dotAstronomy: PreConference Post

Typing. Is there any other occupation? (from Sci-fi Laura)

This year I’ve flown nearly ninety-thousand miles as I’ve chased conferences and collaboration meetings and colleagues around the globe. Today I’m a quarter turn away from yesterday, transported from Edwardsville, Illinois, USA to Leiden, Holland, the Netherlands. My passport, unused until March of 2008, now only has 2 pages left. It will be replaced in April, but it has two more trips to go: Italy for the IYA closing ceremony and than South Africa to discuss the future at the Communicating Astronomy to the Public meeting.

For now though, I am in Leiden, in my hotel room just sitting for a moment, stealing a moment to write before I’m swept away by activity.

I’m here to attend the dotAstronomy meeting. This is a conference I’ve been looking forward to for an entire year. This is someplace I know I’ll learn new things (I don’t get to always do that), and where I know I’ll hang out with people going through the same funding nightmares I’m experiencing (not good, but misery loves company?), and in general this is a place where I’m among peers who I adore and respect and with whom I expect to build great things.

That is perhaps the coolest thing of all about this little 1 week meeting: we have a goal. This week, somehow, we’re going to try and turn out a citizen science project. We’re going to combine our science know-how, our tech know-how, and our communications know-how, and together we’re going to dream and build and the hopefully invite you to be a part of it all.

Tomorrow morning I’ll be posting the UStream for the conference, and you can follow all the activity through the hashtag #dotastro on twitter.

Come, be a part of this, and help us build something new.

(If only all conferences where this cool…)