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TAM 9 Program

TsarBomba said:
Interesting Tweet from the JREF official Twitter account about one Twitter poster's noting displeasure about the situation:
Ouch! Next time we plan TAM for 1500 people, we will ask about your dinner plans first. FYI, after dinner keynotes are common.
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That kind of a response is uncalled for. Sounds like whoever wrote that isn't aware that it's not only one person who is inconvenienced by this.
 
AdMan said:
That kind of a response is uncalled for. Sounds like whoever wrote that isn't aware that it's not only one person who is inconvenienced by this.
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...Or that the person in question has given a fair bit of money to JREF over the years, and deserves a more professional response than that.
 
Cleon said:
...Or that the person in question has given a fair bit of money to JREF over the years, and deserves a more professional response than that.
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That may be true, but even if the person had never given them one cent it would be unprofessional. The JREF should apologize.
 
TsarBomba said:
I think that the SP has brought TAM a social vibe that never existed at the pre-SP events I attended at the Riviera and Flamingo (can't comment on the Star Dust).
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I think you're right. The other hotels didn't support the vibe like SP does. As other have pointed out, people stay at and in the SP, the Del Mar lounge is ours, and we socialize 24/7. You can feel it in the air.
 
mr. ottle said:
I thought I was the only one in all of the skeptic world who hates panels. I salute you, my poker-playing panel-hating brother.
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Fitter said:
But not alone.
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I look at panels as 'go to the restroom, check your email, shop the bookstore and booths, see your friends' time

Tamazon said:
I still don't like it at all. The conference should be over at 5 or 6 leaving attendees to do what they like after. This is just really bad planning.
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TsarBomba said:
Interesting Tweet from the JREF official Twitter account about one Twitter poster's noting displeasure about the situation:
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Cleon said:
...Or that the person in question has given a fair bit of money to JREF over the years, and deserves a more professional response than that.
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Ahem. That was my tweet. I did not express 'displeasure', I'm disappointed that I can't do everything I planned. Leaving TAM, going to a nice restaurant with a large group of attendees, maybe seeing a show, can't be done. There is no time to go to the Strip or elsewhere and have a nice meal. SP has food, but it's not very good for 'dining' just for eating. It will be crowded. I can carry out plans, or miss seeing a big chunk of the name-power that part of the fee covers. Shows are expensive to buy tickets too, purchased before the schedule and assuming it was be similar this year.

I didn't see the reply until it was written into the Shethought.com contributors internal email list, and was written by a person that didn't know that twitter account was me. It was discussed a lot about the snark factor before I even logged on and saw it was me they were discussing :D

No biggie.
 
I was just alerted to the twitter issue mentioned above. The sarcastic response was inappropriate and I apologize that it was sent. The staffer has been instructed to avoid that sort of stuff in the future. Some folks have reputations for only ever being negative (you may be surprised at the sorts of emails we sometimes receive that seem to lack all good will) but even so, that sort of response to that tweet was unprofessional and will not happen again.

May I invite folks that if they ever have complaints or constructive criticism of the JREF that they can email me directly, anytime, at djgrothe@randi.org. Direct, constructive criticism may be most conducive to the goal of improving things than public complaining may be. We will try to always listen to advice from the skeptics community and if we can act on good advice, we will endeavor to do so.

D.J.
 
DJGrothe said:
I was just alerted to the twitter issue mentioned above. The sarcastic response was inappropriate and I apologize that it was sent. The staffer has been instructed to avoid that sort of stuff in the future. Some folks have reputations for only ever being negative (you may be surprised at the sorts of emails we sometimes receive that seem to lack all good will) but even so, that sort of response to that tweet was unprofessional and will not happen again.

May I invite folks that if they ever have complaints or constructive criticism of the JREF that they can email me directly, anytime, at djgrothe@randi.org. Direct, constructive criticism may be most conducive to the goal of improving things than public complaining may be. We will try to always listen to advice from the skeptics community and if we can act on good advice, we will endeavor to do so.

D.J.
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Fair nuff. Thanks, DJ.
 
DJGrothe said:
I was just alerted to the twitter issue mentioned above. The sarcastic response was inappropriate and I apologize that it was sent. The staffer has been instructed to avoid that sort of stuff in the future. Some folks have reputations for only ever being negative (you may be surprised at the sorts of emails we sometimes receive that seem to lack all good will) but even so, that sort of response to that tweet was unprofessional and will not happen again.

May I invite folks that if they ever have complaints or constructive criticism of the JREF that they can email me directly, anytime, at djgrothe@randi.org. Direct, constructive criticism may be most conducive to the goal of improving things than public complaining may be. We will try to always listen to advice from the skeptics community and if we can act on good advice, we will endeavor to do so.

D.J.
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And some have reputations as passive aggressive douche bags but that's not really the discussion here is it.
 
Part of the feeling that we don't have enough time to socialize is due to the massive number of people at TAM now compared to the first few. It's a good thing we have the Del Mar.

The scheduled is jam-packed, I must say. All the more reason to get together for a nice meal on Wednesday or Sunday evening.

~~ Paul
 
TsarBomba said:
I emailed DJ and asked him, and he gave me a quick, comprehensive, reasonable, and astute response. I believe he will be posting something on the forum in the next day or so on this issue.
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So was an explanation for the changes in the schedule ever posted?
 
Not that I've see. I did send an email asking about the weird schedule, maybe I'll hear back. It really makes no sense to me.
 
I attend one or two conferences a year other than the three TAM’s I've been to; and my conference attending goes back about twenty five years. I have no recollection of any speakers scheduled or planned as an evening event ever. I certainly pick and choose my TAM speakers and would rate socializing above a marginal speaker any time. It will be interisting how this year's TAM programing works out.
 
Howdy Forumites:

About the evening keynotes: one of our speakers specifically requested an evening keynote, and after thinking about it, we thought this would also be a great opportunity to offer an evening event that we could open up to the general public and reach a much wider audience than the small number who attend TAM (consequently, the evening keynotes this year have been scheduled for a larger space than the grand ballroom, since we would anticipate exceeding the 1500 spaces available in that space). In addition, there were other factors that led to our decision to have evening keynotes this year, including the fact that this year's program features a substantial increase in speakers over years past (with no increase in the regular registration rate, I might add). Additionally, about half of the attendees this year will never have been to a TAM before, so they may bristle less at any changes to the way TAMs have been programmed traditionally.

For what it is worth, I am happy to say that ticket sales for the evening shows this year have far exceeded evening show ticket sales of previous years, so it seems like folks are generally planning on enjoying the full day and evening programs we have in store for them at TAM Vegas 2011.

Nonetheless, because we have received two emails complaining about the evening keynotes, and due to the constructive feedback of this JREF forum thread, we are exploring moving them back to earlier in the day.

Keep an eye on www.amazingmeeting.com in the days ahead for any changes to the program.

D.J.

PS -- the concern about evening keynotes being atypical does not track with my experience. For instance, this year's CSICON in New Orleans has two evening keynotes, as has the majority of other major conferences with CSICOP, the Council for Secular Humanism and the Center for Inquiry that I have been involved with planning over the last decade. This also holds for past Skeptic Society conferences, and their upcoming one in June. Socializing and spending time with friends is a vital aspect of TAM, and I have not found evening keynotes to limit such community at other conferences.

Looking forward to seeing you in Vegas in about five weeks!
 
DJGrothe said:
Howdy Forumites:

About the evening keynotes: one of our speakers specifically requested an evening keynote, and after thinking about it, we thought this would also be a great opportunity to offer an evening event that we could open up to the general public and reach a much wider audience than the small number who attend TAM (consequently, the evening keynotes this year have been scheduled for a larger space than the grand ballroom, since we would anticipate exceeding the 1500 spaces available in that space). In addition, there were other factors that led to our decision to have evening keynotes this year, including the fact that this year's program features a substantial increase in speakers over years past (with no increase in the regular registration rate, I might add). Additionally, about half of the attendees this year will never have been to a TAM before, so they may bristle less at any changes to the way TAMs have been programmed traditionally.

For what it is worth, I am happy to say that ticket sales for the evening shows this year have far exceeded evening show ticket sales of previous years, so it seems like folks are generally planning on enjoying the full day and evening programs we have in store for them at TAM Vegas 2011.

Nonetheless, because we have received two emails complaining about the evening keynotes, and due to the constructive feedback of this JREF forum thread, we are exploring moving them back to earlier in the day.

Keep an eye on www.amazingmeeting.com in the days ahead for any changes to the program.

D.J.

PS -- the concern about evening keynotes being atypical does not track with my experience. For instance, this year's CSICON in New Orleans has two evening keynotes, as has the majority of other major conferences with CSICOP, the Council for Secular Humanism and the Center for Inquiry that I have been involved with planning over the last decade. This also holds for past Skeptic Society conferences, and their upcoming one in June. Socializing and spending time with friends is a vital aspect of TAM, and I have not found evening keynotes to limit such community at other conferences.

Looking forward to seeing you in Vegas in about five weeks!
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DJ,

Thanks for the response. I can certainly understand the logic of opening the keynotes to the general public for the reasons you state. In fact, that aspect sounds like a good idea. Who knows who might be exposed not just to a great speech, but TAM and the JREF.

While the scheduling may put a crimp in my beer drinking time, I'm willing to give it a chance.

And for the record, I've been to conferences (not just skeptics) that do have evening keynotes.

Thanks again.
 
DJGrothe said:
Howdy Forumites:

About the evening keynotes: one of our speakers specifically requested an evening keynote, and after thinking about it, we thought this would also be a great opportunity to offer an evening event that we could open up to the general public and reach a much wider audience than the small number who attend TAM (consequently, the evening keynotes this year have been scheduled for a larger space than the grand ballroom, since we would anticipate exceeding the 1500 spaces available in that space). In addition, there were other factors that led to our decision to have evening keynotes this year, including the fact that this year's program features a substantial increase in speakers over years past (with no increase in the regular registration rate, I might add). Additionally, about half of the attendees this year will never have been to a TAM before, so they may bristle less at any changes to the way TAMs have been programmed traditionally.

For what it is worth, I am happy to say that ticket sales for the evening shows this year have far exceeded evening show ticket sales of previous years, so it seems like folks are generally planning on enjoying the full day and evening programs we have in store for them at TAM Vegas 2011.

Nonetheless, because we have received two emails complaining about the evening keynotes, and due to the constructive feedback of this JREF forum thread, we are exploring moving them back to earlier in the day.

Keep an eye on www.amazingmeeting.com in the days ahead for any changes to the program.

D.J.

PS -- the concern about evening keynotes being atypical does not track with my experience. For instance, this year's CSICON in New Orleans has two evening keynotes, as has the majority of other major conferences with CSICOP, the Council for Secular Humanism and the Center for Inquiry that I have been involved with planning over the last decade. This also holds for past Skeptic Society conferences, and their upcoming one in June. Socializing and spending time with friends is a vital aspect of TAM, and I have not found evening keynotes to limit such community at other conferences.

Looking forward to seeing you in Vegas in about five weeks!
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I second the thanks for posting here, DJ. TAM is growing, both in speakers and attendees, and it's understandable that it needs to evolve and change.

I also agree that opening the evening speeches up to a wider audience is a good idea. Both Tyson and Dawkins can draw a lot of people who might not choose to sit through all of TAM, but they may after this year.

I also think we all appreciate the JREF taking into account the emails you've received and the opinions posted here.

Looking forward to TAM!
 
Thanks for the response DJ. And I'll admit that the major difference in the conferences I attend and TAM is that I attend professional conferences related to my work and I've never known these to have evening sessions.
 
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