Later this week I’ll be journeying to Raleigh, North Carolina for Science Online 2012, a celebration of all things science on the internet.  Rather than the traditional “see a bunch of talks” format that I’m used to at conferences, Science Online is composed of a series of discussion sessions, with the presenters as moderators rather than, well, presenters.  The full agenda can be seen here, and includes such diverse topics as cybersecurity, writing for popular magazines, dealing with journalists, blogging for conservation, the state of women in science blogging, figuring out your audience, and more.  Audience members are encouraged to join the discussion in each session, and I’m looking forward to seeing that in action.

The extracurricular activities are pretty slick too.  The lab and museum tours include the Duke Lemur Center, several of the Triangle-area labs and museums, and even a visit to a tattoo parlor well-known for producing awesome science-themed designs.  Also, there will be an open mic, which I will be playing at (I’m thinking a short set of ocean-themed punk/alternative songs, since traditional sea shanties will be well-covered already.  Any song suggestions welcome).

As with previous conferences, I will do what I can supplying regular updates here and on the Twitter feed, so stay tuned (Science Online is, as you might guess, pretty encouraging of live-blogging the sessions).  Look for the #scio12 hashtag.  For those who are n00bz like me, here’s a helpful guide.  Looking forward to meeting some of the people I’ve been reading.