ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Now that the ASTC Conference has wrapped up, and in the 2nd prettiest
town ever to host it, a brief look at some off the highlights/lowlights.
Because no one demanded it:

 

SAY MY NAME!

THE 2013 ASTC CONFERENCE BREAKS BAD  

(and occasionally good)

 

BAD JOKE: In a true Abbot & Costello moment, the meeting rooms at the
Albuquerque Conference Center had names instead of numbers. One room was
called "Aztec".

 

BAD FOR YOUR STOMACH: We get it. In New Mexico, they add chiles to
everything. The Green Chile Milkshake was taking things too far.

 

BAD WEB DESIGN: There were several sessions/discussions about the Next
Generation Science Standards. These were good. Not so good was the chart
of standards on http://www.nextgenscience.org/ that prints in a font
size so small, even NISE-Net can't see it.

 

SMALL IS GOOD part 1: Big ups to all the presenters at the Big Ideas for
Small Science Centers session, which was literally SRO. Several
"tourists" from bigger centers snuck in. One told me that this was
because "I thought this is where the good ideas would be."

 

BAD TO THE BONE: Fossils from a type of creature I'd never heard of seen
at the NM Natural History Museum - the phytosaurs. Google it.

 

BAD MEDICINE: Among the many bizzaro contraptions at the Museum of
Nuclear Science was the Revigator. It let you down the recommended 6-8
glasses per day of water that had been hit with radiation from radium.

 

GOOD GRIEF, I'M A NERD: I was excited at one session when I saw that
both Eugenie Scott and Steve Spangler were in attendance.

 

BAD INTERPRETATION OF SCIENCE FICTION: Whoever was moderating the
discussion of the keynote with Neal Stephenson started out by asking why
so much scifi today has a dystopian view of the future, instead of the
more optimistic, even utopian, vision of authors from the past. Uh, in
what alternate universe does the work of Asimov, Heinlein or Bradbury
count as "optimistic" about the future?

 

BADASS DEMONSTRATION: Craziest demo at the Live Demonstration Hour had
to be Leonard Duda. He showed that pointing a heat gun at a semi-opaque
gallon milk jug turns the plastic clear. Then he blew into it to inflate
the clear plastic like a soap bubble.

 

BAD KITTEH!: While visiting the ABQ BioPark's zoo, a mountain lion tried
to pee on me. Not cool, mountain lion!

 

SMALL IS GOOD part 2: The session on mini-grants was filled with one
inspiring tale after another of what different centers had managed to do
with small amounts of funding.

 

BAD IDEA ANYWHERE ELSE, VERY GOOD IDEA HERE: Taking advantage of the dry
local weather, Outreach Live was done in a science festival format. The
Science in the Park event was terrific. Along with the ASTC'ers, a lot
of local presenters were brought in: Sandia Mountain labs, the BioPark,
the Nature Center, a local astronomy club, Kirtland Air Force Base, the
local library and more. 

 

BAD NEWS FOR EAST COASTERS: I saw gas for as low as $2.95 in
Albuquerque.

 

GOOD QUESTION: Why does Explora have a couch in the elevator?

 

BAD NEWS FOR PSEUDOSCIENCE: The NM Museum of Natural History had
exhibits, both with bold signage proclaiming their content, about both
global warming and the evolutionary origins of life. 

 

GOODNESS AT EXPLORA: Among the many keen things in the "rabbit warren"
exhibit floor, I really liked all of the water-based ones, and the model
plane you got to pilot. Or, crash, in my case.

 

GOOD TO KNOW: Want to run a session at next year's shindig in North
Carolina? Don't forget - submission deadline is November 15th!

 

BAD BUDDIES: The biggest of props to all the staff at three host museums
who had to team up, all of the helpful blue-shirted volunteers, and the
conference staff from ASTC who no doubt worked as though they were on
the blue meth to bring this event to fruition. Thanks!

 

Born to be Bad,

Jonah Cohen

Outreach & Public Programs Manager

The Children's Museum

 

 

"Inertia. Of all the physical forces, I would think I can count on you
to stay the course."

        -Stephen Colbert

 


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