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From Wed 23rd to Fri 25th July the BIG Event will be poking around the collections, the nooks and the crannies of the University Museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford.

The venue for this year provides oodles of potential for trying out new ideas and is a great place for a meaningful argument and a good rootle in some weird stuff. It was here at the Museum of Natural History that the famous evolutionary debate took place between Huxley and Wilberforce; it houses the University's scientific collections of zoological, entomological and geological specimens. At the Pitt Rivers Museum next door one of the world's finest collections of anthropology and archaeology is held, with objects revealing humankind's extraordinary problem-solving and craft skill from every continent and from throughout human history.

It's a wonderful building; it's not to be missed. Expect some intimate spaces; expect some super Victorian Gothic surroundings.

If that's tickled your fancy and you already have seven or eight sessions you'd like to propose DON'T LET ME STOP YOU. You can go now to the BIG Event session proposal site at http://bigevent.info/ and put your ideas down for us all to chip in on. If you need to mull it over Christmas, we'll be taking session proposals until mid January.

The BIG Event is the British Interactive Group's annual get-together where people in the STEM enagement profession get together (of course) to swap, share, give and try out. It is hosted by a different visitor centre each year and the content and style of the Event changes to suit the surroundings. It's a like a conference, but nicer.

BIG is thrilled to announce that the Little Event returns to Thinktank in Birmingham on Wednesday 8th January. It’s for people who are relatively new to STEM communication, whether they work in a science centre or museum, volunteer for a festival, are involved in university outreach, or do anything else to engage people with sciences. It’s a lot like the BIG Event, but a bit smaller, and all crammed into one busy day. There will be several sessions, each focusing on developing a different skill, delivered by experienced science communicators following our usual hands-on approach.

But of course it isn’t just about the sessions, it’s the people you meet there too. The Little Event presents a great opportunity to meet people from across the UK working in similar roles and sharing similar experiences. The programme for the day will include sessions on Learning & evaluation, Interacting with the public, Managing your engagement project, Presenting and careers.

The price is £45 for BIG members - or non-members will need to join BIG first for £30 for 12 months.

Thanks to generous support from Graphic Science and BIG, we are able to offer 10 bursaries to cover 1 year’s BIG membership, registration fees for the Little Event and £25 towards travel expenses.

For more information about the day - or the bursary application process visit www.big.uk.com/littleevent14

You can follow the comings and goings of this year's BIG Event at Glasgow Science Centre on Twitter from today using the hashtag #bigevent13

Still undecided about whether to attend this year's BIG Event in Glasgow? The time is now. With only 10 places left, the final programme is available to view and download from our website.

If you are a member of BIG, you will have received an email in your inboxes inviting you to vote for candidates standing for election to a position on the Executive Committee 2013/14. Please use your vote wisely - it will make all the difference.

Fancying standing for a position on BIG's 2013/14 Executive Committee? ANY member can apply for ANY of the following roles and no previous experience is required: Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. All positions will be subject to an online vote and the results will be revealed at the AGM in July. For more information contact admin@big.uk.com

Valerie Mellon, Assistant Producer with Nina and the Neurons, one of CBeebies’ flagship science programmes is announced as Keynote Speaker for the BIG Event 2013. Val’s work takes her all over the UK to meet ordinary folks with simple science questions and puts them together into an engaging programme aimed at the under sevens and their families.

The deadline for applying for a bursary to attend this year's BIG Event taking place at Glasgow Science Centre is fast approaching!

The bursary provides registration fees for the BIG Event and gives limited travel and accommodation support. This is open to BIG members who are in the first five years of their professional career and have not attended a previous BIG Event.

To apply for a conference place through the bursary, please download the form and guidelines from www.big.uk.com/bigevent

Deadline for application: Friday 26 April 2013 (late applications will not be considered – sorry).

Can't afford to join 150+ STEM engagement professionals at the BIG Event but really, really, REALLY want to?

This year BIG is offering 2-3 bursary places to attend the BIG Event taking place at Glasgow Science Centre on 24-26 July 2013.

The bursary provides registration fees for the BIG Event and gives limited travel and accommodation support. This is open to BIG members who are in the first five years of their professional career and have not attended a previous BIG Event.

To apply for a conference place through the bursary, please download the form and guidelines from www.big.uk.com/bigevent

Deadline for application: Friday 26 April 2013 (late applications will not be considered – sorry).

Submission of an article (approx 400 words) for BIG’s enewsletter related to your conference attendance is a requirement of the bursary scheme and expenses will be issued on receipt of the article. We also hope you will be willing to give a hand at the conference where required; this gives you a great opportunity to create links with other delegates.

Find out more about the BIG Event at www.big.uk.com

The BIG Event is a three-day conference providing an unmissable opportunity to squeeze the skills and ideas out of all the STEM engagement people you can in a short space of time.

The conference is relevant for designers, presenters, educators, students, front of house staff, evaluators, educationalists, funders, and anyone involved in the public engagement with science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). Many people working in the STEM engagement field have little opportunity to cross paths with their peers, so the BIG Event was designed with exactly this in mind.

More than 40 workshops, discussions, shows, and even a sprinkling of sessions that surpass classification; this is the place to:
share skills and experiences
develop professional links and keep up-to-date with the STEM engagement field
hone your skills and recharge your professional batteries
pick up great ideas and show off your talents to peers