Our courtship was greatly extended, spanning months of playful exchange
And each time we met for a weekend, we’d make most of the time that remained.
I felt pretty much as I do now, that I’m the luckiest man in the world
Because somehow I ended up with an incredible, beautiful girl.

Today has special significance, because Valentines’ is when we first kissed
It’s a memory that still gives me tingles, thinking back on that evening of bliss.
I remember those pulse-racing feelings, as my heart tried to escape from my chest
These are feelings which haven’t diminished, after eighteen years they’re still fresh.

Who would have dreamed we’d be here now, with three gorgeous kids and a home?
Well probably me now I think back, which I suspect you have guessed from my tone.
I want you to know that I love you, with every last peice of my soul
And Lu-Ann I will love you forever, until long after we’re both grey and old.

The sinking feeling one experiences in their chest when a much-relied upon device stops working is an emotional event. When one is then informed by the device manufacturer’s support hotline that although the only failed item is the device’s AC charger, the entire device must be sent interstate in order to access a warranty replacement for the charger, the sinking feeling is quickly replaced with red-eyed rage.

One’s rage is amplified when told that the process will take a minimum of 7 business days, and of course any data on the device will be very likely wiped in step-one of their diagnosis. The service representative at one point even told me to perform a factory reset on the device right then and there, which not only wouldn’t have helped, but would have deleted all my data which he’d not thought relevant enough to tell me. Thankfully I’m not your average user, so I pointed this out, but the rep didn’t acknowledge my point that they should really tell customers they’re about to lose all their data before saying “hold down the power and volume buttons”.

Were this an Apple device, I’d have walked into one of the several Apple Stores within twenty-five minutes’ drive from my location, presented my device for an on-the-spot diagnosis, and been handed a new charger right then. I’ve had this experience with an iPhone. Accustomed to HTC service, I expected my device to be taken from me and sent to some distant workshop, returned to me after several weeks either inadequately repaired, or replaced with a reconditioned device which hadn’t been as well looked after as my own. To my surprise, the Apple Genius replaced my screen right there and then, and two years later my son now uses that same device which is going strong.

Unfortunately the Transformer isn’t an Apple device, and either through inexplicably poor go-to-market planning, or simple contempt towards their user-base, ASUS have made replacement AC chargers as unavailable to Australians as Apollo Moon-rocks.

Since purchasing my cherrished Transformer, I knew charging would eventually become a problem. As Apple understands very well, information device purchases are soon followed up with various accessory purchases as users consider the various usage scenarios they’re likely to encounter. With the Transformer, due to its requirement for a minimum of 11V delivered via the propriatory charger, in-car charging lacks an easily purchased solution. User forums such as XDA-Developers (the font of knowledge for all things PDA Phone-related since HTC’s first PPC device rocked the world), abound with threads discussing user-built or modified charging adaptors, in response to astonished pleas by new Transformer owners for a charging solution.

These pleas are extended by a seemingly growing number of users who, like me, have discovered one day out of the blue that the very small charging brick, prone to over-heating, has ceased to function. Most users would then have no choice but to return the entire device to the ASUS service centre (in Australia, only their Sydney office can apparently work with the Transformer), and revert to pens and paper for their business meetings until their device is returned.

In my case, thankfully, I was a already aware of the Transformer’s charging requirements due to XDA-Developers threads, so I knew that a $30 universal charger with a USB interface from Jaycar would also do the trick. I’m now writing this post on my Transformer, freshly charged no thanks to ASUS Australia, who’d have had me twiddling my thumbs while they wasted everyone’s time wiping my data before bothering to simply plug in another charger to see if the simplest and most likely point of failure was to blame.

Jaycar universal charger suitable as replacement

We become emotionally invested in these devices which we buy to make life easier. Many clients and co-workers have ooh’d and aah’d at my Transformer which allows me to bang out detailed meeting minutes on the excellent keyboard (sent directly to participants before I leave the room), show off broduct brochures and even present Powerpoint slides on the fly.

As someone who’s often asked (professionally and personally), which devices I’d recommend for various things, these are items which I consider in my answer. A killer product isn’t enough – you need to back it with customer-focussed service and a decent product distribution model so your product owners don’t have to feel that sinking feeling when they realise they are going to have to send their device away somewhere. That’s exactly why after owning five HTC pocket-pc devices, I eventually migrated to iPhone (despite the loss of some much-loved flexibility). Sending their devices to Queensland for service (as was necessary then), simply isn’t compatible with business use, and wasn’t worth the emotional turmoil.

I hope ASUS eventually realise customer service is the second half of a killer-product equation.

Related Post

• Are Android keyboard-enabled tablets ready for business use? (codenix | blog)

Related articles

• The Swift Rise And Sad Fall Of The Asus Transformer Prime Android Tablet (techcrunch.com)
• Finding your Asus Transformer Charger suddenly doesn’t work – what to try first! (transformerforums.com)

A single word contrasted by an azure canvass can extend the hand of brotherhood to a fellow countryman, conveying the hurt and shame felt for a previous generation’s wrongs.

Written by a devious man to serve selfish ends, words can undo a century’s work to rid the world of horrific infectious childhood disease.

Fashioned in law, words can deny dignity in life to those who seek to love who they please, and in death to those who’d rather let go in ill-health.

From the pulpit, a preacher’s words can drive youths to suicide, or a congregation to violent acts.

Words can paralyse a generation as they watch our climate slip toward breaking point through fear of personal cost.

Words can wound. Words can heal. Words can build bridges, and words can kill.

Words are the greatest tool humankind has to shape the world, for they allow the formation and communication of thoughts and ideas, of plans and designs, of love, pain and art through the ages, surviving far beyond the mind which set them free.

Words are a lifeline. Words connect us with each-other, building relationships and strengthening bonds. Words are a suitor’s best friend, and a lover’s gentlest toy. On receiving a letter of love, words can fill us with secret joy.

Words are a conspiracy’s surgical instrument, turning the loyal with conjured doubt. Words build us up, but equally break our heart.

Words are powerful yet plentiful – valuable yet free. It costs nothing to say “you’re appreciated”, yet so few invest the price.

Words can feed the soul, or destroy it. They can build a child’s confidence, or decimate a man’s self-worth. Words can strengthen a woman’s resolve, or crush a team’s moral.

Left unsaid, words can stall a friendship, which could have been great.

I like my words to uplift – to console and to cheer. My words sometimes challenge, but my intent is sincere. I’d rather my words make you laugh, or feel good about some aspect of you, than cause sadness or pain, which I couldn’t bare to do.

My words are a gift, freely given to you.

We all have words. What will you do with yours?

Genetics have been generally kind to me. I have no major physical or health defects, my appearance doesn’t usually repulse (despite my lifestyle choices which have led to being overweight, but I’m dealing with that), and I’m generally average at most things, which is a bigger gift than many realise. My greatest genetic inheritance however is my mind. It’s the tool which has allowed me to become fairly successful in my area of expertise, and to generally negotiate a path through my life’s experiences with mostly favourable outcomes.

Image by JD'na via Flickr

My brain’s genetic plan and the subsequent synapse-building experiences of my early years have particulary favoured communication skills and empathy, which I view as intrinsically linked, and the ability to bring to bear a sharp, intense focus: a mix which has been perhaps my greatest strength throughout life. As a consultant, my communication skills and empathy result in rapid rapport and understanding of my client’s pains, motivations and expectations, and my focus allows me to absorb, collate and analyse these inputs very quickly. I can generally turn out resultant work pieces must faster than many of my contemporaries, subsequently allowing me to churn out a high volume of quality work.

Recently however, my ever reliable, identity-defining toolkit has faltered. My mind and body colluded to crush my confidence, destroy my focus and undermine everything which makes me… me. The anxiety attacks I wrote of recently were just the beginning (or at least the first signs obvious to me), of what I now believe will be a long journey of self-discovery, emotional upheaval, and change.

I never understood depression. I sympathised with its victims, no doubt, but I didn’t understand what it really meant. I thought it a cognitive process – a ‘state of mind’ thing, which suffers needed to conquer through determination, counseling and support. I had no idea. I had no concept of how rapidly one’s mind can defect – how quickly your greatest gift can desert you and turn you into a direction-less, hollowed-out zombie, wading through a cesspool of overpowering emotions, pointless thought-loops, and self-doubt.

It wasn’t until I spoke with my GP that some pieces of my puzzle finally fell into place – pieces which the ‘normal’ me would have identified, catalogued, analysed and linked together rapidly. For several years I’ve felt unfulfilled at work, thinking what I do delivers no benefit to mankind and is therefore pointless. For most of this year I’ve generally avoided social situations – usually appealing to me, as I thrive on exchanging ideas and learning new things from other people’s experiences. I’ve avoided emotional entanglements – effectively shutting out emotional stimuli. I’ve been numb. More recently I’ve awoken most mornings before dawn, almost overwhelmed by a deep sorrow, seemingly disconnected with events, easing as the day progresses. Criticisms which I’d normally take on board or reject, depending upon the source and the relevance, have devastated me. I’ve avoided reading, for absorbing information has become very difficult, when usually I read constantly. I’ve cried – sobbed – usually in my car, at the slightest provocation. Songs will do it. Lyrics I’ve heard thousands of times suddenly mean something deep and profound. Reading or hearing about suffering does it too, or the thought that I may have hurt someone I care about.

I’ve never suffered from anxiety. My recent panic attacks were the first I’ve had. Although I’m just beginning the process of working through this, my GP said many things I’ve said are indicative of depression, not anxiety, which suffers tend to battle much of their adult lives. We’re doing some blood tests to eliminate some various things, and we’ll start the process on counseling and so-forth, so we’ll see.

Despite my sympathy for sufferers of depression, the thought that maybe I may yet be described as such is rather horrifying. I know there should be no shame, not guilt, but it’s there. It feels so self-indulgent, so selfish. Yet I wouldn’t think the same of anyone else in this position. It’s chemical. I’m still in here somewhere – I’m just going to need a little help finding myself again.

Anti-neo-plaston Therapy it’s called
And many a good scientist will call it a fraud.
A treatment derived from the patient’s own wee
Backed by mountains of evidence that no one can see.

He charges a fortune to bestow upon you
This treatment regardless of whether it’s true.
Foundations have risen, to help out the brave
Who seek out his magic to keep from the grave.

But many who call into question his method
Asking for proof of his claims that he’s gifted
Have been browbeaten, bullied and threatened
By a man named Marc Stephens, who seems like a cretin.

This clown he has written to many a blogger
Demanding retraction, or shortly he’ll clobber
Them with a writ, or a suit, or subpoena
Or something-or-other, it could be made clearer.

Although he suggests he’s an attorney-at-law
His letters suggest he’s just a big bore.
And now he’s unleashed the Internet’s pet
A phenomenon we know as the ‘Streisand Effect’.

Now bloggers and journos the world over unite
A spotlight made up of just pin-points of light
Will shine upon quackery’s bullying ways
To undo the damage of this silly woo craze.

Let’s band together again to defend
The brave, conscientious Rhys Morgan and then
Our Ratbags, and Orac, Andy Lewis and others.
Let’s teach these quack-docs not to mess with our brothers.

Some background posts you should read:

• Rhys Morgan – Threats from The Burzynski Clinic
• The Quackometer - The Burzynski Clinic Threatens 17 Year Old Blogger
• The Quackometer – The Burzynski Clinic Threatens My Family
• Science Blogs – Marc Stephens issues more threats on behalf of the Burzynski Clinic
• Neurologica Blog – The Burzynski Clinic – Another Crank Tries to Intimidate a Blogger
• Bad Astronomy Blog – “Alternative” cancer clinic threatens to sue high school blogger
• The Quackometer – The False Hope of the Burzynski Clinic
• Quackwatch – Stanislaw Burzynski and “Antineoplastons”

Related articles

• Is the Burzynski Clinic Full of Quacks? (sandwalk.blogspot.com)
• Meet Stanislaw Burzynski (theawl.com)
• Burzynski Clinic: the domain of scoundrels and quacks (freethoughtblogs.com)
• Representative from Burzynski Clinic sends aggressive legal threats to skeptics who question “antineoplaston” cancer therapy (boingboing.net)
• Evidence? Burzynski don’t need no stinkin’ evidence (cubiksrube.wordpress.com)

It’s difficult because of the hurt, guilt and shame I still feel despite my rational mind knowing these feelings are unwarranted and unhelpful.

It’s difficult because of the stigma attached to mental health issues; the automatic distance people put between themselves and someone they view as ‘unstable’; the sub-conscious caution with which somebody ‘prone to stress’ is handled, perhaps sidelined when “this deal’s really important – we’d better not use him. He might crack up.”

I’m generally perceived as the go-to guy. I’m the one the sales people would prefer to have on their team in any bid, the one they’d like to wheel out to present to customers on our various business solutions, because I know my stuff and I communicate well. Terms associated with me are ‘dependable’, ‘rock-solid’, ‘gets it done’, and ‘secret weapon’. I know this about myself, and I take pride in it. It’s a result of many years’ of putting others first, operating beyond the definition of my job role, and doing what needs to be done to win the deal, implement the solution, and keep everyone happy.

You may view this as arrogance, but this self-view is an essential part of my core self – self-belief, which feeds my willingness to take on new challenges even without knowing what I’m getting into, because I can always handle it.

Well it turns out, not so much…

Last week I was involved in a presentation skills course, which initially I was slightly annoyed (okay, really annoyed), about attending because I’ve had extensive training and experience in presenting, dating back to my Army days when during Officer training at Duntroon I received what I can only describe as first-class instruction on such things. Regardless it was mandatory, so I went along, thinking perhaps I might sneakily get some ‘real work’ done whilst being a wall-flower during the course.

Despite the obvious problem with the whole ‘wall-flower’ plan, for this is not a term with which I’m usually associated, I was quite rapidly drawn in to this course which was quite superb, and showed me that presenting to persuade is very different to presenting to instruct, which is what I learned at the Royal Military College.

During this course we did many ‘last minute’ presentations on inane (but often hilarious), topics, drawn randomly from ‘product’ and ‘audience’ suggestions written on cards by each of us, using the structure and approach we’d learnt to move our fictional audience to the next stage of the decision-making process. Two of my favourite combinations were ‘Automobiles to blind people’, and ‘Sex toys to Mormons’.

The final afternoon of this two-day course required us to re-present the first presentation we’d done right at the beginning of the course. I applied all the techniques we’d been shown, and felt I was ready to deliver a knock-out performance. Then I had a technical problem which prevented me from displaying my speaker notes on my screen, leaving me with very few, very sparse slides and throwing me completely.

Normally I’d not have struggled much. I’d have made some joke to show the audience I wasn’t bothered, and just ad-libbed my way through. This time I experienced a sudden rush of anxiety, my mind turned to fog, and I stammered my way through the next five minutes of hell, wanting to ‘vomit on my shoes’ (a term I’ve picked up from a wonderful person I’ll speak of shortly), until I sat down feeling crimson and humiliated.

I was furious with myself. I knew I was better than this, and I didn’t understand why I was so emotional. I’m usually great under pressure, focused in a crisis. I whinged about it for a while to my wife and a close friend, and moved on with life.

Or so I thought. Until yesterday. After a brief chat with my manager about my workload, which had breached ‘ridiculous’ to become ‘absurd’, mostly due to my own inability to say ‘no’, and desire to show my new team that in my new role I’ll be even MORE effective at helping them qualify, design and sell the solution, we set off in separate cars to a partnering meeting with a senior manager from another organisation.

Then I cracked. One moment I was driving along, thinking about the people I had to get back to, the proposals I had to write, the research I had to do, the templates I had to make; then I couldn’t breathe. My heart felt as though it wanted to explode out of my chest, I felt like vomiting, my ears began to ring and I gripped the steering wheel hard enough to leave impressions.

What the hell was happening? My rational mind was saying “Dude! Settle down! What have you got to be so upset about? You live in perhaps the best place and time in history, you have a beautiful family whom you can support. You have no right to feel like this!”

I turned my thoughts, whilst concentrating on breathing slow and deep, to my wife – and immediately started to cry. What the hell? I thought of my kids – more tears. Shit. SHIT. Thoughts of my family carried with them emotions which decimated my control. I was starting to panic. I thought of my friend, with whom I had discussed my presentation failure, and that calmed me a little. Okay, I’m okay, I just need to calm down. My mind flicked back to my family – and I started to hyperventilate. I felt as though I had a lump of cheese stuck in my throat. My heart continued to pound, and I could hear it in my head. My feet felt like they were burning. I started to sweat. This was not normal. I realised there was something seriously wrong.

I reached our destination, and my boss parked ahead of me. I was struggling to get myself under control, to be professional, to not be weak. He was walking towards me. I was trembling. My hands were visibly shaking, and I wasn’t sure I could talk because of that cheese stuck in my throat. I said “Man, I think there’s more to this than just my workload,” and my face contorted as I tried not to cry. I was walking into a meeting with senior management from a company we hoped to partner with, and I was about to become a blubbering mess.

My boss looked at me with concern, and his face changed. The look wasn’t horror – it was recognition. He said “Man, you’ll be okay. I’ve been there. Just relax.”

I pulled it together for the meeting – barely. Focussed on the task at hand I was okay, but on the way back to the car my mind flicked back to my to-do list and the breathing thing started again. I took a phone call from a colleague, and it wasn’t work related. It was about camping and my recommendations about camper trailers. This actually calmed me down significantly. My boss went on his way, and I headed to my next appointment – another one with a C-level manager whom I’d not met previously.

I arrived early. I sat in the car for forty minutes, wondering if I’d make it through the next meeting. I took another call, from a good friend who happens to represent one of our vendors, and I quickly fell apart. He saved me. He told me his story of struggling with a workload he willingly took on believing he could do it all, help everyone even when they wouldn’t help themselves. It landed him in hospital. He’d made changes. He suggested I’d better seriously consider doing the same, because this story doesn’t have a happy ending if you don’t.

I got through the next meeting. I survived, and nobody knew. But I was bearly hanging on. My heart was still racing, and I was in constant fight-or-flight mode, with adrenaline pumping through my body and unresolved tension. We’ve evolved this response as a defence mechanism, with helpful physiological effects such as evacuating our bowels and bladder so we can run away from predators faster, pumping additional blood to our arms and legs to assist in the physical exertion of fighting for our lives, or running away, focusing our attention and slowing our perception of time. These are very useful when your problem is a predator or enemy. They’re of no use whatsoever in modern society and your problem is workload. Unless you’re a lion tamer or bear handler, in which case maybe.

I had been speaking with another friend via Twitter throughout the week about other things, and she had coined the term ‘vomit on your shoes’ in describing how she’d felt during a failed presentation once. She DM’d me to ask if I was okay because she was worried about something I’d tweeted the day before, which evidentially she saw as a warning sign of stress. I didn’t want to burden her. I didn’t want her to think I was weak, unworthy, or a drama-queen. Regardless the dam broke, and she patiently listened, talked it through with me, and helped me understand that the feelings of guilt, shame and fear I was experiencing are understandable but undeserved, and that this can happen to anyone. None of us are immune, and those of us who take pride in our talents for enriching other people’s lives are perhaps even MORE in danger, because we find it so difficult to say “No,” when asked “I know you’re busy, but could you….?”

Without her help I don’t think I would have gone home. I don’t know what I would have done, but I felt so ashamed of my self-involvement, so unworthy of feeling stress when I’m so privileged compared to the rest of humanity, that I could barely function. I wanted to vomit on my shoes.

To my two friends who helped me, I could never adequately express my gratitude to you. I feel immensely lucky to have friends like you, who listened and advised and helped me understand I’m not a failure, this is more common than I would have thought, and we all need help sometimes. I will never forget what you did for me.

So too the other friends who responded to my comments on Twitter and Facebook – people who also recognised the warning signs and told me that I was not alone, they were there if I needed to talk, and they’ve been through it too – I thank you. Normalising this experience and helping me understand that so many of you have experienced the crushing effects of anxiety and severe stress, and that I should not try to deal with it alone, helped me enormously. It has been a humbling, amazing experience, reaffirming my faith in people and the importance of friends.

As for me, well I don’t have the answers yet. I know at least that I have a problem and I don’t have the necessary skills to deal with it myself. I have started the process of seeking assistance from a psychologist to help me find some coping mechanisms and learn how to recognise the warning signs of stress and anxiety. Stigma be damned – I can admit I need help, and a psychologist has the training to provide it.

I’ve spoken with my boss about it, and he has been supportive and understanding. He pointed out that the world will not end if I say “No.” He will work with me on redistributing some of my workload, especially the items which aren’t my job anyway. I know I’m in no danger professionally with him, as he’s without a doubt the most understanding and supporting manager I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. He’s a friend too, and I value that highly.

If you’ve never had an anxiety attack, never felt like you were about to drown in sudden, unexpected emotional turmoil, please take this as a warning. I’m no Superman, and neither are you. Reach out to friends, family – even colleagues – whoever you have. Don’t try to struggle with this alone, because from the stories I’ve heard that leads down a road from which you can’t necessarily return.

Seek professional help. There’s no shame in it. Life doesn’t teach you all the skills you need to get by, and you wouldn’t give a second thought to seeking the assistance of a mechanic if your car broke, or a dentist if it were your tooth.

And if you’re an employer or manager, please consider this: Business planning considers the maintenance needs of production machines, IT systems and even building facilities, with planned, funded maintenance activities to keep them operating at efficiency, but assumes people will take care of their own maintenance with holidays or whatever. In many cases the sad reality is that workers either do not have the spare funds to take a real break, or put off leave until “things aren’t so busy”. Your people are the glue which holds your organisation together. They are your only appreciating asset, as your equipment rapidly depreciates and loses value from the moment of purchase, and your property value is of little operational benefit. Your people grow in value, and your business will benefit from a maintenance plan to keep them operating effectively.

The song “Superman” by Lazlo Bane really captures my feelings about this. Lyrics are included.

Have a listen, and feel free to comment about your anxiety or break-down experience to show others they aren’t alone, they haven’t failed, and they can get through it.

Follow-up post -> When your mind defects

Cover via Amazon

Now that Warren and Kirsty have managed to clean up and re-open their superb Melbourne bookshop after a recent plumbing mishap, they’ve lined up some superb talks and presentations which you’re going to want to see.

First up, tomorrow (October 13), is Professor Tim Berra, an “acknowledged Darwin expert [and] … author of over 75 scientific papers and six books, including Evolution and the Myth of Creationism and A Natural History of Australia. His latest book Charles Darwin: The Concise Story of an Extraordinary Man forms the basis of this fascinating presentation, which deals with Darwin’s life, family, influences and significance to science and western thought.” – Warren Bonnet, http://embiggenbooks.com/blog/?p=1097.

This talk begins at 6.30pm and you should call Embiggen Books on 03 9662 2062 to check if there are any seats left.

Next week, on Thursday 20th October from 6pm is the book launch of Dr Jean Ely’s CONTEMPT OF COURT: Unofficial Voices from the DOGS Australian High Court Case 1981, which details the “1981 challenge in the high court of Australia to the constitutional validity of Commonwealth aid to religious schools.” – Warren Bonnet, http://embiggenbooks.com/blog/?p=1131.

This event features several additional speakers, including comedian Rod Quantock, activist & former Vic ALP politician Joan Coxsedge, and Australia New Zealand National Secular Association Director and author, Max Wallace.

Once again, RSVP to Embiggen on 03 9662 2062  to reserve your spot.

Related articles

• The Australian Book of Atheism (seantheblogonaut.com)
• Brave new bookstore (theage.com.au)
• Martin S Pribble Great Birthday Book Giveaway! (martinspribble.com)

The first Australian SkeptiCamp was held in Sydney earlier this year, drawing roughly one hundred attendees who participated in concurrent talks held in two rooms for several hours. This event was hugely successful, prompting several groups around Australia to announce their intention to organise SkeptiCamps in their home towns.

After initially struggling to find a venue (the Sydney organisers were lucky enough to secure theirs for free), we formed an alliance with the University of Melbourne Secular Society who were able to help us secure two lecture theatres at the University of Melbourne on Saturday 22nd October at a reduced rate. A call for donations was met by a few generous individuals, and some additional sponsorships enabled us to seal the deal.

We have now opened the ticket booth, and you can book for free.

Now it’s over to you! We need your help to spread the word far and wide, inviting anyone you know who likes science, respects rationalism, embraces critical thinking, or considers themselves a skeptic.

Since it’s an attendee-driven event, we also need speakers. If you have anything to say about skepticism, complementary and alternative medicines, the state of science journalism, strange beliefs – anything at all which might interest YOU as a topic, there’s a very good chance it will interest us too! So nominate yourself as a speaker, put something together which will fit within 25 minutes including questions or discussion, and be a part of Australian Skeptic History!

Related articles

• SkeptiCamp Melbourne needs your support! (codenix.org)
• Told you we’d do it…. (mycolleaguesareidiots.com)

Throughout the intervening months we have spoken with a number of representatives from various organisations and clubs in the search for a venue suitable for our needs. I can now report that with the help of the University of Melbourne Secular Society, we have tentatively secured a venue on-campus in Carlton in October this year.

We’re keeping two dates open at this stage, as until we’ve paid the deposit we can’t be sure of the exact date. Mark your calendars – we should be seeing a SkeptiCamp Melbourne on either Saturday October 22nd or 29th.

In order to book the venue we need your help! Through the generous donations of a few key individuals we have already raised in excess of $500, but we need about $400 more to cover the venue caretaker fees (thankfully the UMSS involvement led to a waiver of the venue hire fees). For this purpose Chris Higgins of the Melbourne Skeptics has set up a PayPal donation account into which you may deposit an amount of your choosing.

Please note, we do NOT have charity status, so donations are NOT tax deductable.

If you wish to donate on behalf of an organisation, or wish to discuss sponsorship, please contact me at ‘skepticamp@codenix.org’ or via my blog feedback form.

Now go, spread the word! If even only a few dozen people donate a small amount, we’ll easily raise what we need to run a cracking event!

Related articles

• Told you we’d do it…. (mycolleaguesareidiots.com)

Image via Wikipedia

Social media plays a pretty big part in my blogging / skeptical / scicom life, as it brings our truly global community together, allowing quite rapid collaboration and communication with thought leaders, content creators, researchers, writers and so-forth. The usual suspects, Twitter and Facebook, have served me well, and I now routinely communicate with other skeptics, podcasters, scicommers and scientists around the world.

My greatest challenge however, has been walking the tightrope of self-moderation when professional contacts, old school-friends and general social contacts have been ‘friended’ with me on Facebook, some of whom hold quite different political, religious and ideological views. Given that the vast majority of my comments which make their way (usually via Twitter), onto my Facebook wall are in some way related to my views in these areas, maintaining professional and social separation has been very difficult.

Once Google+ entered the scene, it quickly became clear I had a growing problem: How could I use these social networks to further my collaboration and communication on topics of interest to me, whilst at the same time managing to avoid offending non-skeptical friends, or provoking arguments or judgement by people with whom my professional relationships are essential?

The solution I adopted was to sever my Facebook ‘friendships’ with these professional contacts and casual acquaintances outside my skeptical / scientific circle, keeping Facebook & Twitter for my ‘Skeptical’ online identity, LinkedIn for my ‘Professional’ online identitiy, and Google+ for my social interactions. I’m not thrilled about it, as sometimes it’s nice to trade one-liners with old friends, but to be honest there’s no real enhancement of these friendships through these casual interactions. There were many people with whom I’d linked over the years but hadn’t interacted with for almost as long. Most of these relationships won’t suffer from less interaction, zero being the level at which they’d settled anyway.

If you happen to be someone with whom I’ve severed my Facebook relationship, please don’t take offence. This doesn’t mean I value you any less, it just means I’d rather interact with you via other means, preferably face-to-face! Look for me on Google+ and I’ll be happy to add you to a circle.

If you’re a skeptic, scicommer, scientist, journalist or critical thinker, look for me on Facebook and introduce yourself!

Finally, if you’re a workmate and you’d consider me outside your close circle of friends, please look for me on LinkedIn, which is where I maintain my Professional online identity and communications, or Google+ which seems to be a bit of a free-for-all at the moment.