EventsScienceSkepticism

DIY Science Zone @GeekGirlCon: Halp!

Cross-posted with Skepchick Events.

One of our newest Skepchicks, Ray (aka @DrRubidium), is running a DIY Science Zone during GeekGirlCon October 19 and 20, with the help of other scientists, including Skepchick Network contributors @NoisyAstronomer and @Seelix. I’ll be there too, assisting everyone with the sciencey goodness.

But we need your help! Our fundraising goal is $6,000. The money will go toward supplies, advertising, and badges, hotel rooms, and airfare for Zone workers who need the assistance.

Click here to donate!

What exactly will we be doing?

    • DNA extraction made easy!
    • Are you bitter? A genetic taste test.
    • Magic breath! Acid-base chemistry of the body.
    • CSI: GGC! Finding latent prints using ninhydrin.
    • Coffee ground fossils! Perfect for Seattle.
    • Neuron know-how! Build your own & learn how they work.
    • Slime-to-go!  Make your own bag of goo.
    • Making craters! Please bring your own sound effects.
    • Dancing raisins!  No choreography skills required.
    • Nature notebooks! A mix of art & nature.

 
And ThinkGeek has agreed to donate prizes for our Exploration Tracker, a punch card for participants to track all the DIY Science Zones they do!

Exploration Tracker

Still not convinced to part with your hard-earned cash? Well, how about a few acts of whimsy to sweeten the deal?

We’ve already unlocked the following achievements by raising $1,920:

    • For every $100 raised, @DrMRFrancis wears his Cthulhu hat in public.
    • At $300 and then $750, @Chemjobber (known for his ceramic duck) agreed to change his duck’s hat (and outfit?) by popular demand, no matter how silly, and at GGC, he’ll quack in response to anyone saying, “Hey, CJ!”
    • Ray (@DrRubidium), who hates Nickelback even more than you do (hard to believe, I know), will listen to a different Nickelback album live on Google Hangout for every $500 unless you mark your donation NO NB. Every $500 in NO NB donations will cancel out one album. Nickelback escape clause courtesy of @docfreeride.
    • We’ll be doing a live Google Hangout sing-a-long at GGC (and videotaping) for every $1,000 raised.
    • @NoisyAstronomer will lead us in a game of Mad Libs with one of the Zone scientists’ thesis abstract for every $1,000 we raise, also live on Google Hangouts.
    • When we hit $1,500, @Scicurious started writing a science version of a pop song for @DrMRFrancis to perform, accompanied by Ray’s cowbell stylings.

 
Stay tuned for more info on how and when you can view the Google Hangouts On Air for the unlocked acts of whimsy.

But wait! There’s more!zombie-dolls

    • If you donate a lump sum of $500 or more, @Lalsox will knit you a set of personalized zombie dolls! Five-set limit.
    • At $2,000 (we’re so close!), @Seelix will dress up her cat as one of the Avengers!
    • At $2,500, @DNLee5, @DrRubidium, and @Lalsox will re-enact the demise of @SamuelLJackson‘s character in Deep Blue Sea at GGC.
    • At $3,000: @Sargent will stage Sockmetheus, a sock puppet (abridged) performance of Prometheus.
    • At $4,000: At GGC, we’ll do a 5-minute re-enactment of whatever movie gets chosen in our reader poll, then upload the video to YouTube.
    • At $5,000: We’ll dance a jig. A real jig. AND IT WILL BE LEGENDARY. (Pretty sure this one’s going to happen at the Con and get uploaded to YouTube as well.)
    • At $6,000, we’ll do the Leyomi Drop (which is actually pretty much how I dance anyway, so I’m pretty psyched about this one).

 
Any money raised above $6,000 will be donated to science projects listed at DonorsChoose.org.  We also have various incentives for organizations. Check out the full details over at sciencetopia, which is also where Ray will detail the receipts for every dollar spent.

Here’s that link again to donate (or PayPal your donation to [email protected]).

And if you haven’t registered for GeekGirlCon yet, do it now! It’s going to be amazing.

GGC13

Melanie Mallon

Melanie is a freelance editor and writer living in a small town outside Minneapolis with her husband, two kids, dog, and two cats. When not making fun of bad charts or running the Uncensorship Project, she spends her time wrangling commas, making colon jokes, and putting out random dumpster fires. You can find her on Twitter as @MelMall, on Facebook, and on Instagram.

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2 Comments

    1. A dunking booth kind of thing, eh? Or we could make that a DIY Zone in and of itself! With the “Do not try this at home with your own DrRubidium” warning.

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