Welcome back!
9:00-9:30 AM | 314 Main St | 4th Floor
What to do: Please take a rapid test in the morning. Grab your nametag and check in at the main entrance to 314 Main St. Take the elevators to the 4th floor. Hot coffee, cold juice, and dear old friends will be waiting for you. If you are late and do not have a nametag you will have to contact Summit staff (see the information section above).
Re/connecting with first principles
9:30-11:00 AM | 314 Main St | 4th Floor | Hypatia Room
In January of 2020 the Science Festival Accelerator launched 12 startup festival initiatives. It was an exciting time, but no one was prepared for the end of in person events as we knew them. Two-and-a-half years later, organizers didn't just pivot, they went back to first principles. They took an interrogative eye to their plans and assumptions and came up with new answers for what a science festival initiative can be. We invite you to listen to a conversation between four organizers as they discuss how they transformed their initiatives to meet the challenge of the moment with new processes, questions and practices for making that new vision real.
Daniel Aguirre, Pueblo; Jared Bixby, Kansas Science Festival; Sam Connors, Everyday Futures Fest; Francis Jeffers, BLAST Canada; Stephanie Dowdy-Nava & Saul Nava, Sun City Science Festival
Re/connecting with first principles: Roundtables
11:15 - 12:15 PM | 314 Main St | 4th Floor
Re/connecting with first principles through your existing event (Hypatia Room)
Daniel Aguirre, Pueblo
Re/connecting with first principles by going past your event (Archimedes Room)
Meisa Salaita, Science ATL
Re/connecting with first principles by flipping your event initiative (Newton Room)
Rick Crouse, Science Haven
Lunch!
12:15-1:15 PM | 314 Main Street | MIT Museum | 1st Floor Commons
Take the elevators to the 2nd floor, and then the stairs to the "Commons" on the 1st floor of the MIT Museum for a lovely buffet. Feel free to enjoy lunch outside if you like, but please return to the Museum (with your nametag) no later than 1:15pm.
Concurrent Sessions
1:30-2:30 PM | 314 Main Street | 4th Floor
Previous Summits had many blocks of concurrent sessions. Increasingly, these kinds of sessions can also be done effectively on-line. If you agree, let's get together for more sessions online throughout the year. For now, dig in in-person to the topic of your choice:
Science Events 101: Fundraising (Archimedes Room)
It’s always amazing what a motivated team can accomplish on a shoe string budget. But as passionate as you may be, if you feel like you have run into a dead end with fundraising it will hold back your event. Whether you feel as if you don’t know any potential donors, you are facing headwinds from within your institution, or you just need to face up to a fear of fundraising, this session will get you started on unlocking that potential.
Howard Rutherford, St. Petersburg Science Festival; Parmvir Bahia, Sensational SciFest
Science Events 201: Engaging Your Community Online (Hypatia Room)
When so many people are learning about in-person events online, are our principles of community engagement still showing through on websites and social media? How can we be sure that diverse audiences are still being reached? This session will help you craft an online presence for your festival that is as friendly, dynamic, and welcoming as your event – without requiring extra resources.
Amanda Figueroa, Science Festival Alliance; Erik MacIntosh, North Carolina Science Festival
Science Events 301: Evaluation (Gauss Room)
We all want to know whether our events work, so over the years we have developed evaluation resources that help to measure whether attendees are having good experiences, learning things, and making new connections. But as useful as these outcome-driven evaluation tools are, they miss the impacts that they are not set up to measure. Learn how anthropological fieldwork can open up new ways of understanding events and festivals.
Helen Regis, New Orleans Jazz Festival
Re/connecting with inspiration
2:45-3:45 PM 9| 314 Main Street | 4th Floor | Hypatia Room
Event organizing is always an emotional roller-coaster ride. But after years of pandemic uncertainty, it's OK to feel both fired up and burnt out at the same time. Where is your inspiration coming from now, and where is this all headed for you? We'll think that over with some help from professionals that knocked it out of the park with their science festivals, and after time moved on.
Ivvet Modinou, formerly British Science Festival; Mary Anne Moser, formerly Beakerhead; Chris McCreery, formerly NI Science Festival; Ellen Trappey, formerly Philadelphia Science Festival
Closing
3:45-3:55 PM | 314 Main Street | 4th Floor | Hypatia Room
Summit on the Sea!
6:15-6:30 PM Boarding | 6:30-9:30 PM Cruising | MIT Sailing Pavilion | 134 Memorial Drive | Additional registration required
Sometimes the best ideas, connections, and memories pop-up after "the thing" is all over. So let go of your work energy and step aboard for a 3-hour sunset tour of the Charles River and Boston Harbor. Dinner is included, but additional registration required for this optional event.
The boat leaves from the MIT Sailing Pavilion at 134 Memorial Dr, which is an easy walk from 314 Main St. The pavilion has great views of Boston (and restrooms) for anyone arriving earlier than 6:15. The boat boards at 6:15 and departs at 6:30 sharp.