Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism

Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism
Status	Active
Genre	Science and skepticism
Location(s)	New York City
Country	United States
Inaugurated	2009
Attendance	500~
Organized by	New York City Skeptics, New England Skeptical Society & Society for Science-Based Medicine
Website	NECSS.org

The Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism (NECSS, pronounced as "nexus") is a four-day conference focusing on science and skepticism held each April in New York City. Its purpose is exploring the intersection of science, skepticism, the media, and society for the purpose of promoting a more rational world. It was founded in 2009, run jointly by the New York City Skeptics (NYCS) and the New England Skeptical Society (NESS). The Society for Science-Based Medicine joined as a full sponsor of the conference in 2015. Attendance is estimated at almost 500 people.

Beginnings

The New York City Skeptics wanted to have a skeptical conference and invited magician James Randi to speak at their one-year anniversary. That lecture attracted over 400 attendees and so it was determined that there would be enough interest for a scientific skepticism conference in the area. The NYCS and NESS organizations began talks about combining to form NECSS. The conference began in 2009 as a one-day event, popular science writer Carl Zimmer was the keynote speaker. Over the years, the conference has grown to include Skeptics in the Pub events, fundraising dinners, separately ticketed workshops and live-podcast recordings.

According to Steven Novella and Evan Bernstein, the NESS was asked to speak for the New York City Skeptics, September 12, 2009. That lecture was a tribute to Perry DeAngelis (died 2007), and as it was near the anniversary of both his birth and death in August, they continued the tradition of celebrating Perry at each conference. Even after the NECSS organizers decided to move the conference to April, the SGU cast continues to celebrate the life of Perry DeAngelis each year at NECSS.

New York City Skeptic's co-founder Jamy Ian Swiss writes that the conference was created "because we felt there was a need for a regional skeptic conference in the Northeast", and because the organizers "were intrigued by and attracted to the prospect of creating the concept and content of such an event". The first evening in 2009 was sold out with 400 attendees. According to emcee Jamy Ian Swiss, organizers turned people away.

We have always conceived of NECSS as a broad-based conference with room for everyone who is interested in skepticism, science and critical thought. And I think our content has reflected that. We have had content that is... science, "bigfoot skepticism", religion, women's issues... We have had a broad range of topics addressed and we are going to try to keep doing that. It's in our conference's name, 'science and skepticism'. So it is something we are very much aware of, it is a skeptics' conference, but it is very much also a science conference".

— Michael Feldman

Details

According to co-organizer Michael Feldman, the conference regularly attracts about 400 attendees. In past conferences this has maxed out attendance, for 2015 they are using a venue that can hold up to 600 people. They want to continue to grow, but not to sacrifice quality with the conference experience. When asked what surprised him about the attendees he said "Even though the title of our conference is the Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism and it takes place in New York City, the attendees are only about half from the tri-state area, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. A full 40-50% come from the rest of the United States... and other countries."

The 2015 conference organizing committee is made up of Steven Novella, Jay Novella, Michael Feldman, Jamy Ian Swiss, Benny Pollak, Spiro Condos, Mark Crislip, Heather Berlin, Deborah Berebichez and Brian Wecht. Others that have become involved in the conference are Massimo Pigliucci and Julia Galef.

Full admission ticket prices (does not include workshops or special events) for Fri-Sunday for 2015 are $195 a person. Single day passes can be purchased for $35–95 depending on the day and student status. Workshop pass tickets are $100, workshops run consecutively. Single workshop passes are $35. Student scholarships are available.

Highlights

Emcee musician George Hrab outdrew the science-based medicine seminar in April 2015 with almost 500 attendees. His "hybrid musical act/quiz show, A Skeptical Extravaganza of Special Significance" pitted the SGU team and Bill Nye against each other with mock debates over "the Millennium Falcon vs the starship Enterprise ... and the American system of units ... [vs] the metric system. Hrab also managed to add in "rounds of Pictionary about Area 51 and water fluoridation."

"Stimulus/Response" conceived by George Hrab and Brian Wecht was a three-act performance held on Friday night, and was separately ticketed from the conference. It was a night of discussion, performances and an improv comedy group. This group roasted Jay Novella in 2013, brother Steve wrote "it was hilarious" so in 2014 Jay made sure that Steve was next.

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait and musician George Hrab performed a song Hrab wrote called Death From the Skies based on Plaits book by the same name. This performance has Harb playing guitar and signing "This is the way the world will end" with Plait speaking statistics about the likelihood of various astronomical deaths, such as meteors, super-novas and solar flairs.

Doubtful News creator Sharon Hill compared the 2009 conference to the 2011 one. She felt that things were improving, great speakers and wonderful meeting new people. She bemoans that it would cost less for the attendees if held outside New York City, but understands that for many people, this is a more convenient location. She also wishes that there were more quiet areas to allow for more socializing with old and new friends. In 2009 when Hill was attending the very first NECSS she mentions that the theme of the conference was very relative to her own current college degree work in Science & the Public. She says "the overarching theme was science portrayed to the public – how the media delivers a message, how even scientists screw up and take missteps, how we can get better."

Magician and author Richard Wiseman performing at the 2009 conference explained in answer to a question by an attendee, people believe in the paranormal for many reasons, they might need to believe and it's possible that they have had "personal experiences" that convinced them. '“It is not clear to me that by robbing people of their beliefs, we always make the world a better place.”'

According to James Randi, "I recently appeared at the annual NECSS – Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism – in New York (think of it as a superb mini-version of our annual The Amaz!ng Meeting in Las Vegas), and was asked to speak on the faith-healing racket. As I walked on stage, I switched from my original intention, and decided to handle a specific example of the subject that I find very difficult to address, an example of the faith-healers’ perfidy and cruelty that I’d previously only mentioned in the introduction to The Faith Healers."

When interviewed about the New York City Skeptics, Julia Galef responded, "I think a lot of people felt the same way as you did, Karl -- there seemed to be a lot of pent-up demand for an organization devoted specifically to science and reason, not just secularism. In terms of our success, I have to give a lot of credit to our president, Michael Feldman. He's a fantastic organizer, and the kind of person who really makes sure things get done. We've also got a dedicated team of volunteers, the Gotham Skeptic blog, and of course our annual Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism (NECSS), which sold out two years in a row and drew people from all over the U.S. and several other countries."

Dates	Speakers	Location	Notes
September 12, 2009	Richard Wiseman, George Hrab, James Randi (recorded message), Jamy Ian Swiss, Carl Zimmer, John Rennie, Rachel Dunlop, Paul Offit, Howard Schneider, Michael De Dora, Massimo Pigliucci, Kaja Perina, John Snyder	Held at the French Institute, Manhattan Campus, New York, NY	Keynote: Carl Zimmer - All Aboard the Science-Media Express!
April 17, 2010	David Gorski, Jamy Ian Swiss, PZ Meyers, George Hrab, John Rennie, James Randi, D.J. Grothe, Julia Galef, Kimball Atwood, Steve Mirsky, John Snyder	Held at the French Institute, New York, NY	Keynote: DJ Grothe - Skepticism is a Humanism
April 9–10, 2011	Brian Dunning, Jamy Ian Swiss, Jacob Appel, Susan Jacoby, Phil Plait, John Allen Paulos, Brooke Allen, Hai-Ting Chinn, Todd Robbins, Dan Gardner, Jennifer Michael Hecht, Steve Mirsky, Michael De Dora, Massimo Pigliucci, Julia Galef, Carl Zimmer, Massimo Pigliucci, John Rennie, Eliezer Yudkowsky, Sadie Crabtree, Kendrick Frazier, Eugenie Scott	Baruch College (CUNY), New York	Keynote: Phil Plait The Final Epsilon
April 21–22, 2012	James Randi, Hai-Ting Chinn, George Hrab, Seth Shostak, J. Scott Armstrong, John Bohannon, Jamy Ian Swiss, PZ Meyers, Joe Nickell, Ethan Brown, Deborah Berebichez, David Kyle Johnson, Massimo Pigliucci, Michael Rogers, Meghan Groome, Deborah Feldman, Kevin Slavin, Julia Galef	Held at the French Institute, Manhattan Campus, New York, NY	Keynote: James Randi - Surviving the Quacks!
April 5–7, 2013	Leonard Mlodinow, Bob Blaskiewicz, Sharon Hill, Hai-Ting Chinn, Mariette DiChristina, Karen Strachan, Brian Wecht, Simon Singh, Natalie Molina Niño, Cat Bohannon, Michael Shermer, Massimo Pigliucci, Jamy Ian Swiss, Deborah Berebichez, Julia Galef, Syd LeRoy, Jim Holt, George Hrab	Held at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY	Keynote: Leonard Mlodinow - Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Influences Your Behavior
April 11–13, 2014	Lawrence Krauss, Massimo Pigliucci, Jamy Ian Swiss, Deborah Berebichez, Julia Galef, George Hrab, Paul Offit, Cady Coleman, Elise Andrew, Sally Satel, Alison Gopnik, Angie McAllister, Heather Berlin, Jeanne Garbarino, Oliver Medvedik, Brian Wecht, Hai-ting Chinn	Held at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Manhattan Campus, New York, NY	Keynote: Lawrence Krauss - The Secret Life of Physicists
April 9–12, 2015	Massimo Pigliucci, John Rennie Jamy Ian Swiss, Deborah Berebichez, Julia Galef, George Hrab, Heather Berlin, Brian Wecht, David Gorski, Jann Bellamy, Mark Crislip, Harriet Hall, W. Ann Reynolds, Marty Klein, Mark Siddall, Jeanne Garbarino, Simona Giunta, Latasha Wright, Stephen Hall, Rachel Meyer, Yelena Bernardskaya, Allan Adams, Laura Helmuth, Linda Curtis-Bey, Marc Randazza, Maria Konnikova, Mark Weckel, Sabriya Stukes, Simona Giunta and Steven S. Hall	Fashion Institute of Technology New York, NY	Keynote: Bill Nye

Gallery

• 
  Questions from audience 2009
• 
  Audience From 2011 at Baruch College (CUNY)
• 
  SGU Panel - 2013
• 
  Audience From 2011 at Baruch College (CUNY)
• 
  Rationally Speaking Podcast live recording with Michael Shermer, Julia Galef and Massimo Pigliucci - 2013
• 
  Lining up outside the venue -2011
• 
  Audience view of stage - 2013
• 
  Stimulus Response - 2014
• 
  The Si02 Panel with Jeanne Garbarino, Cady Coleman, Elise Andrew, Latasha Wright, Heather Berlin, Deborah Berebichez - 2014
• 
  Astronaut Cady Coleman - 2014
• 
  Audience 2014
• 
  Science Using the Hand-Held Microscope Workshop featuring Latasha Wright of The BioBus - 2015

External links

• Official website