UPDATE: I’m informed that the Conference is now sold out. For those of you who got tickets, enjoy!
Atheist Ireland has asked me to note that there are only 20 tickets left to the World Atheist Conference, held in Dublin from June 3-5. (Tickets are €100 and can be bought at this link.) The program (here) is quite diverse, featuring not only the usual suspects, but some new voices as well, and a panel discussion on women activist atheists.
The ongoing rapture that began early this morning should facilitate the ease of ticket purchases via low internet traffic.
With school age kids the timing is wrong though the conference looks great. Will it be streamed?
Don’t talk to me about this. They sold early bird tickets before it occurred to them that they can also make money by selling tickets for the dinners, so they did that as an afterthought. Which means that I’m flying around the world now just to sit around when the Saturday dinner is held in Dublin. I have seldom seen such amateurish handling of a major event. Besides, the program looks like a 3-day board meeting for AAI, even Dawkins is crammed in with 2 other guys between 6 and 730 on the Friday night. I am entirely unimpressed, let me tell you.
Plus they didn’t invite me, so what’s the use of it at all at all?
Heeheehee
That really is a bit surprising. A panel discussion about women atheists, and you didn’t get an invitation? Who’s going to be on the panel, then?
No problem: I’m an atheist, I’m vaguely aware that females exist and I already have a ticket, so I’ll take it from here. I assume that’s OK with everyone?
Oh well not all that surprising, there are plenty of more-famous women atheists, including ones closer to Ireland. I don’t know who’s on the panel. Now, if there are no women atheists – that’s surprising! And ungood.
I’ve been Ireland, the whole country is insane, in the nicest possible way. 😉 Efficiency would not be the first word to come to my mind when asked to describe it.
Why don’t you get invited?
That’s all pretty harsh. Dawkins specifically asked the Atheist Ireland committee to be put on panels rather than give a speech.
The Conference is subsidising the meals and they are making nothing on them. I also bought an early bird ticket and was under no illusions what I was getting for that. Have you mailed the committee to see about the dinners? If there are spaces left I’m sure you can get one or ask to be put on a cancellation list if there is one.
The event is being run by amateurs and by a fairly tiny organisation with few resources, yet they’ve put together an excellent event and are far from amateurish in the work they’ve been doing here in Ireland. Rather than it being an “AAI board meeting” I reckon they’ve set an interesting range of topics and speakers.
I’m looking forward to it, it sounds fun to me.
I’ve helped to put together a couple of academic conferences in the past. They were *really* fucking expensive and the stupidly expensive charges we passed on to delegates didn’t cover all the expenses we ourselves had to pay.
It bothers me when people complain that things like this and TAM and so on should be cheaper. Yeah, everything should be within your personal price range otherwise it’s wrong.
Why do we need an international conference? [Has no one heard of global warming..? mutter…]
Wonderful line-up and I wish them all the best!
Amused to see Dawkins listed simply as “former professor;” shouldn’t it at least be “emeritus,” or is that not the UK custom?
Diane G,
You understand that Dublin isn’t in the UK, right?
Having said that, it generally *is* UK custom to say “emeritus” but more usually for someone who stays in the job of professor after they’ve officially retired, which is in my experience almost every professor.
In the UK, professors occupy ‘chairs’. There are only so many chairs to go around, based largely on how much funding there is. ‘Professor’ isn’t so much a rank or job title as it is in the US.
Richard’s chair was funded in perpetuity by Charles Simonyi and someone else (Marcus du Sautoy) has occupied it since Richard’s retirement.
It would probably be more proper to say “former professor for the public understanding of science” than “former professor”. He’s still a professor and he’s a professor emeritus. But it’s a title that most people don’t use. It’s as embarassing as when long-retired military types refer to themselves by their military title. Few people in the UK with PhDs or MDs call themselves “Dr”. Few professors call themselves “Professor” unless they are trying to get free upgrades on flights.
“Having said that, it generally *is* UK custom to say “emeritus” but more usually for someone who stays in the job of professor after they’ve officially retired, which is in my experience almost every professor. ”
I should clarify that. Many respected professors turn up for work for decades after they’ve retired. They sometimes get an office and always get library and Internet access. They continue to contribute to contribute to their field.
It is usually, but not exclusively, that type of cove we refer to as “professor emeritus”.
Aaaaack! I do try to keep these things straight! Sorry.
But being as how Oxford is…
Nonetheless, your points are well-taken, and the bit about still showing up and having some sort of place to show up to applies in the US, too. (I believe–suddenly I’m feeling very unsure.)
I suppose that titles matter little in this case, anyway. It’s hard to imagine anyone more deserving of the classic “needs no introduction” than RD. 😀
“I suppose that titles matter little in this case, anyway. It’s hard to imagine anyone more deserving of the classic “needs no introduction” than RD. 😀 ”
Tru dat. Richard’s most important qualification is his intellectual honesty. Oh, and he wrote quite a lot of awesome books and stuff 🙂
is there any chance of getting a ticket to the atheist conference in dublin?