My first session, “Freaks, Geeks, and Deadlines,” was interesting because its three panelists and one moderator could hardly agree on anything.  Indeed, they probably wouldn’t be able to decide as a group whether or not Taco Bell was authentic Mexican food! All their disagreements made for a very interesting talk that easily engaged my attention. [...]

Well, I found my seat in the Cyprus room, which wasn’t too hard since the room was only a quarter of the way full. I found that interesting, since I thought that this would be an extremely beneficial session, especially for those who are still timid about the technological advances in journalism. As a self-proclaimed [...]

“Imagine an appointment as a train,” my mom told me when I was a kid. “If you’re late, will it still be there? No. You’ve missed the train.” "Science Writing for Kids: Skills and Markets"—I totally missed that train. I was conducting an interview just before the session began, and lost track of time. I [...]

It was nearly 5 pm at the Cabana Hotel in Palo Alto, and I was a healthy mix of exhausted and excited. I had just attended "Thinking Outside the Lab," a workshop session on communicating science to the public, my last session of the day and certainly the most enjoyable, if only for bolstering my [...]

On Saturday evening, presumably to unburden writers who had endured a long day of workshops, the NASW scheduled a comedic speaker during Happy Hour. Everyone gathered outside the lecture room on the patio, sipping wine and mingling. I found a seat close to the speaker and waited for crowd to file in. But it seemed [...]

One moment is hard to pick because this trip was one incredible moment. A standout moment for me though was the impromptu drumming jam on the patio at Trader Vic’s. Not only was it fun, in a tribal way, but we sounded great. It started off with base beats on the table with our hands. [...]

As I was walking back to my hotel room late Saturday, I ran into a science writer I had met the previous day at the conference. His name was Brandon. He asked me where he could get a drink this late at night. I actually had little idea of where to do this, since all [...]

I’m on the plane home, and I’m finding myself wishing that we could have stayed a few more days. But for now I’m content to sleep—I think I’ve gotten a combined ten hours or so of sleep since leaving for Indianapolis at 3:30 Friday morning, and it’s Sunday now. Maybe it’s the sleep deprivation, but [...]

Approximately eleven minutes after the limos deposited us back in Bloomington, I was at my in-laws’ dinner table, some lovely roast chicken steaming on my plate. After getting up at 3 am (again), two plane trips and a car ride–twelve hours worth of travel–I was wiped. And starving. But the other places at the table [...]

Among the many topics Karen Heyman has covered during her career as a freelance science writer are neuroscience, genetics, and the Internet. Although she originally studied Film at New York University, Heyman found herself more interested in the Internet, which was experiencing huge growth in the mid-90’s. She worked as a technology and entertainment writer, [...]