First thanks to NCSBC '08 sponsors

Dec 8, 2007

Our inaugural NC Science Blogging Conference was such a great success that we’re doing it again next month – and if you haven’t signed up, don’t delay another moment.

We’re nearing our 175th registrant, and will only have room for 200. Register here. And don’t miss Bora’s daily mention of the Who’s Who of our expected participants.

The conference is free, by the way.

Like our first event, this second is a collective activity. Many sponsors are returning, and others have joined in donating funds and resources for the conference. I thanked the people and groups of the first one here. Now I want to get a jumpstart on thanking our sponsors and volunteers for round two.

As before, Bora Zivkovic is the inspiration for the event, and his daily cheerleading in spreading the word is simply awesome.

Paul Jones and Brian Russell continue to provide important support and advice. If you heard mention of the conference on WUNC this week, that’s Paul’s doing. The UNC-CH School of Journalism and Mass Communication is once again providing a home base for our finances and accounting.

Even before our first event was over, Russ Campbell of Burroughs Wellcome Fund was urging us to think bigger, and giving us the funds to do so. Thank you BWFund!

Chris Brodie and Rosalind Reid of Sigma Xi also pledged their support, and that led to Sigma Xi offering their beautiful building as the host for next month’s event.

Karl Bates at Duke University (he’s soon to unveil a new online research magazine; see here) has helped to line up some interesting lab tours for the first day of the conference. (Full disclosure: Duke is my employer.) Erin Knight at the Hamner Institutes also helped with a lab tour.

JMP Software, is another repeat sponsor and cash donor. The North Carolina Biotechnology Center is giving us a grant to support the conference. CrossRef and WNCN NBC-17 are making cash donations, too. These generous donations will allow us to guarantee an ample supply of coffee, good food throughout the day (including vegetarian options) and travel grants to many of our discussion leaders.

These organizations have pledged publications or resources for the “grab bag of science swag”:

• Museum of Life and Science (cool new website) and American Association for the Advancement of Science are providing awesome tote bags
• Public Library of Science (Bora’s employer) are providing the T-shirts.
• Seed Magazine
• The Scientist
• National Geographic
• Nature
• Wired
• and more to come.

So, thanks to all the individuals and organizations supporting our free, public-understanding-of-science conference. It’s stacking up to be a fabulous event.

Anton Zuiker ☄