By Shane M Hanlon

It’s that time of year again! No, not turkey day or winter holidays – it’s almost time for AGU’s Fall Meeting!

Here are AGU, our (professional) year culminates with the annual meeting (as many of yours do as well). We’ve been preparing since 1 January of this year and we’re excited that the time has almost arrived. So, what’s new with Sharing Science at Fall Meeting this year? Almost everything.

For the first time the Sharing Science Program will have it’s own room! Five days of nothing but science communication, outreach, and policy. We’ll be in Moscone West 2001A (on the second floor in the middle of everything!). You can check out the entire list of events here (note that not all are in our room – we are at capacity) and I’ve highlighted some recurring and new activities below:

Workshops:
We’ll be hosting our ever-popular Science Storytelling Video Workshop on Sunday, 11 December before the meeting officially starts. If you want to learn how to use videos to share your science, sign up today! In addition to the video workshop, we’ll be hosting two new workshops. Our Communicating Science Workshop will be help on Sunday as well – this is a general communications workshops meant for scientists of all backgrounds and scicomm skill levels. We’ll also be hosting a Lightning Comms Workshop for Established Scientists on Tuesday, 13 December from 2:00 – 3:45 PM. These are all great opportunities to create, craft, or hone your science-sharing skills!

Panels:
We will again be co-hosting, along with our Public Affairs division, a panel on the AAAS Mass Media and Congressional Science Fellowships on Monday, 12 December form 12:30 – 1:30 PM. Learn about these exciting opportunities to get some science-related experience on Capitol Hill or in a press room! The Sharing Science in Plain English panel is back as well – learn how to talk about your science to any audience! We’ll also be hosting a Meet the Filmmaker panel with help from AGU Cinema (which will be screening films in the Sharing Science Room all week!) and a panel in the Career Center entitled, You don’t have to quit your day job, where scientists will talk about the cool non-academic ways in which they use their science!

Personalized help:
Want to chat with folks about policy, social media, outreach, the press, and other opportunities? Attend our Ask the Experts event on Wednesday, 14 December from 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM! Do you want to chat with Sharing Science staff one-on-one about an upcoming interview, meeting with a policymaker, public lecture, or anything else about sharing your science? Then attend our Sharing Science Comms Clinic from 2:30 – 3:45 PM on Monday, 12 December. Or do you prefer to chat with peers about their experiences? We’ll be hosting a Sharing Science Networking Lounge from 12:30 – 1:30 PM on Wednesday, 14 December and a Science Policy Networking Lunch & Lounge on Tuesday, 13 December from 12:00 – 1:30 PM.

Sharing your science online:
Interesting in using social media or blogging and don’t know where to start? Our Blogging and Social Media Forum 101 on Wednesday, 14 December from 2:00 – 3:00 PM is a great place to start! Already active online and want some additional pointers? Our 201 forum will be from 3:00 – 4:00 right after 101! And for the first time AGU will be hosting a Tweetup on Tuesday, 13 December from 3:30 – 4:30 at the AGU Booth in the Exhibit Hall (note the location).

Wikipedia Edit-a-thon:
Ever wanted to edit scientific content on Wikipedia but didn’t know where to start. Well, you’re in luck because, with help form the Simons Foundation and Wiki Educational Foundation, we’ll be hosting an edit-a-thon on Thursday, 15 December from 1:00 – 5:00 PM where you can help make Wikipedia a more reliable place to learn about science!

#SketchYourScience:
You loved it last year (check out the Storify if you missed it)! So, we’re bringing it back, and it’s going to be bigger and better than ever! Stop by the Sharing Science Room all week and show us what your science looks like!
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These are just some of the many amazing Sharing Science activities that will be happening during Fall Meeting.. Be sure to check out the full list here and we can’t wait to see you!

–Shane M Hanlon is an AGU Sharing Science Specialist