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There is still time to save £50 off the full conference package if you register and pay by the end of this month.

The BIG Event is the most exciting event in the STEM Communicator’s annual professional and social calendar. This year's event in Bristol will feature its trademark mix of professional development, opportunities to debate the future of the sector through targeted discussion, the best science shows currently travelling the UK circuit and a range of sessions designed to strengthen delegates and their organisations.

BRAND NEW for 2011...

 •         Experience cutting edge science show development – using magic, incorporating ‘play’, developing production values, and learning from commercial theatre.

 •         Increase your impact across STEM: including a focus on maths engagement, working on and offline, using formative evaluation

 •         Debate the current issues in learning and influence educational research – including primary science, curriculum changes and the link between informal and informal learning.

 •         Learn how to work with unique partners: festivals, nightclubs, and corporates.

View the programme and register for your place by clicking here: www.big.uk.com/bigevent

Registration for the BIG Event 2011 is now LIVE!  Be sure to take advantage of our special early bird deal – a full £50 off the conference fees – available only until March 31st.

The first draft of the programme can be viewed at:

http://www.big.uk.com/bigevent

This year's event is going to be BIGGER and better than ever with some brand new, exciting sessions in the pipeline. Check the site for updated programmes that will be available regularly until the event.

The BIG Event is relevant for artists, presenters, archaeologists, educators, students, front of house staff, evaluators and anyone involved in STEM communication whatever their field.

Explore @bristol are the latest centre to sign up to offer free admission for BIG members producing a valid membership card. This latest offer will save members £12.50 each time they visit for the next 2 years!

Smash a wine glass with sound, generate power for a house, make a digital camera – volunteers needed…!

Do these things sound intriguing? Are you interested in communicating science to a young audience?  Lab in a Lorry needs volunteers with a scientific background for events across the country this academic year.

Lab in a Lorry is an interactive mobile laboratory which gives young people (11-14 year olds) the opportunity to explore science through open-ended experiments.  Volunteers guide the students through the experiments (oil and viscous liquids, sound and resonance, light scattering and colours, climate change and energy sources, optoelectronics) and makes sure everyone gets to be involved through hands on experience.

What would I have to do?
You’d be asked to oversee an experiment for the day.  On the morning of an event, you’d receive training on the Lab and we send you all the background material in advance.

We ask that volunteers commit to a minimum of one full school day but you are welcome to come along for as many days as you like - we have plenty of freebies for you, such as
T-shirts, magnets and your very own Lab in a Lorry, see the picture below! You also receive free affiliate membership to the Institute of Physics.
More information?

To find out more about what’s involved in volunteering for Lab in a Lorry and where we will be touring, visit our website: http://www.labinalorry.org.uk where our tour schedule is always up to date and contact me on the details below to sign up. Volunteers are the key to the success of Lab in a Lorry and I hope that you will become part of the team.

Most UK science centres have been kind enough to offer BIG members a free visit on production of their valid membership cards. Please get in touch if your Centre is not included. Members very often bring their paying families with them and Centres get a full listing and a link from our website.

Science in School, the European journal for science teachers, covers not only biology, physics and chemistry, but also earth sciences, engineering and medicine. The contents of this free journal include teaching materials, recent discoveries in science, education projects, interviews with young scientists and inspiring teachers, book reviews, and European events for teachers and schools. Science in School welcomes the involvement of BIG Members in a number of ways.

• To list your events for teachers and schools in the Science in School calendar (www.scienceinschool.org/events), email the editors with brief details: date, location, title, abstract, price, language, registration deadline, website, contact email address, and any restrictions on who can attend.
• As a science communicator organising events for teachers, you might like to distribute flyers or free copies of the print journal. Just let the editors know how many copies you would like and where to send them.
  
• If you are involved in an education project that science teachers can join, that could serve as a model for others, or that has produced innovative teaching materials, why not consider submitting an article about it? See the author guidelines and ask the editors if you have any questions.

Finally, if you know other ways to tell science teachers about the journal –please do so.
For more information, visit www.scienceinschool.org or email editor@scienceinschool.org.

BIG members get 10% off the course fees for UWE's forthcoming Masterclass in Science Communication to be held 11-14 October 2010 in Bristol.

UWE's Masterclass is a hugely popular short course created to provide intensive professional development in science communication. The masterclass draws on the existing expertise of the team that delivers UWE's popular and practical Masters in Science Communication.

Topics covered include: historical and social contexts plus current drivers for science communication; different ways of communicating science; engaging with the public; facilitation; fundraising; project planning; print and new media; and evaluation.

To register as a participant, or to find out more about the course before their imminent closing date of 17 September, please click here: www.scu.uwe.ac.uk/index.php?q=node/199

The brand new BIG website is now LIVE! There's loads of new stuff on the site including information about training
courses, career development and a summary of the exciting discussion which
took place at this year's Event about Freelancers' daily rates.

We're going to be adding new content over the Autumn and the new site allows
us to run forums and blogs and we'll be introducing those as we go along.

If you are a member of BIG, your old login will no longer work and you will
have received a separate email asking you to follow three simple steps. If
you have not received this, do please let me know.

Currently it’s all go putting the 60-plus action points from the Science for All Action Plan into life.

Based on recommendations from (and informed by) various consultations including the recent Science Communication Conference organised by British Science Association, the working groups are beginning to bear fruit. Here are a couple of highlights that you can expect to be coming your way soon.

The Science in Society team from the British Science Association led a session introducing the jazzily-named ‘Collective Memory’ at the BIG Event 2010 about how the entire community can share our expertise (all for free) and learn from each other.

However, for those who didn’t manage to make it, we need your help. Have a look at www.britishscienceassociation.org/ CollectiveMemory to see what the pilot scheme looks like and have a go adding an evaluation or two. Does it work for you? What would you find most useful? Have your say, and shape a tool that can help us all to learn from each other and plan and evaluate future activities.

Coming up in the near future will be some scoping work into exploring the networks that Sci-Commers use and find really helpful – what works for you? Also, a complete beginner’s guide to Social Media – how’s it being used to engage people with the sciences?

 
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Congratulations to Jenny Dockett, Public Engagement Manager at the Centre for Life in Newcastle who has been awarded this year’s BIG Bursary.

Jenny will be finding out what science centres and outreach providers can learn from the Forest School ethos and will attend a 5-day training course. Both Forest Schools and Science Centres take learning outside of the classroom and engage children in a different way to schools. Forest schools are becoming increasingly popular, the key to their success is engaging children to learn through fun activities and hopefully when they go back to the classroom they take their new found confidence in learning back with them.