ZooCon 2013 in Oxford

Hi

On the 22nd June, we're welcoming the Zooniverse community to our home in the Department of Physics in Oxford. We're arranging an afternoon of talks, which will hopefully include a live connection to the Planet 4 team in the US via the magic of the internet. If you'd like to join us, you can find more details and sign up for a (FREE!) ticket here.

Posted February 25, 2013 6:01 PM

by rowbumby in response to zookeeper's comment.

booked ticket 😉 I is going

Posted February 25, 2013 11:16 PM

by gwyneth walker

error fetching subjects we may be out can anyone help with this message i now keep receiving. I can sign in ok but get no images now sorry if this is not the place to ask but i did not find an area to ask the question

help help i am missing out trying to help

Posted March 2, 2013 6:34 PM

by mschwamb scientist, translator in response to gwyneth walker's comment.

hiya,
I checked the copy of the Planet Four classification data I have and you've looked almost all the images we have loaded. So that's why you're getting that error. We still need classifications for the data we have it, but you've already the majority of them, so that's why other people can see images. Thanks so much for your help. I think we're planning to put some data in soon. In the meantime feel to ask questions and chat on Talk. I'm sure we'll send an email newsletter when new data gets loaded.
Cheers,
~Meg

Posted March 2, 2013 8:26 PM

by wassock moderator

Ticket booked, now need to work on a pass from the ultimate authority

Posted March 3, 2013 3:07 PM

by Kitharode moderator

Probably can't get there, but there's a slim chance so I'm working on it. Hope someone will take loads of piccys to share around.

Posted March 3, 2013 4:35 PM

by ElisabethB

There are still 57 tickets available for the talks, but only 49 for the pub !
I wonder what that means ! ;-D
(my tickets are booked btw)

Posted March 13, 2013 5:34 PM

by Kitharode moderator in response to ElisabethB's comment.

Hahaha. Well spotted. I think it means you're in for a good time ** 😉**

Posted March 13, 2013 6:28 PM

by ElisabethB

If it will be only half as much fun as last year, it will be amazing ! 😄
It is really a fun day, choc full of science and zoo goodies, but it is also amazing to meet your fellow zooites (from all projects! )

Posted March 13, 2013 7:09 PM

by AUricle in response to Kitharode's comment.

Sire?............Would you consider 'comping' one of your subects a round-trip airfare with accomodations and meals (with ticket to the big show, of course)? I'll be good. Promise!

Posted March 13, 2013 7:20 PM

by Kitharode moderator

Sounds like a great day out. Sadly, the thought of getting from Todmorden to Oxford and back is too much of a nightmare for me to handle. Checked out the travel options - too long, way too expensive. I'll hang on till Planet Four comes up north. At the moment the landscape in Tod is very similar to Mars - Hope the weathers better where you are. 😉

Posted March 13, 2013 7:25 PM

by ElisabethB

Now that is a shame ! It would've been great to meet you.
As for the weather right now : snow and -10°C for at least the rest of the week. Sounds familiar? ,-)

Posted March 13, 2013 8:12 PM

by mschwamb scientist, translator

Glad to see there will be some Planet Four people at ZooCon.
~Meg

Posted March 13, 2013 8:22 PM

by Kitharode moderator

So, how many people expected at ZooCon? And, if I may, how do you get the superscript 'o' in -10degC?

Posted March 13, 2013 8:35 PM

by ElisabethB in response to Kitharode's comment.

Hi Kitharode
They have (I think) 100 free tickets for the talks and another 100 free tickets for the pub.
as for the superscript : I have an azerty keyboard and the ° sign is just next to the right of the numbers at the top

Posted March 13, 2013 9:34 PM

by Kitharode moderator in response to ElisabethB's comment.

Although I don't know what 'azerty' is, at least I know I haven't got one. I guess qwerty is what I've got, and its different from azerty. (Sounds like a rare desease conversation) 😃 I'll stick with 'deg' then.

So if you went to last years 'do', you're an old-timer then - in a non temporal sense of course. You're either very keen or its your job - or not...

Posted March 14, 2013 8:09 PM

by wassock moderator in response to ElisabethB's comment.

So does that make you French, or did you just think you'd got a good deal at the hypermarket in Calais? 😃

How was last years soiree?

Posted March 14, 2013 10:51 PM

by ElisabethB in response to wassock's comment.

You could call me an oldtimer, I guess ! 😄 I've been involved with Galaxyzoo/Zooniverse almost from day one.
As a volunteer, nothing professional.

and nope, not French. I'm from Belgium.

Last years Oxford meet-up was lots of fun. We had a afternoon of talks about various projects and upcoming ones and then we all went to the pub for more fun !
Don't know yet what this years line-up will be.

Posted March 15, 2013 10:18 AM

by Kitharode moderator in response to ElisabethB's comment.

Thanks for that. It's nice to get a feel of what goes on in the outer reaches of Zooniverse. Just seen a film about a couple of Irish assasins in Bruges (might have spelt that wrong). Bit violent, yes, but funny at times. Passed through Belgium on journeys from Germany to England but never got to Bruges - It looks georgeous.

Posted March 15, 2013 5:26 PM

by ElisabethB

Ah yes, the assasins in Bruges ! 😉
No, seriously, Bruges is a very lovely city ! Well worth a visit.
Belgium as a whole is an extremely weird country, but I wouldn't want to live elsewhere ! 😃

Posted March 15, 2013 10:21 PM

by JellyMonster

I would like to have gone but it's a six hour round trip and around 300 miles in total. It's a shame none of us can 'beam down' yet.

Kith, I was up your way a few months ago (a sort of mini-break). We called in at Tod and spent some time at Hebden Bridge.

Posted March 16, 2013 8:19 PM

by Kitharode moderator

Hebden Bridge, eh? Putting that with your avatar picture it might be that you're the sort of visitor I'd let in. I'm a bit secretive in a Hebdon Bridge sort of way, but my lifestyle might not offend you too much if ever you dropped by.

'Beam down', yes. Cancel the HiRise mission and build a Scottymobile so that we can go to next years ZooCon. Yaaaay...

Posted March 17, 2013 1:21 AM

by JellyMonster

I am not sure if I would trust one of those machines anyway.

Posted March 17, 2013 9:11 AM

by wassock moderator

Anyone planning on being in Oxford on the Friday night............................

Posted April 5, 2013 4:27 PM

by ElisabethB

Yes, there are a couple of zooites over on the GZ forum who mentioned they would be in Oxford Friday night (including me 😄).
No definite plans as far as i can see. I'll let you know when something has been arranged.

Posted April 5, 2013 4:38 PM

by mschwamb scientist, translator

Anyone going to ZooCon willing to write a brief blog post about it after the event for the Planet Four blog? It could be as long or as short as you'd like (though slightly more geared towards Planet Four).

Cheers,

~Meg

Posted April 7, 2013 4:20 PM

by ElisabethB

I think that honour will go to wassock ! (no pressure !!! 😃 )

Posted April 7, 2013 4:40 PM

by Kitharode moderator

Yes, wassock, no pressure at all. Just make sure you spell my name right !! 😉

Posted April 7, 2013 5:41 PM

by wassock moderator

Duly elected!

Posted April 7, 2013 10:32 PM

by mschwamb scientist, translator in response to wassock's comment.

Thanks,
~Meg

Posted April 10, 2013 2:00 PM

by wassock moderator

Hi all I joined in with the moderators phone in last night and one of the things that was mentioned was that they intend to stream proceedings from ZooCon over the web. So if you can't get there in person you should still be able to see what goes on.

Posted April 21, 2013 2:43 PM

by mschwamb scientist, translator

Thanks for letting us know. Also if anyone lives in Chicago, it isn't Mars/Planet Four related but if you're interested in hearing about other Zooniverse projects, there is a public lecture on the 30th at the Adler Planetarium.

Cheers,

~Meg

Posted April 21, 2013 3:03 PM

by Kitharode moderator

Fabulous news. I'm assuming we'll get instructions on how to view? Look forward to it.....

Posted April 21, 2013 6:41 PM

by jules in response to Kitharode's comment.

Keep an eye on the Zooniverse blog as I think that's most likely where details will appear.

Posted April 22, 2013 7:39 PM

by Kitharode moderator in response to jules's comment.

Thanks jules. Hadn't thought about the blog. Fortunately I've signed up for updates so I shouldn't miss it. Cheers.

Posted April 22, 2013 8:15 PM

by mschwamb scientist, translator in response to mschwamb's comment.

Also there's the Chicago Zooniverse Workshop going on today and tomorrow. It's mostly the Zooniverse team, new project science teams and some representatives from current projects and a few Zooniverse volunteer representatives invited. It's a closed meeting, but you can follow the tweets from the workshop here.

Cheers,

~Meg

Posted April 29, 2013 6:47 PM

by mschwamb scientist, translator

Just wanted to put a reminder out about ZooCon 2013 on June 22nd at the University of Oxford and there are plans to hopefully include a live connection to the Planet 4 team in the US. Tickets are free

Cheers,

~Meg

Posted May 22, 2013 5:46 PM

by Chocstar

Can the rest of us who can't attend view a part of the day via the 'net ?

Posted May 22, 2013 5:51 PM

by mschwamb scientist, translator in response to Chocstar's comment.

I believe there will be some kind of web broadcasting but not sure what they're doing since I'm not organizing it, the Zooniverse Oxford HQ folks are organizing but I'm sure we'll post details here, on the project twitter feed, and there will be info on the Zooniverse twitter account.

Cheers,

~Meg

Posted May 22, 2013 8:08 PM

by wassock moderator

Hi Peeps

Two questions, is anyone else here going on Saturday? And are there any questions anyone not going would like me to ask?

Posted June 18, 2013 9:51 AM

by Kitharode moderator

Looking back it looks like Rowbumby, ElizabethB, and yourself are the main P4 delegates. Sounds like a good crew to me. 😉

I'd be interested to hear about ideas for tempting more people into the Talk discussions. Considering the number of people who join in or pass through Planet Four the discussion area seems remarkably quiet. Are we missing something, or doing something wrong?

I'd also like to know whether there is any 'zooniverse education program' or some such thing. By its very nature the Zooniverse is educational, but is there a strategy or plan to expand the opportunities in education?

Thanks for asking. Have a great time.

Posted June 18, 2013 4:11 PM

by mschwamb scientist, translator

Hi Guys,
I'll be giving the P4 update. Looking forward to seeing you all virtually since I'll be skyping in.

Kitharode, there isn't a ZooTeach talk on the schedule, but there's an education program out of Adler Planetarium (US Zooniverse HQ) run by educators who are part of the Zooniverse team. The ZooTeach site is here and you can find there blog here.

Cheers,

~Meg

Posted June 20, 2013 12:10 AM

by Kitharode moderator

OK, thanks for that Meg. I'll check it out.

Posted June 20, 2013 5:20 PM

by ElisabethB in response to wassock's comment.

Hi wassock

I'm looking forward to meeting you there ! 😄

edit : and Rowbumby too ! 😉 😄

edit 2 : and Meg of course !!

Oh dear, I'm totally making a mess of things ! 😄

Posted June 20, 2013 8:13 PM

by wassock moderator

Wil see you there, Meg is only there via cybersppace though

Posted June 20, 2013 9:16 PM

by Kitharode moderator

I'll be with you in spirit. Probably southern comfort, no ice. 😉

Posted June 21, 2013 4:55 PM

by mschwamb scientist, translator

The talks are being recorded (but will be posted at a later date I believe) and Chris (Zookeeper) is live blogging right now.

Cheers,

~Meg

Posted June 22, 2013 1:49 PM

by wassock moderator

Hi everyone there's a new blog post at http://blog.planetfour.org/2013/06/24/zoocon-13/ regarding my adventures at ZooCon 13

Posted June 27, 2013 9:23 PM

by Kitharode moderator

And what a good post it is. Well done. Sounds like a good time was had by all.

So what about this 'tantalising glimpse' of first results? Tell us more..... 😛

Posted June 27, 2013 9:37 PM

by mschwamb scientist, translator

My ZooCon talk on Planet Four is online (albeit with a the first 30-45 seconds cut off but the rest of it is there. You can watch it here.

Cheers,

~Meg

Posted August 21, 2013 7:21 PM