SCIfest: Reporting on conferences and events

Driving up the hill towards the Monument became a regular feature during the 10 days of SCIfest. What made the drive interesting was watching my petrol gauge below the red line and hoping that I wouldn't find myself rolling down backwards. But luckily my little Polo Playa managed to perform. With my car performing it duty. I had my own duty of reporting on conferences and events at SCIfest, most of which were at the Monument.

With Melissa in my team, the first lecture we attended was presented by Jane Badham on healthy eating. Not feeling so healthy myself from the night before I felt like a cop out siting there taking notes about having a healthy lifestyle. I think the organisers of SCIfest did a superb job of making this lecture on a public holiday as they probably knew that everybody was out jolling the night before. What better way to make people feel rotten about themselves. After the lecture Melissa and I spoke to Jane. Melissa did most of the talking (she didn't go out jolling the night before. Smart.) For this particular story we gave it a local perspective and focused on Makana's weighty issue. So to give more depth to the story we then spoke to Janet Kelly of the Rhodes Health Suite. What I found most interesting about Jane and Janet is that they both had a lot to stay about being healthy, eating the right foods, exercise and so on yet both of them weren't exactly Elle "The Body" McPhereson. Part of the project also meant getting pics of people eating (not many people obliged to this, I wouldnt blame them -who would want a pic of them stuffing themselves on the web?) people exercising in the gym (the jocks were very obliging to this) and people being sedentry (majority of students). This paticular story was interesting to do because I could relate what the story was about to my own life. Everyone wants to be more healthy and all that which goes with it. It makes reporting on a story so much more intersting and makes you put more effort when you have your own personal interest in the story.

Next up Melissa and I went to report on Steph Juncker the hypnotist. Steph had two shows at SCIfest, one being an actual hypnotist show and the other a lecture. Because you had to pay for the show, Melissa and I didn't have any tickets so I phoned up Steph and did a bit of bartering. We lent him a tripod, he let us in his show. I'm sure this type of thing happens all the time in the real world of journalism. The show was amusing naturally, watching people eat raw onions whole always is. The next day came the lecture after which we spoke to Steph. This is where a learnt another lesson about being a journalist. Sometimes you just have to let your personal issues with the person you are interviewing slide and just suck it up. After having comments thrown at us like "I'd do you" "I only do autographs on the bum, come let me sign you" and "why didn't I see you girls in the Rat last night" you just have to smile sweetly, giggle at the lame comments and try get him to answer our questions. Men, especially middle aged men, are generally perverted. They also seem to think that it is ok and normal to undress 21 yr old girls with their eyes, and do so blantatly. One day I will be 40 and I wont have to deal with this type of thing. So what I learnt about reporting for this story was that sometimes you just have to suck it up as not everyone you interview is going to be a decent person.

We also had planned to do a story on the scientific differences between girls and boys. The lecture was highly entertaining, but we didnt have an angle to make the story news worthy. So basically we attended a lecture and wrote down notes for our own interest sake. Sometimes a story gets scrapped at that's that. But at least I know now that girls are designed and programmed to have little to none spatial ability. The next time I parallel parking I'll keep that in mind when it takes me several attempts to get into the parking bay.

Following was Arvind Gupta and how he creates educational toys out of junk materials. Lucky for me the lecture was at the Albany Museum, so my car -still sitting on empty- didn't have to attempt the Monument trek. It was quite incredible watching him make pumps and all sorts out of rubbish that we normally discard everyday, also the fact that he doesnt use glue or scissors. The children there were equally entertained as the teachers and parents. This kind of lecture is the one that validates your role as a journalist. Because we come from a society where majority is in poverty, educuational toys are not an expenditure priority. So making these types of toys are beneficial to so many people in Makana and South Africa. And being a journalist helps to get that message out there to show people what they can achieve with ordinary things.

Finally we did our last story on DNA and how its used to determine paternity and solve murders. Melissa took part on the workshop and I took photographs. I think it was good that Melissa got involved because as a journalist you dont always have to take the observer role. Journalits can take an active role and be involved and participate. I think this way allowed for more understanding of the workshop than just trying to absorb all the information passively.

All in all reporting for SCIfest was interesting. It's nice to get out of the labs and go reporting outside in the field. Reporting from conferences also makes our job a lot easier because most of what needs to be reported on is said in the lecture, or something is said that can be delved into with more depth in the one on one interview afterwards.