The NSF National Center for informal education in science, NISENET (www.nisenet.org) has recently begun promoting the concept of the ‘science café’ for communities to use in discussing nanotechnology and other scientific topics in an informal setting (http://www.nisenet.org/catalog/tools-guides/science-cafe-guide ). This is similar to another group, ‘Café Scientifique’ (www.cafescientifique.org ) that originated in England and has spread worldwide since then; they do not have a specific science topic agenda, but the organizational structure is very similar. One could easily register with and participate as a member in both.
We have been hosting a 'Cafe Scientifique' for about 4 years at Lansing Community College (http://www.lcc.edu/science/cafe_scientifique.aspx.) The event is held once a month in our local Schuler's bookstore (http://www.schulerbooks.com ) on a Tuesday evening. It is an ideal setting as they have a small living room area in the back that comfortably seats about 50 on folding chairs (provided by the bookstore!). We invite our faculty, staff and folks we know from the community, including Michigan State University, to attend and talk about anything they want, even if they aren't experts.
The program has been a great success for us. Even after 4 years, we have plenty of topics lined up. We typically get, say, 20-35 people at each event, depending on topic, weather, etc. We have our 'regulars' but we also get quite a number of new people every time, including folks who just happened to be in the bookstore that night. Nanotechnology in its many forms has been a regular topic, but we are not restrictive in scope.
The bookstore has been very good to us, working with us on marketing (they post signs in the store for us and promote us in their newsletter), announcing the event over the store sound system, providing chairs and suggested books, and even giving the speaker a free latte! They view it as a good community service as well as a way to attract folks to their store.
Of course, we have one individual who tirelessly organizes topics and speakers on whom we all depend, and finding someone like him is our good fortune.
We ask all attendees to sign up and provide an email address and then they receive subsequent announcements of upcoming events. We also have a page on our college web page that we keep updated. Other than that and the bookstore's efforts, we have not made a big effort at marketing; folks just seem to find their way.
A couple of practical issues to consider. We maintain a policy of polite discourse – no personal remarks, raised voices, harsh criticisms even of the silliest/wrongest science notion, etc. We have never had to eject anyone for their behavior, despite having dealt with some pretty hot topics (global warming and evolution/ID/creationism are on that list for sure!).
The second policy decision is how to manage audience participation. Some topics (those above, cosmology, quantum mechanics, extraterrestrial life and other ‘out there’ topics) tend to attract individuals who are enthusiasts for a particular idiosyncratic perspective. We find that if the moderator is polite and firm and gives folks some time (but not unlimited time) to expound their theory, and then offers time for other audience members to speak, it is possible to keep such individuals from taking over the evening. This calls for an experienced moderator, and you might want to identify this person in advance when planning the event. We are fortunate that our ‘organizer person’ is also an excellent ‘moderator person’ but there is no reason why they have to be the same person.
We have some classes at Lansing Community College that will offer students a few extra credit points for attending when the topic is directly relevant to their coursework, so if you are running this from a college or university, marketing topics in advance to faculty and making the suggestion for extra credit can help boost attendance as well as exposing students to community viewpoints on science.
One other piece of advice. Both groups suggest using a restaurant/bar as a location. We found that this did not work as well for us. First, all of the food/drink activities tended to be a distraction, particularly if some of your meeting is devoted to an informal talk that is intended to provide some groundwork for further discussion.
In addition, in order to use the name of our college as a sponsor for the event, we felt that we should avoid locations that permitted alcohol consumption. Our college has a strict no alcohol at any function policy; you may want to consult your institution before hosting an event at a location that serves alcohol.
This has been a lot of fun for all concerned. Feel free to visit the websites above and then contact me deitst@lcc.edu if you would like more information.
Tom Deits
Chairperson, Science Department
Lansing Community College
