1.
What did you do all day?
Midday Friday 15 April saw me in my pyjamas on the phone
to a recommended pub in Sydney convincing them that scientists,
inventors and journalists do indeed drink enough beer
to negate the requirement for a venue hire fee.
I
am helping organise an event in Sydney in two weeks. If
I can line up the pub for one of the evening events it
would mean I can amend our advert in New Scientist. Deadline
COB today.
We get the venue at no charge. I’m straight on the
phone to our designer sweet talking him for a fourth final
change. And can he do that within the hour?
Over
the day I worked on two projects.
Fresh Innovators, a national competition that aims to
publicise the work of early-career Innovators (www.freshinnovators.org).
Today, I managed to:
- Find a pub, book the event, edit the advert with the
designer and get the final advert to New Scientist;
- Draft a note to go out Monday to 500 journalists on
our media contact list, alerting them to 16 stories of
Innovation coming out the following week;
- Answer questions from three of the sixteen Fresh Innovators
about timing of press releases to fit in with overseas
trips (we decided to put out their story during the event
with an international release when they travel); whether
to bring along the invention to the event (yes, they’re
giving a number of presentations and it’s always
great to have props but NO powerpoint presentations):
and what to wear! (there is both an informal pub night
planned and a formal networking event)
- Booked my own flight to Sydney.
2005
is the International Year of Physics and there are number
of events and activities taking place across the country.
I am working with the Australian Institute of Physics
to help promote these and alert media to any stories.
For today I:
- Discussed and suggested promotion and media ideas for
events happening in WA and SA with the event managers;
- Discussed promotion ideas with the South Australian
Museum about flowvis, a physics exhibition on fluid dynamics
(the classic crown of milk as it drops and plasma jets
bursting from black holes).
2.
Why did you do that? How does this activity fit into your
job or studies?
I work from home as a science communicator, contracted
to various organizations to coordinate science events,
design science-based exhibitions, write science stories
and media work.
So work wear is casual, there is no routine and working
hours vary according to the projects I am currently juggling.
My week varies from a quiet day working at home with my
cat attempting to sleep on top of my keyboard, to various
meetings with clients (I do shower and change out of my
pyjamas for these) and traveling to other cities according
to the project.
3.
What were your interests when younger? How have you pursued
those interests? What about the future?
I have always enjoyed finding out about things around
me and how they work so science was a natural course to
take. My honours year was intellectually stimulating but
I didn’t feel completely satisfied. I loved the
buzz and social interaction of my weekend job at a video
store and during the week as a gymnastics coach.
So finding an advert for the Science Circus (a graduate
diploma in science communication at ANU) offered me the
perfect solution. I get to talk and write about all science,
not just the intricacies of biochemistry and genetics
that I studied.
Explaining science in a way that is understandable and
relevant is often the easy bit, always remembering to
answer the two staple questions of: ‘So what?’
and ‘Why should I care?’. The hard bit is
engaging with and bringing together the science, business
and media communities. But of course, it’s also
the most fun.
Future? More projects that require me to travel! I have
been to South Africa, Shanghai, Canberra, Brisbane, Tasmania
and various regional spots around Australia and love having
a task to do whilst on the road. Also more talking work
than writing work - that’s what I enjoy and why
not find something you enjoy and then learn how to make
money from it.
