Celebrate Success, Embrace Deviance
The first full day of the Inspiring Science Communication study tour began with an introduction from Christian Simm, CEO of swissnex San Francisco. Dressed as a doctor (or a cook?) he gave us some insights into the ingredients of swissnex’ success.
swissnex promotes innovation by being part of San Francisco’s unique entrepreneurial and innovation-driven ecosystem. Simm cited San Francisco’s Chief Innovation Officer, to describe this mindset: “Celebrate success and embrace deviance.”
Take a minute to think about that. To what extent are we and our institutions celebrating success? To what extent are we willing to embrace deviance and all its side effects?
Next, Kishore Hari, director of the Bay Area Science Festival shared insights about the annual, multi-site festival that presents more than 80 public events in San Francisco and beyond, where science and entertainment meet.
He showed us some innovative ways of communicating science, both through events and on social media. During his presentation, we had time to discuss some issues we have in common.
How can science communication reach out not only to the nerdy and educated but also to the general public? Go to where people spend their leisure time, was Kishore’s answer, which he underpinned with examples from the baseball stadium and Las Vegas.
How can we motivate researchers to contribute to science communication? Don’t push too much. Lower barriers by providing infrastructure. Show researchers that they can benefit from science communication, too–and that it can be fun! Create success stories with open-minded researchers and use them to convince the others.
Next, Francesco Muzzi, an art director for Wired, presented the latest trends in data visualization. The challenge, he says, is to find the balance between information and aesthetics.
Drawing an infographic can take up to two weeks. It should be a close cooperation between journalists and designers. For inspiration, look to Wired, The New York Times Magazine, and the Guardian.
The last presentation of the morning came from Sandra Hausmann, a swissnex resident in charge of business development for the open-access science journal family, Frontiers. It was a pleasure and honor to get first-hand information on this project not only from Hausamnn, but also from it’s founders Kamila and Henry Markram, who happened to be in town, too. Henry Markram also leads the Human Brain Project.
The morning provided us with valuable information about our hosts in San Francisco and new trends in science communication. It helped me to better understand the innovation-friendly mindset of the Bay Area. “Celebrate success and embrace deviance” — this sentence was a real eye-opener to me.
