In addition to hot coffee, fresh muffins, and glazed danishes, the NASW Business Meeting offered both an opportunity to learn about the progress of current NASW projects and the development of new ones. Many of the brief presentations centered on the importance of sharing information helpful to honing a science writer's craft. The meeting also gave new members the chance to meet and talk with board members, as well as socialize with other attendees.
Oct. 28, 2006NASW news
Paul Aiken, attorney for the Author's Guild, claims that Google's digitization of copyrighted material could pave the way for the demise of writers and publishers. Aiken and the Guild have sued Google, and the case is winding its way through a multi-year process. "Fair use doesn't mean free use," Aiken told a rapt audience at a presentation titled "Copyright in an Internet Age." Questioners after his talk challenged his reading of the tea leaves.
Oct. 28, 2006Friday night, as contented conference-goers munched on a vast array of cheeses of the world and cashed in their free-drink coupons, Robin Marantz Henig welcomed them to a new concept in this year's NASW sessions: the science cabaret.
Oct. 28, 2006As the crowd was settling in to the "PIO Basics" session of the 2006 NASW meeting, a man in the row behind me leaned forward and whispered to the woman next to me, "I know nothing about being a PIO." "Neither do I," she whispered back.
Oct. 28, 2006The How to Cover a Scientific Meeting session drew a standing-room only crowd, with participants lining the walls and sitting on the floors as four consummate professionals held forth on everything from the imminently practical ("Read the program" and "Eat breakfast") to pointers on schmoozing researchers to slick tips on how to capture elusive details to entice picky editors.
Oct. 27, 2006NASW Members looking for health, long-term care, vision, and dental insurance should be made aware that NASWers in NY (up to Ulster, Putnam, and Rockland County) (Oxford), CT, NJ, Greater Chicago, including part of Indiana, California, and Florida (CIGNA), can get health insurance through TEIGIT, The Entertainment Insurance Group Insurance Trust.
Oct. 5, 2006Jerome Groopman, a staff writer at The New Yorker and a professor of medicine at Harvard, has been awarded the 2006 Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Reporting for stories that combine sensitivity to patients' concerns with a thoughtful analysis of issues and controversies in medicine.
Sep. 13, 2006Help make the NASW Science in Society meeting a success — host a network table. All you need is a topic — any topic from "Interviewing Tricks and Tips" to "Making an Office Out of a Closet" to "Covering Volcanic Research." You need not be an expert on this topic. You just have to be willing to kick off the informal discussion at a table with other interested members during lunch on Friday, October 27.
Sep. 7, 2006The NASW membership met at 9 a.m. Sun., Oct. 22, 2005, during the NASW workshop in Pittsburgh, Pa. About 75 people attended, despite the early hour. Could it have been the free breakfast?
Aug. 11, 2006