The FreethoughtBlogs online conference starts up tomorrow at 5pm CST with an introduction by the fabulous Debbie Goddard, followed by a fabulous line-up of fabulous speakers that doesn’t stop until 8pm Sunday. I’m going to be a desk-chair-potato most of the weekend, writing up stuff, preparing for a talk, composing an exam, that sort of thing, so this is going to be perfect — I’m going to clear a spot off on my desk, prop up the iPad there, and stream all the talks to entertain and educate me through my drudgery.
That’s one of the nice things about this online con. I can stay comfortably at home, get work done at the same time, and also, if I miss anything good, it will be preserved forever on youtube, so I can watch it on my time. You should flick on through. Check out the schedule, there’s guaranteed to be something you’ll find interesting.
High on my list is Treating the Brain: Skeptics Talk Therapy and Therapists, because I think the psychological perspective is underrated in atheism. I’ll also tune in to Understanding Ex-Muslims because, look, actual ex-Muslims talking about their experiences, rather than Bill Maher and Ben Affleck arguing. Ditto, People of Color Beyond Faith and Moving Social Justice Forward: it’s not all white people talking about what’s best for the other! I’ve never heard Sastra give a talk, but she’s always been a terrific and thoughtful commenter, so I have to hear The Little People Argument: The Difference between Respect and Forbearance, and Why It Matters. I think Secular Cults is an important topic, too — too many atheists seem to think that if it doesn’t mention a god, it’s OK, so they fall into traps like Libertarianism. Building a Better Workshop is relevant to my job: I’ve been steadily moving away from the lecture format for teaching to more interactive strategies, so I think I can pick up some tips here. And the Psychology of Trolls is going to be pure amusement.
But everything is going to be good. Like I said, I’m going to have it running nonstop all weekend.
Hmm, I could probably set it up to run on the big screen TV in my living room…
Forgive my ignorance, but I don’t really see how to “sign up” or “attend”. Is there going to be a link to a Google hangout or something from the lanyard page or will they post a list of links on the front page?
How do you go about listening to the sessions, if you haven’t done so before? Will the IRC chatroom be busy with discussion?
Yes, links to the youtube videos in progress will appear on the lanyard site, once they start. They don’t exist until the moderator clicks “start” in the Google+ hangout, so we can’t link directly to them ahead of time.
Whether the IRC is full of discussion depends on you! Show up and chat.
HDMI cable from computer to TV. That’s what I’m doing.
Does this mean I need a Google+ account?
*shudder*
Daz,
The last time I listened/watched, but didn’t have to sign up anywhere.
Tomorrow?!? Are you shitting me.
Was that announced anywhere? I had… plans for this weekend…
No! Just find the page and watch. :-)
Thank you, Beatrice and David Marjanović.
Each Lanyrd session will link directly to the Google Hangouts On Air event — the right-hand side will have a link under “Official Session Page”. Click on that, and when it’s live, there will be a Youtube video that you can either stream live, or watch later.
David: as always, participating live is entirely optional. You miss out on the Q&A but you can always watch the panels, since it automatically makes them Youtube videos as we close out each panel.
*does the dance of “Holy Shit, My first solo talk ever is tomorrow”*
Feminace @10:
What will the subject of your talk be?
Since she clearly didn’t see this yet, Tony, her talk is “Abortion 101” at 8pm CST. :)
I know; I might have questions for the panelists, though. I… wonder because PZ used to have big announcements in the sidebar for months before the previous FTBCons, or at least the first.
Fortunately there’s nothing mind-blowing in the first night; I’m still wondering whether to set the alarm for 4 am, the beginning of the panel about the asexual community and how godless it apparently is.
Alarm set.