This was my second American Atheists Convention[1][2]. My first was last year right after the Reason Rally[3], which was also my first atheist convention in general). I've been to two more since, last year's Midwest Freethought Conference[4] (now called Apostacon[5][6][7]) and Skepticon 5[8][9]. I've enjoyed the conference so far, but I don't come to these things for the speakers. Even with my social anxiety and lack of people skills, my reason for coming to these things is to meet other atheists.
It's not that I have a problem with having speakers at these things. I enjoyed seeing some of them. David Silverman[10][11][12], Greta Christina[13][14], JT Eberhard[15][16], Matt Dillahunty[17][18], and Katherine Stewart[19][20] all gave good talks that I'm glad I didn't miss. Jay Jay French[21][22] , Pete Stark[23], and Keith Lowell Jensen[24][25][26] were highlights as well. But, at these things, I'm usually not interested in more than half the speakers. Even with some of the people who I really like (Christina Rad[27][28][29], Hector Avalos[30], Hemant Mehta[31][32]), I'm not that interested in their talks. Then there's the ones I wanted to see but missed due to a mix of time and exhaustion (Edwina Rogers[33], Richard Carrier[34], Dale McGowan[35][36], Jerry DeWitt[37][38], Cara Santa Maria,[39][40] Seth Andrews[41][42], Ophelia Benson[43][44], Edwin Kagin[45], Teresa MacBain[46][47], and the Panels on Women in Atheism and Atheism vs Humanism).
Despite that impressive list of speakers, I do have some issues with the focus on them. I've noticed, what seems to me at least, too much focus on the stage. I'm guilty of it myself. At the Reason Rally, I was so focused on the stage that I forgot to go see the protesters, something I had really looked forward to doing that day. By focusing on the stage so much, I completely missed out on meeting some of the more than 20,000 other atheists there. It was caused by a mix of excitement about the event and the weather, but it still happened.
Coming to these things is definitely worth it. I just need to not forget that the real magic of it isn't on the schedule or on the stage. It's in the hotel lobbies and at the bars. It's when organizers for local groups meet and share ideas.
The speakers can sometimes have some interesting things to say or get people motivated to action, but they can also often be merely preaching to the choir and unnecessary. I would love to see speaker lists that are less packed, with more room for actually socializing with the other atheists. But without that, I'll keep on ignoring half the lineup on stage and mingling as best as this awkward geek with social anxiety is capable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------It's not that I have a problem with having speakers at these things. I enjoyed seeing some of them. David Silverman[10][11][12], Greta Christina[13][14], JT Eberhard[15][16], Matt Dillahunty[17][18], and Katherine Stewart[19][20] all gave good talks that I'm glad I didn't miss. Jay Jay French[21][22] , Pete Stark[23], and Keith Lowell Jensen[24][25][26] were highlights as well. But, at these things, I'm usually not interested in more than half the speakers. Even with some of the people who I really like (Christina Rad[27][28][29], Hector Avalos[30], Hemant Mehta[31][32]), I'm not that interested in their talks. Then there's the ones I wanted to see but missed due to a mix of time and exhaustion (Edwina Rogers[33], Richard Carrier[34], Dale McGowan[35][36], Jerry DeWitt[37][38], Cara Santa Maria,[39][40] Seth Andrews[41][42], Ophelia Benson[43][44], Edwin Kagin[45], Teresa MacBain[46][47], and the Panels on Women in Atheism and Atheism vs Humanism).
Despite that impressive list of speakers, I do have some issues with the focus on them. I've noticed, what seems to me at least, too much focus on the stage. I'm guilty of it myself. At the Reason Rally, I was so focused on the stage that I forgot to go see the protesters, something I had really looked forward to doing that day. By focusing on the stage so much, I completely missed out on meeting some of the more than 20,000 other atheists there. It was caused by a mix of excitement about the event and the weather, but it still happened.
Coming to these things is definitely worth it. I just need to not forget that the real magic of it isn't on the schedule or on the stage. It's in the hotel lobbies and at the bars. It's when organizers for local groups meet and share ideas.
The speakers can sometimes have some interesting things to say or get people motivated to action, but they can also often be merely preaching to the choir and unnecessary. I would love to see speaker lists that are less packed, with more room for actually socializing with the other atheists. But without that, I'll keep on ignoring half the lineup on stage and mingling as best as this awkward geek with social anxiety is capable.
1. http://atheists.org/convention2013
2. #AACon13
3. http://reasonrally.org/
4. http://youtu.be/8NCaRpkcGKk
5. http://www.apostacon.org/
6. @Apostacon
7. http://www.facebook.com/Apostacon
8. http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDyZC8lflYBvkxmJGFeAihtz-OoDqVMy7
9. @RealSkepticon
10. http://www.atheists.org/
11. http://youtu.be/2BCipg71LbI
12. @MrAtheistPants
13. http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta/
14. @GretaChristina
15. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wwjtd/
16. @jteberhard
17. http://www.atheist-experience.com/people/matt_dillahunty/
18. @Matt_Dillahunty
19. http://www.thegoodnewsclub.com/about
20. @kathsstewart
21. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Jay_French
22. @jayjayfrench
23. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Stark
24. http://www.youtube.com/user/klfly/videos?view=0&flow=grid
25. @keithlowell
26. http://www.facebook.com/kljfans
27. http://www.youtube.com/user/ZOMGitsCriss
28. http://freethoughtblogs.com/cristinarad/
29. @ZOMGitsCriss
30. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_Avalos
31. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/
32. @hemantmehta
33. http://secular.org/node/637
34. http://freethoughtblogs.com/carrier
35. http://www.parentingbeyondbelief.com/
36. @MemingOfLife
37. http://youtu.be/BqaN0gZtQ-A
38. @jerry_dewitt
39. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/cara-santa-maria
40. @CaraSantaMaria
41. http://www.thethinkingatheist.com/
42. @ThinkingAtheist
43. http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels
44. @OpheliaBenson
45. http://freethoughtblogs.com/kagin
46. http://www.npr.org/2012/04/30/151681248/from-minister-to-atheist-a-story-of-losing-faith
47. @Teresamacbain
