Science Online London (#solo10 September 3-4, 2010) is an annual gathering of people interested in the use of web technologies for scientific collaboration and communication. The organisers at Mendeley, Nature Network and The British Library continue to do a great job of hosting this important gathering, now in its third year:
I’ve been the last two years (2008 and 2009), and it has been worth attending because of the mix speakers, delegates and topics covered. This year includes talks from:
- Matthew Cockerill publisher and blogger at BioMed Central
- Peter Murray-Rust Chemist and blogger at the University of Cambridge
- Aleks Krotoski Guardian/BBC journalist, blogger and academic
- Evan Harris politician, Doctor, former MP for Oxford and blogger
See the impressive full programme here. Reading through the speaker list I wondered, where are all the scientists at science online this year? At the time of writing this, 12 of the 13 speakers are politicians, publishers or journalists with scientist Peter Murray-Rust the odd man out. I’ve nothing against politicians, publishers or journalists but it would be great to have a more balanced event this year. The UK is full of high-profile scientists with blogs who would probably jump at the opportunity to speak at this event. So:
- Dear readers of this blog: this gathering is fun, sign up now for the last few tickets
- Dear organisers: Please sir, I want some more Science!
- Dear scientists: if you are the kind of PowerPoint jockey who does a killer keynote, please contact the organisers.
Or as the skeptical Sid Rodrigues said “this looks like fun, needs more nerds though“…
O'Really? 