Rich Ludwig, Reed Esau, &
Crystal Yates-White

Tim Farley

Robert S. Lancaster

What can regular skeptics actually do to enhance the appreciation of science and skeptical inquiry?

This question has been an ongoing theme for Skepticality, and this week's guest has one answer to propose. In his audio essay, "Raising Our Game: The Rationale to Embrace Skepticamp," software architect Reed Esau argues that "Skepticamps" (self-organizing peer conferences of intimate scale) can harness the potential of the "long tail" of the skeptical movement — offering a voice to all of us who have passion and expertise to share but who cannot take on the role of a "professional" skeptic. 

Skepticality presents the essay in audio format, followed by Swoopy's feature interview with Reed.

Rounding out the discussion, Swoopy talks with Tim Farley, on his role in organizing Atlanta's first Skepticamp, and about an important action item that all skeptics can help out with right now.

Show Notes

Date -November 18th, 2008 read by Derek.
Daniel Loxton's essay "Where Do We Go From Here" has inspired many skeptics.
Reed Esau started thinking about Barcamp and skepticism shortly after TAM 5 .
Unlike The Amazing Meeting or Skeptrack, Skepticamp requires participation.
Reed, Rich Ludwig and Crystal Yates-White helped organize the first Skepticamp.
Online groups like Meetup and Facebook have changed offline social groups.
Similar groups include Drinking Skeptically and Skeptics in the Pub.
The Long Tail describes the population dynamic of many niche groups.
BarCamp is a successful trend in local technology meetups.
The first Skepticamp event was held in Denver in August of 2007.
Upcoming Skepticamps are set for Denver, Atlanta and Seattle in 2009.

Promo - eSkeptic

Tim Farley, the creator of whatstheharm.net and the Skeptical Software Tools Blog.
Robert Lancaster created websites to debunk harmful psychics and spiritualists.
Robert suffered a stroke on August 4th, 2008.
Robert's stroke and recovery is very much like Derek's in the fall of 2005.
While in the hospital one of Robert's domain names expired.
The website is now StopSylvia.com
Google Bombing is an effective way to change the page rank of certain websites.
Using specific text in links is crucial to effective "Google Bombing".
Example: " <a href="http://stopsylvia.com">Sylvia Browne</a>"
The above linking text will help redirect traffic to Robert's new website.
DO NOT link to the old site, or other sites, and try to change your old links.
You can find out more about Skepticamp here.
You can find Tim's instructions on linking on his Skeptical Software Tools Blog.
To contribute to the Robert S. Lancaster fund, visit skepticsunite.com
Skepticality outro.