Blog: MIT welcomes you to ScienceWriters2015

Blog: MIT welcomes you to ScienceWriters2015

This is a feed from Knight Science Journalism Outreach Officer Wade Roush, who will be blogging about everything Cambridge, from the food scene to the tech scene, so you can plan your trip. You can also read him at ksjwelcome.org.

  • Posted by Wade Roush, Tuesday, October 27th, 2:38 pm
  • Posted by Wade Roush, Saturday, October 10th, 11:03 am

    Just in time for ScienceWriters2015, Sense About Science USA has published the preliminary results of a major survey of science writers aimed at helping scientists know what to expect when they're interviewed by a journalist.


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Wednesday, October 7th, 2:24 pm

    We've set up a full schedule of shuttle buses to transport attendees from their hotels to the conference sites as well as the tour and party sites. The shuttles start running Friday night and will be available through Tuesday mid-day. Here's the complete rundown.

    Hyatt Regency Hotel Shuttle

    Friday, 9 October

    6:00PM to 9:30PM          Hyatt Regency to Walker Memorial

     Sunday, 11 October


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Tuesday, October 6th, 2:20 pm

    At least 60 ScienceWriters2015 participants are staying at one of our alternate conference hotels in the Lechmere neighborhood of East Cambridge: the Fairfield Inn & Suites, the Hampton Inn, or the Holiday Inn Express & Suites.


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Monday, October 5th, 5:32 pm

    One unique feature of ScienceWriters2015 will be an expanded, two-day edition of Lunch With a Luminary (known at previous conferences as Lunch With a Scientist). Seven MIT and Broad Institute researchers will talk about their work over box lunches on Sunday, 11 October.


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Tuesday, September 29th, 1:23 pm

    As more than 800 journalists and public information officers descend on Cambridge for ScienceWriters2015, something unusual will be happening in and around the meeting: a group of science graduate students called ComSciCon will be using it as a living laboratory for building their science communication skills.


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Wednesday, September 23rd, 12:43 pm

    After a full day of professional development workshops run by NASW and another full day of New Horizons in Science briefings run by CASW, ScienceWriters2015 attendees will be ready to kick back and party on Sunday night, 11 October. And this year we'll be able to do that in style, thanks to STAT, the new life sciences publication from Boston Globe Media. 

    We've been getting a lot of questions about the party, so here's the full rundown.


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Tuesday, September 22nd, 5:26 pm

    Most ScienceWriters2015 attendees will be in Cambridge for only five days, October 9-13. But one lucky writer could get the opportunity to stay for a year. That's thanks to a one-year writing position being advertised by the MIT School of Engineering, one of the meeting's Silver sponsors.


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Friday, September 11th, 1:48 pm

    Today, the innovation news site Xconomy, founded by former MIT Technology Review editor-in-chief Robert Buderi, has bureaus in 10 technology hubs around the country. But when I joined the staff there in the summer of 2007, it covered just one place: Kendall Square. The geographical focus was spelled out in the site logo, which said Xconomy Kendall Square. It was hyperlocal news, taken to an extreme. 


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Wednesday, September 9th, 2:42 pm

    In an online article today, MIT News, the Institute's official source for announcements, community news, research coverage, and faculty profiles, offered a fact-packed preview of ScienceWriters2015.


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Tuesday, September 1st, 1:19 pm

    The Story Collider's name is more than just a playful riff on particle physics. Every show produced by the organization involves very real collisions. Collisions between the performers' personal stories and their listeners' emotions. Between the audience's senses—dulled by the daily onslaught of canned digital content—and the raw, risky, unmediated nature of a live, in-person performance.


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Monday, August 31st, 5:09 pm

    ScienceWriters2015 attendees: If you're looking for an activity to spice up your first day in Cambridge, sign up now to attend Dispatches from the Front Lines of Life Sciences, a public form organized by STAT at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, from 3:00 to 5:30 pm on Friday, Oct


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Friday, August 28th, 12:02 pm

    [Updated 9/1, 9/5, 9/8 -- see below] For weeks now, we've been urging ScienceWriters2015 attendees to book their hotel rooms early. A lot of you listened to us—so many that our block of conference-rate rooms at the main conference hotel, the Hyatt Regency Cambridge, is now sold out. Rooms at the Hyatt must now be booked at market rates, which are well over $300/night.


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Wednesday, August 26th, 4:08 pm

    I wish we could claim it was our idea to schedule ScienceWriters2015 right after two of the most exciting science-and-technology events in Boston's history—Solve and HUBweek—but in fact, it's mostly an accident of good timing. One that you should take advantage of by arriving in town early!


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Tuesday, August 25th, 1:31 pm

    We think it would be a crime to visit Cambridge for a science writers' conference without taking some time to explore the area's bustling R&D scene. Many of you evidently agree, as registration for the special field trips, tours, and events organized by Knight Science Journalism at MIT has been extremely brisk.


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Tuesday, August 18th, 5:42 pm

    We’re working hard to make sure that everyone who attends ScienceWriters2015 is able to enjoy the full conference experience. In this post, I want to share some key information for wheelchair users and other attendees with disabilities. Because the conference and the related tours, events, and parties will be spread across so many locations, there are a lot of details to know about.


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Monday, August 17th, 5:06 pm

    There’s a little-known piece of history that makes Cambridge an especially apt location for the 2015 New Horizons in Science briefing organized by the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing as part of ScienceWriters2015. The very first New Horizons meeting in 1963 was held here, at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, with support from MIT and Harvard.


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Wednesday, August 5th, 2:11 pm

    You’ve got questions about ScienceWriters2015. We’re here to help answer them. First, check out the extremely useful FAQ over at the main meeting site—then come back here for a few more tidbits.

    Why should I attend ScienceWriters2015?


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Friday, July 31st, 7:29 pm

    We're going to keep you pretty busy during ScienceWriters2015. But if you decide to take an evening to explore the area's restaurants—such as the Monday, October 12 Dine Around night—we want you to be prepared to choose wisely.


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Friday, July 31st, 5:28 pm

    The mantra for this year's ScienceWriters2015 event is: come early, stay late. In the week leading up to the conference, Knight Science Journalism and other organizations in and around Cambridge are planning a cornucopia of events of interest to science, health, and environmental reporters. One of the biggest (or should we say smallest?) is our 2015 Kavli Science Journalism Workshop on Nanotechnology on Friday, October 9.


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Monday, July 27th, 3:01 pm

    The Gold Sponsor for ScienceWriters2015—and the generous host of our Sunday evening bash on October 11—is STAT, a new online publication being launched later this year by Boston Globe Media with a focus on "the frontiers of health and medicine." 


  • Posted by Wade Roush, Monday, July 27th, 12:13 pm

    [Updated 8/24/15, see below] The ScienceWriters2015 logo, designed by Brooklyn-based artist Jason Longo, features the Longfellow Bridge, a graceful granite-and-steel structure that has been carrying train, automobile, bike, and pedestrian traffic between Cambridge and Boston since 1908.



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