Who We Are  What We Do  Get Involved

A month has passed since the First Annual COPUS Invitational Unconference took place. I am honestly still buzzing from the excitement of the adventure. Most of the evaluations are in now, so I thought it would be helpful to share the results and take a quick look at whether we were successful in meeting our goals for the event.

We set out to:

1 - Strengthen and expand the COPUS network by creating new connections among attendees during and after the meeting.

2 - Create an architecture of engagement for future science convenings that cross domains of science outreach (informal, formal, academic, and corporate) that do not normally interact, but need to.

3 - Provide direction for future activities of the COPUS community by evaluating what is currently being done, identifying new needs, and building upon ongoing successes.

4 - Provide a new forum and recognition for those conducting public outreach.

We also wanted to bring people together who often operate in isolated pockets to create a space where they could build on one another's knowledge, support one another, and encourage them in their efforts.

You can read the results of the evaluation at a glance.

In summary:

We definitely expanded the network, moving from the COPUS Core to the COPUS Corps. The Unconference format was a refreshing change from the usual and helped to facilitate creative conversations. It also provided a forum for new "friends" to meet, recognize one another, and leave replenished and refreshed. As one attendee put it "it was like fitness camp ...and a relaxed spa....for my brain."

To top it all off, we were able to salute the 2012 Paul Shin Memorial Award recipient - Bill Gomez. Paul would have been so proud to be honored among such a warm, fun group of kindred spirits.

So, for me, overwhelmingly, the event was a success... and it even had a little dash of magic (snow in the Southern Arizona desert in March sound magical enough?). Where are we meeting next year, everyone??

On March 16-18, 2012, COPUS held its first Invitational Unconference at the Biosphere 2 facilities near Tucson, AZ. Fifty-seven individuals came together to talk about a common concern - how the public perceives and interacts with science. Upon arrival, most of the attendees were perhaps a bit unsure of what was to transpire, but almost instantly introductions and bonding took place and conversations emerged through which they shared ideas, generated new ones, recognized challenges and investigated strategies for dealing with them. This was a meeting of unparalleled energies fueled by a high level of diversity - age, ethnicity, geography, perspectives, institutional/organizational connections, outreach strategies, etc. - and it was that diversity that enhanced both the listening and the sharing - a true cross-fertilization of ideas. We had hoped that all would leave feeling renewed, and it appears that this was accomplished (and then some).

This conference was truly something quite unique but rather hard to put into words. We will post testimonials and evaluation data that we will help to describe what transpired, but suffice it to say that COPUS has moved from an idea (2006) and an amorphous network (2009) to a group of 12 individuals (the COPUS Core) (2010) and now to a COPUS Corps. There are 57 individuals who went away from our meeting with renewed energies. They will each return to their own home areas and continue their own individual efforts to increase the public understanding of science, but now in collaboration with new friends and colleagues. The COPUS evolution continues...