NASW Science in Society

October 19-20, 2007
The Davenport Hotel
Spokane, WA

Program

TRACK 1. Making Connections:

TRACK 2. Dealing with the Digital World:

TRACK 3. The Business of Our Business:

TRACK 4. Food for Thought:

The Science Cabaret Returns!

Grizzly Bear Lab Field Trip

A1) Wrestling Giant Topics

They loom above the desk and cast a daunting shadow. Global warming. The brain. The universe. Come hear stories from authors and editors who have successfully wrestled the giants into magazines and books. Explore the process of setting ropes and staying safe while tackling these goliaths and their months of research notes. Hear our panelists describe their own favorite strategies for finding a clear path for the reader.

Organizer and Moderator: Sally James, freelance science writer

A2) Taming the Digital Office

E-mail correspondence, interview notes, audio files, calendar items, Web clippings, and news releases: How do you wrangle all that digital information? How do you track multiple projects from conception to completion to payment? What's the best way to organize large projects? Is a paperless office possible, or even desirable? We'll discuss and demonstrate the pros and cons of online and desktop tools that promise to make writers' work more efficient, compelling and profitable.

Moderator: Siri Carpenter, freelance science writer

Organizer: Siri Carpenter, freelance science writer

Organizer: Jeanne Erdmann, freelance science writer

A3) Reinventing Your Freelance Science Writing Career

Sometimes freelance science writers find themselves on a treadmill: They have to take uninspiring assignments just to pay the bills, and that leaves them little time to do the type of work they really like. This seminar is about getting off the treadmill. Finding a niche or specialty can make a real difference in your income. It can also provide the financial security you need to break into features, write that book, and try other riskier, long-term projects. We'll look at how several writers reshaped their career and found lucrative niches that enable them to thrive as freelancers.

Organizer and Moderator: Alan S. Brown, freelance science writer

A4) E. coli to ConAgra: Deconstructing the Food, Wine, and Agribusiness Industries

Food writers gush over chipotle and the latest Asian fusion cuisine, but what happens when food becomes toxic? From mad cow to deadly lettuce, food scares have become a regular occurrence. Who is covering the business of food? Is "organic" an outmoded term? How can reporters find sources for stories that span several industries? This session will bring together professional reporters covering food and wine, along with a food safety expert, to discuss how we talk about food and wine and how science communicators can contribute to that public discussion.

Organizer and Moderator: Karyn Hede, freelance science writer

B1) Perfecting the Art of the Pitch: Practice and Pointers for PIOs

Having a good story is the easy part. Packaging and delivering it to the right person in just the right way is where pitching becomes an art practiced successfully by only the most skilled PIOs. Now, new technologies, a changing media landscape, and increasing competitive pressures are making the story pitch all the more challenging. Being good at it has never been more essential. So exactly what makes one pitch appealing and another miss the mark? A panel of journalists — representing the editors, reporters, and producers PIOs are vying to reach — will provide insight and advice on perfecting the art of the pitch. Willing PIOs can give it their best shot in a 60-second pitch; the panelists will react with helpful tips and suggestions on technique and style.

Guidelines for Pitching

In 60 seconds or less, PIOs may pitch a story idea to the panel. If you're reluctant to reveal all, feel free to pitch an idea that you've pitched before, that you thought was a great story but it met with little or no success. Another option: Pitch a story you're being pressured into — use the panel to test your instinct that this turkey will not fly. Are you less concerned about the merits of a story idea than what approach to take? Then, feel free to query the panel about any aspect of the process and practice of pitching.

Look for the sign-up sheet at registration.

Moderator: Lee Siegel, science news specialist, University of Utah; former science editor, Salt Lake Tribune

Organizer: Janet Basu, freelance science and health writer

Organizer: Lisa Rossi, director of communications and external relations, Microbicide Trials Network (University of Pittsburgh)

B2) Science and the New "Graphic Journalism": Visual Literacy for Science Writers

Covering science well takes more than good writing. The rise of the very visual medium of the Web means that writers and graphic designers no longer need to battle over space on the page. Nor must editors settle for photographs of scientists in lab coats. Both writers and editors can be active participants in developing lively, interactive images and illustrations. In fact, online science journalism almost requires an interplay of text and pictures. Two leaders of the MIT/Harvard Image and Meaning Workshops will ask: What can pictures do that words can't? How can you create ideas for effective informational graphics? How do online visuals differ from print graphics? How can all this graphics planning and production be done under incredibly tight deadlines?

Organizer: Rebecca Perry, freelance visual journalist

Organizer: Rosalind Reid, editor, American Scientist

B3) Inside Book Contract Preparation and Negotiation

Drawing on her background in contract preparation and negotiation for a number of leading publishers including Time Warner, Macmillan, and Doubleday, Jan Kardys will deliver a wealth of insider's insights, including the important contract clauses that every author must know, and a detailed explanation of typical subsidiary rights. In an interactive interview format with author/journalist Christopher Kenneally, Jan will sound a cautionary note worth hearing by both seasoned authors and those with a first book coming to market. Attendees will receive valuable handouts, including samples of original contracts and related documents, such as a reversion of rights checklist, a permissions agreement, and a permissions checklist.

Organizer and Moderator: Christopher Kenneally, director, Author Relations, Copyright Clearance Center

B4) Must Choosing Terms Mean Choosing Sides?

What responsibilities do science writers have in choosing terms? In a historical example, should a science writer have swapped the politically charged "embryonic stem cell" with a more neutral "blastocyst"? Today, how might you handle a scientist who describes a nanoparticle as "seeking" a cancer cell? This workshop will address the intentional and unintentional work done by the rhetoric in science writing. This workshop also will try to enunciate — with what is hoped to be lively audience participation — a few principles to help science writers balance clarity with scientific accuracy and avoid doing political work that is counterproductive to scientific understanding.

Organizer and Moderator: Robert Frederick, associate online editor, Science

C1) Pitch Slam: Meet the Editors

Come hear top national and international editors spill the beans on exactly what they look for in a freelance pitch. This session is your chance to pitch editors from the Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian, New Scientist, and the High Country News and get immediate, on-the-spot feedback on your ideas. The session will provide a unique window into the assignment process, whether you pitch a story or not.

Organizer and Moderator: Robin Mejia, freelance science writer

C2) 21st Century Science Writing: New Tools for Thinking Outside the Box

The landscape of science journalism is changing rapidly in terms of what we cover and how we cover it. It's time to stop hand wringing about the good old days and start thinking outside the box. How do we compete for the public's scattered attention by creating compelling science stories not only through text but also through images, audio, video, and real-time interaction with our audiences? How do we gather and present complicated information in a 24/7 cyberspace environment? How can we use new media to tell more engaging stories about scientific issues of crucial importance to citizens of the 21st century?

Moderator: Cristine Russell, freelance science writer; president, Council for the Advancement of Science Writing

Organizer: Alan Boyle, science editor, MSNBC.com

Organizer: Cristine Russell, freelance science writer; president, Council for the Advancement of Science Writing

C3) Switching Gears: Journalism to PR

The transition from journalism to public relations — and often back again — is increasingly common in the current writing marketplace. From accepting freelance work to writing institutional collateral to signing on as a PR rep for a university, organization, or company, many journalists have experienced the economic necessity of writing for a paying client rather than a subscriber base. Once considered a surefire career-killer, alternating stints in journalism with public relations isn't viewed with the same disdain by today's employers. This workshop will examine the challenges — personal and professional — of the journalism/PR transition by those who have done it.

Moderator: Lynne Friedmann, freelance writer and editor, Friedmann Communications

Organizer: Rick Borchelt, executive director of communications, Genetics & Public Policy Center, The Johns Hopkins University

Organizer: Lynne Friedmann, freelance writer and editor, Friedmann Communications

C4) Arabs Writing About Science

Hear the word 'Arab' and the first things that probably come to mind are terrorism, vast deserts, and oil. Put aside typical perceptions of this region of the world that stretches across five million square miles and includes 22 countries, and you'll discover a diversity of peoples, religions, ideologies, geography, and, yes, science topics.

So what do Arab science journalists usually choose to cover for their local and regional media outlets? What kinds of science topics are Arab audiences most interested in? How do religion and culture affect science writing? As part of the mentoring project between NASW and the Arab Science Journalists Association, five members of the ASJA board will talk covering science in Arab countries and some of the unique challenges and opportunities. Deborah Blum, NASW's international liaison, will moderate the panel and provide some history of the NASW-ASJA partnership.

Organizer and Moderator: Deborah Blum, professor of journalism, University of Wisconsin-Madison; International liaison, National Association of Science Writers

This year we've put together a terrific group of performers for you. Come for the music, stay for the dessert!

We'll assemble to the strains of solo jazz piano from our own PAUL RAEBURN — NASW ex-president, organizer of the CASW New Horizons meeting, and science writer extraordinaire. A little-known fact is that Paul, whose books include "Acquainted With the Night," started life as a jazz pianist. Yes, he got his degree in physics at MIT, and he has had impressive science writing gigs at Business Week and the Associated Press, but he also studied musical composition at Boston's Berkelee School of Music.

Our first act is singer HEATHER MULLIN, a Spokane native now living in Seattle, Heather will offer (along with piano accompaniment by Paul Raeburn) American standards with a scientific theme ("Fly Me to the Moon," "Stormy Weather," "How Deep is the Ocean"). She received vocal training at the University of Washington, as well as in New York and Tokyo, in not only jazz singing, but also choral singing and opera.

Heather is also a talented actress, and for our second act she will join her husband, Seattle playwright PAUL MULLIN, in a staged reading of Paul's play, "The Sequence," about the race to sequence the human genome. Paul will play geneticist Francis Collins, Heather will play a fictional science writer named Kellie, and the part of Craig Venter will be played by a surprise guest. "The Sequence" won first prize in the 2005 Writer's Digest stage play competition, and received funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Paul studied theater at the University of Maryland, and he is the author of more than a dozen other plays and several television screenplays.

Finally, we'll be treated to songs by LYNDA WILLIAMS, who by day teaches physics at Santa Rosa Junior College in California and by night becomes "The Physics Chanteuse." She has done her cabaret act in dozens of venues, such as the Swedish Arts & Science Festival, the Cornelia Street Cafe in New York, and the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena meeting in Palermo, Italy. Lynda will perform original songs, comedy, and repartee on science and technology. Her lyrics are witty, political and provocative, and her singing style ranges from pop to jazz to hard rock to rap.

Here is a Friday opportunity for NASW "early nerds" — grizzlies in the service of science and and a luncheon of local foods. Washington State University is host to the only research facility in the world with adult grizzly bears. Participants will board a bus in Spokane on Friday morning for an hour-and-half ride south to WSU in Pullman. The day starts with a tour of the bear lab with director Charlie Robbins and his colleagues who study the bears' diet, hibernation, and behavior. A local foods lunch, with Prof. John Reganold speaking about organic farming, follows. The afternoon winds up with a local wine and cheese hour follows and will provide access to other WSU scientists. A $20 fee will be charged to cover expenses. Space is limited, so register early.

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