Communicating the Future:
Best Practices for Communication of Science and Technology to the Public
Conference held March 6-8, 2002, at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

The full proceedings of the conference, including a summary by the conference steering committee, is now available. To receive a free copy of the printed proceedings while supplies last send your name and full mailing address to: NIST Public Inquiries Unit, inquiries@nist.gov, 301-975-6478, or FAX your request to 301-926-1630.

Click on the Poster Sessions link below to see best practice topics. Video recordings and transcripts for some speakers' talks and Q&A sessions are linked on the Conference Program page.

Sponsors: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science
National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce

Conference Description
Communicating science and technology to the public has become an essential enterprise for research universities, government agencies, science museums, foundations and granting agencies, other non-profit scientific organizations and corporations. To advance the state of the art, a national conference on Best Practices for Communicating Science and Technology to the Public was held March 6-8, in the NIST Green Auditorium.

Co-chaired by Joann Rodgers of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and Earle Holland of Ohio State University, the conference assembled a comprehensive set of "best practices" for communicating science and technology to the public. By exchanging best practices in a national forum, the conference steering committee hopes to energize the field and help foster improved networking among professionals that ultimately will increase the public's involvement in science and technology issues.

A highlight of the meeting was two poster sessions featuring about 50 best practice presentations. Generated through an open call for papers, these presentations were selected by a distinguished panel of science writers, educators, and researchers. The papers describe science and technology communications programs in one or more of the following categories:

	direct to consumer programs,		program for specialized media,
	scientist-based programs,		programs for legislators and opinion leaders, and
	programs for the general media,		programs intended for children (outside of classroom instruction.)

In selecting best practices for poster presentations, the conference steering committee gave priority to programs that can be easily adapted by other organizations. Other criteria used to select best practice presentations included:

	strategic targeting of one or more audiences,		the involvement of technical experts in the program, and
	the use of research before and measures of effectiveness after a communication program is conducted,		the inclusion of information on both the product and process of scientific research.

The deadline for submitting poster session paper topics was July 16, 2001. The conference steering committee is not currently accepting papers for review although it is hoped that a similar conference can be held in 2004 if funding is available.

For further information about the conference, contact:

Rick Borchelt
Director, Communications and Public Affairs
The Whitehead Institute
9 Cambridge Center
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-258-7270
email: borchelt@wi.mit.edu

Gail Porter
NIST, Public and Business Affairs
100 Bureau Drive, Stop 1070
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-1070
Phone (301) 975-3392 Fax: (301) 926-1630
email: gail.porter@nist.gov

Guidelines for Poster Presenters

Text used in soliciting "best practice" poster session papers.

Electronic Entry Form

Created: 4/12/01
Last updated: 07/20/06
Contact: Gail Porter