ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

Don't get me wrong - I'm planning to be in San Jose and it looks like
there's much goodness (and nice touch in getting Wozniak for the
keynote!) But I was a little disappointed when I got the program for this
year's ASTC conference. (Even aside from the crushing irony of having
pre-sessions on "Dialoguing on Diversity" scheduled for both days of Rosh
Hashanah.) I hope this comes across as food for thought/constructive
criticism, rather than just griping.

1) I know things are in Silicon Valley, and our host is called The Tech,
but sheesh, a tsunami of digital this, web that, high tech the other.
It's been a tough year financially for my museum, and I know from
lurking/chatting with others that we're not alone on this count. A lot of
sessions are featuring things that many of us can't afford! I don't mean
to sound sour-grapes-like here, but my (rejected) session proposal for
innovating with LOW tech might have given a little diversity to the
conference offerings...
2) In fact, there looks like a lot less diversity in the sessions this
year. Astronomy and IT sessions are certainly good things - but there's a
metric ton of both. I usually read the program and think "Dang! There's 2
really cool-looking sessions I want to go to, but they're at the same
time." Not so this year. [One exception: 3 great Monday night field
trips, plus the torture of Wednesday's choice between the Exploratorium +
Monterey Bay Aquarium.]
3) Not to get all class conflict and stuff, but I counted up every
session that I could in any possible, conceivable way count as one
pertaining to education. There were 25. Then I did the same for exhibits
- they got 30. But bear in mind, many sessions counted for both groups.
Then I counted the sessions labeled with the CEO or VP icons (or both) -
that was 45. Why so little for those who do the nuts + bolts work of a
science center, and so many for those who manage the folks who do the
nuts n bolts?

That's just my opinion, I could be wrong,
Jonah Cohen
Outreach & Public Programs Manager
Science Center of Connecticut


"Scalia finished his memo by writing 'If a Supreme Court justice
can be bought so cheaply, this country is in deeper trouble than I
thought.'
In a related story, this country is in deeper trouble than Scalia
thought."
-The Daily Show


________________________________________________________________
The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!

***********************************************************************
More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.org.
To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]