Thank You! (A message from our Social Media Coordinator)

For those keeping track of our progress, we made some major changes today that require an explanation. You can see for yourself—meander over to our schedule if you haven’t already. A significant amount of material has been added: 11 new voices (plus already scheduled ones) in five diverse panels, as well as the participation of First Robotics, an amazing science education program. I’m particularly proud of our panel topics, which range from existential (“Will technology save us from ourselves?”) to socially complex (“Anonymity and the Internet”). Our speakers are fantastic, but these panels will be my personal highlight.

But I’m biased. Naturally. I get to see the backstage woes, celebrations, conflicts, and coordinated efforts. I see the work that we have put into this first year, free, student-run conference. Those descriptors should be pause enough. I’ve seen our failures and I know, though we can always do better, we have something interesting. It began as an exhausted midnight conversation over skype two years ago and now it’s nearly upon us. The ship wasn’t always even-keeled. Nor apparently, are the seas calm. But we now know how to row together, weather be damned. I hope you’ll enjoy the ride with us. There are so many of you.

That’s not to relegate you all to the sidelines. I wish the words to describe such generosity existed. ‘Thank you’ is cheap. It’s a dirty little phrase that fails to describe what you’ve really done. It’s cheap when I consider the number of people who have been pulling for us, helping at every opportunity. It’s cheap when I consider that nearly everyone associated with this event is doing it for free, if not at the expense of their pocketbooks and time. It’s especially cheap when they mitigate our shortcomings with their expertise, making that midnight idea into a tangible thing. There are too many names to list. I would certainly break the internet if I tried.

And how you came forward. Everywhere the organizers have looked, we have found helpful voices and hands. We floundered, we languished, and yet you were still there. And now that we know how to work together, you sit back and act as if it was all us. It wasn’t. It couldn’t have been. You are amazing.

This wouldn’t be an idea without the organizers but it wouldn’t be a possibility without the Secular Student Alliance, Minnesota Atheists, Humanists of Minnesota, Minnesota Skeptics, the Foundation Beyond Belief, the SSA at St. Cloud, and CASH at the University of Minnesota. I can’t even begin to count the number of personal friends who have made this effort possible—the short list includes doctors, activists, scientists, teachers, artists, programmers, bloggers (professional and otherwise), and students of all varieties. I know who you are and I am so grateful.

We are now at crunch time. There are certainly uncertain seas ahead and we aren’t apologizing for who we are or our goals. We have such a supportive community behind us and I don’t see that changing. There are too many spectacular people holding us up, teaching us to walk, pushing us to be better. Without them, we would be nothing.

I’m supposed to be wrapping this up and I’m still don’t know how I can. I can’t just say thank you. It isn’t enough. But it may be all I have.

- Chelsea Du Fresne, Social Media Coordinator