UPDATED POSTThis is about the National American Atheists Convention 2009, April 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 2009. The convention committee needs your help. We hope the members will respond to the (4) four following questions. Your input is valuable and will help us plan for what we hope will be an outstanding convention.
1) City of choice for AA Convention 2009. Include brief answers to the following: a. Possible venue b. Attractions c. Distance from major airport, bus and train stations. d. Are(is) there active Atheist group(s) nearby that will support the convention with attendance and possible volunteer assignments? 2) Additions you would like added to 2009 convention. 3) Changes you would like to see at 2009 convention. 4) How important is member costs? How will soaring airfares and gasoline prices affect attendance in 2009? Should this committee be looking for an economical venue regarding guest room rates, banquet fees, parking fees and possibly reduced registration fees?Thanking you in advance, National American Atheist Convention Committee, 2009. Arlene-Marie, Chairperson, Conrad Goeinger, Dave Silverman, Dick Hogan and Dave Kong, advisor.
Normal Bob Smith
The student dinner was a great idea
BTW – Congratulations Dave! A great choice of the Boards’.
San Francisco, Portland, OR, Albuquerque, New Orleans, Charleston, SC,
Barack Obama!
What would be involved in helping?
Maizie,
Thanks for volunteering. You are charged with getting Obama as our speaker. Ready? GO!
San Francisco would be an excellent venue.
How about getting Barry Lynn from “Americans United”?
Assuming the convention is during the Easter weekend (April 12 2009), wouldn’t Obama already be president by then?
cjn
someone from the mars probe project would be great.penelope cruz even greater.
Portland, OR
Ray Kurzweil
Portland, OR
Ray Kurzweil or Aubrey de Grey
Dawkins
how about the phreedm dunk booth….and I get to pick what he falls into…
Can we put him on the rim of a volcano and drop him into God’s lap?
No self-respecting nutcase would object to that.
Off-topic:
I’m often saying that the existence of unicorns is just as unlikely as the existence of a deity. I guess I’m going to have to eat my words:
http://tinyurl.com/5mgt57
If only someone could take a photo of God, then we might be getting somewhere.
Oh, and I vote for Chicago. I don’t get enough vacation time to justify traveling very far to an atheist convention.
I vote for the phreedm dunk booth!
Having Dawkins this year really drew a crowd. Try to find somebody of the same caliber.
If you do Chicago again, pick a place more accessible to the loop next time. They didn?t listen to Henry or me, so wherever you pick, check with a local before signing the contract. A-M has been pitching for Detroit, why don?t you have it there. It is easy to get to and she?ll pull in lots of people to help.
If you need me for anything, I?ll be there wherever there is.
Raleigh, NC. Or Charlottesville, Williamsburg or Richmond Va. SOMEWHERE in the southeast.
Bill Maher. Pat Condell. Ellen Johnson. (evil grin) PZ Myers. Pete Stark.
A phreedm dunking booth sounds great, except that would mean he’d be there. Could we just make an effigy and name it “troll” and pay a buck to throw a ball at the target, then donate the money to some charity?
Drinking games!!!!
I second the southeast suggestion – it would be great to have an atheist convention down here in FundieLand. Would do my heart good.
And Bill Maher and PZ are great suggestions also.
I second Pat Condell and Ellen.
Portland is a fantastic place for visitors. It cost about $2 to get from the airport to downtown on the train. And all center city travel via bus, trolly and train is free.
I’d be willing to hear anyone from AA or another atheist organization that would hold workshops for people wanting to start local chapters and be involved on a local level.
Since last year was in the Arctic (Minneapolis) how about Florida for the location. Bill Maher and Ellen Johnson would both be good to hear from
I would also like to see some workshops on “how to be an activist”
viking7686 So would I. For now, I’ve posted videos of several Atheist public demonstrations and other activist…activities, to the internet. If you go to my Youtube page you’ll see them: http://www.youtube.com/aajoeyjo
If for no other reason than to see what has been done, and how it worked out, videotaping Atheist activism can be very helpful.
By the way, I think we should have a national convention in New Orleans, Louisiana. They’ve cleaned it up quite a bit, but they still need tourism dollars. Plus just think about it: A couple hundred Atheists on Bourbon Street…:o)
Joe Zamecki
Texas State Director,
American Atheists
http://www.atheists.org/tx
socrates8181 said: I’d be willing to hear anyone from AA or another atheist organization that would hold workshops for people wanting to start local chapters and be involved on a local level.
Joe says: We do that at national conventions usually, but also a few years ago, AA published my pamphlet entitled “Starting a Local Atheist Group.” There should still be some copies of it at the AA Center in New Jersey.
Groups I helped start include the New York City Atheists and the Atheist Community of Austin.
I’d love to sit on a panel of Atheists to talk about getting groups started and off the ground. Someday…:o)
Joe Zamecki
Texas State Director,
American Atheists
2008 State Director of the Year,
Giant Atheist Ham
http://www.atheists.org/tx
http://www.youtube.com/aajoeyjo
Philly would be nice. Since its so close but if not then I agree somewhere warmer this year
Now Karen….its not the human that is the problem…its the dumb idea that hijacks the human from birth through death and beyond that is the problem….
I can respect a human….I cannot respect a dumb idea like phreedm’s religion…..
OT…..Boy Scouts loose 4 very young humans to thier god….but somehow praise the organization during the tragedies aftermath….something just doesnt seem right….
suck it boy scout oath
Now Charlie, don’t hit them when they’re down.
Warm or at least temperate would be nice.
San Francisco; Portland, OR; Albuquerque; San Antonio; New Orleans; Savanna; Orlando ? Miami.
San Francisco would be expensive although fun.
Portland, as previously described, is probably the most ?user friendly? and April can be quite nice (this year is not typical).
New Orleans would certainly be fun and fairly economical. The prime tourist areas were mostly unaffected by Katrina.
Bill Maher, Penn (of Penn & Teller) would both be great, but I?d guess next to impossible to schedule or afford.
The phreedm dunk tank is a good concept but he?s unimportant and best imagined. But now if we could get James Dobson, Antonio Scalia, et.al, someone of their ilk?
I am just about completely soured on the airlines, charging for hold baggage is the last straw. I would have to drive over 300 miles to reach the nearest Amtrak station. I will be taking a revived interest in Greyhound or Trailways. However I’ll almost surely get there one way or another; if it’s reasonably close to me (say a day and a half) I’ll drive.
Those laments lamented, if I drove I would be hoping for a hotel right off an interstate rather then in a major-city downtown heavy-traffic area. That might swing a drive-no drive decision. Cost is not a major factor.
Bill Maher was the first potential speaker that came to my mind, as he has to others, but I agree that he would likely be too expensive. A possible cheaper alternative might be Matt Taibbi, one of Bill’s Real Time “reporters”. Saw him on BookTV plugging his “The Great Derangement”. Another possibility might be Jeremy Hall, the soldier who was hassled in Iraq over trying to hold an Atheist meeting and sent out of country for his own safety (from his fellow soldiers).
I read Fantastic Voyage, The Age of Spiritual Machines and The Singularity is Near, and they changed my life. I even found some of his lectures on Itunes and I find myself impatiently awaiting his next book.
Recently read another incredible book that I can’t recommend highly enough, especially to all of you who also love Ray Kurzweil’s work. The book is “”My Stroke of Insight”" by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. I had heard Dr Taylor’s talk on the TED dot com site and I have to say, it changed my world. It’s spreading virally all over the internet and the book is now a NYTimes Bestseller, so I’m not the only one, but it is the most amazing talk, and the most impactful book I’ve read in years. (Dr T also was named to Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People and Oprah had her on her Soul Series last month and I hear they’re making a movie about her story so you may already have heard of her)
If you haven’t heard Dr Taylor’s TEDTalk, that’s an absolute must. The book is more and deeper and better, but start with the video (it’s 18 minutes). Basically, her story is that she was a 37 yr old Harvard brain scientist who had a massive stroke in the left hemisphere of her brain. Because of her knowledge of how the brain works, and thanks to her amazingly loving and kind mother, she eventually fully recovered (and that part of the book detailing how she did it is inspirational).
There’s a lot of learning and magic in the book, but the reason I so highly recommend My Stroke of Insight to this discussion, is because we have powerfully intelligent left brains that are rational, logical, sequential and grounded in detail and time, and then we have our kinesthetic right brains, where we experience intuition and peace and euphoria. Now that Kurzweil has got us taking all those vitamins and living our best “”Fantastic Voyage”" , the absolute necessity is that we read My Stroke of Insight and learn from Dr Taylor how to achieve balance between our right and left brains. Enjoy!
No thanks on the “lots of magic.”
Either a place that people would be willing to spend the money to travel to, like New Orleans because people are curious regarding it?s redevelopment and it is warm, or a central location in the USA so it is not too awful long a trip for anybody. I doubt if gas prices will go down by next year, predictions are up. The trickle down effect is already affecting people?s jobs. After our good turn-out this year, next year may be smaller especially if it is expensive.
Have it at a hotel that has free parking. The hotel should then be located close to public transportation that can take convention goers into the city or have a shuttle.
I think a workshop would be a good idea. Didn?t we used to have them?
I missed the group outing this year. It is a good opportunity for members to socialize with other Atheists outside of their normal click. (Although I would not trade in my longtime normal click for anything, our drinking adventures are the stuff of legends at future conventions ;>)
Joe, I’d love to help AA with their conventions eventually. Right now I’m in the planning stages of forming another atheist group, so I don’t have experience setting up atheist groups per se… but I do have experience working with nonprofits and in business management. -Andrew Clapper
http://andrewclapper.wordpress.com
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10903714877&ref=ts
I think Daniel Dennett is an excellent speaker.
Personally, I’m for having it in Minneapolis again, but I’m a bit biased on that.
How does one learn where to register for the Atlanta conference, and what the conference fee is (as opposed to the hotel cost)?
Thanks.