Wired style SENS3 conference intro or be aware of your audience
Posted by attilachordash on October 11, 2007
As this very site here is embedded in the blog medium, we could and should be experimental and eclectic in our style as we cannot control (just target) our audience, thank the web. Now a report on a science conference could be addressed to very different audiences, and yesterday I showed an example on how to present an unconventional science conference to the mainstream science establishment. But if I’d like to target, say, the geeky-layman Wired audience, than I should find another angle on the SENS3 conference which is not restricted to the science content but highlights the inconvenience around it. (Just take a look on how journalists at the Wired Science blog are considering to cover their subject.) Say the story would look like this:
Summary (Lead): A recent unconventional strategic conference on translational science in ageing related damages and diseases shows the benefits of mixing the traditionally homogeneous audience of science conferences with visitors from outside science in order to gain new insights, and put ageing and lifespan extension in a broader cultural context.
First paragraph: Question: Which science conference has such a variety of participants that includes hardcore life scientists from top-notch universities, entrepreneurially inclined benefactors, former IT professional turned bioinformaticians, practicing life extensionists, high school talents, fitness fanatics, lawyers, and even a Hollywood scriptwriter, or an investment banker turned biology student due to a recent cancer survival? Answer: The SENS3 conference in Cambridge.
Compare this to that:
Summary: A recent unconventional strategic conference on translational science in ageing related damages helps to put some puzzle pieces together.
First paragraph: Changes in the adult tissue stem cells or in the mitochondria are two main processes under constant investigation amongst researchers curious about the ins and outs of the ageing process. At the SENS3 conference in Cambridge scientists and laymen shared their results and ideas, respectively.
Alexis Madrigal said
Thanks for the shout-out. One thing I find strange about the journalism world is that we call that first sentence the lede. Apparently there was some reason for this once upon a time. But now it’s just so we have some good jargon lying around.