I also wanted to create a service group that wasn't based to religious conceptions of morality, but one that works to improve life because it is our task to do so as responsible citizens of the world. Looking back, I think the group has struggled to take off because I've a pretty a piss-poor job advertising for it, but more so because I made the meetings too much like a science lecture, and not enough about community and fellowship.

True to form, my talk on virus evolution was alittle too in depth for the audience. I think I could have skipped some of the details about infection and evolution and stuck to more entertaining subjects. Clicking though the slides I've posted below, its hard to believe I talked for nearly a whole hour.

Viral Evolution: Is Ohio at Risk?

View more presentations from MolecularFossils.

The day ended with a great series of skeptic-related games, one of which I managed to win and take home an awesome little Flying-Spaghetti Monster doll. My favorite was a game called "This or That?" where contestants had to discern weather a name was taken from pseudoscience or science fiction, the best being "cryptozoololgy or Godzilla opponent?"

I think every one involved had a great time, so I hope Jen and Ashley find time to organize this again next year. The next Skepticamp is this weekend in Denver, Colorado, so if you're in the area you should definitely check it out!