Communities Happenings is a weekly post with news of interest to NPG’s online communities. The aim is to provide this info in one handy summary. Listings include tweetups and conferences which we’re attending and/or organising as well as new online tools, products or cool videos. We also occasionally flag up NPG special offers and competitions plus updates about NPG social media activities such as new accounts you might want to follow. Do let us know what you find most useful! 

Lindau ends on a HIGGS

After a week full of plenary talks and physics excitement, the annual Lindau Nobel laureate meeting on Lake Constance came to an end on Friday.  Running from 1st – 6th July, the event was an opportunity for young researchers from around the world to meet with Nobel laureates in science. This year’s meeting was extra special for student attendees, as CERN announced the discovery of the Higgs Boson, allowing everyone to see first-hand the reaction of the physics Nobel laureates.

To capture the live tweeting around these sessions, as well as video and blog content, we have created Storify storyboards for each day.  You can find Monday’s Storify here, Tuesday’s Storify here, Wednesday morning’s Storify here, Wednesday’s panel discussion here, Thursday’s here and Friday’s here.

The Nature Video team have also put together a short clip of reactions to the ‪Higgs Boson‬ news from laureates at Lindau:

You can also check out the latest blogging coverage over at the Lindau Nobel Community site and make sure you keep an eye on the English blog for more news, interviews and opinion pieces now that the conference has finished.

Save the date! Science Online London 2012

Don’t forget to mark your calendars – this year’s Science Online London conference will be taking place on Sunday 11th and Monday 12th November and we’d love for you to join us! Now celebrating its fifth year, Science Online London is an annual two-day conference hosted by nature.com for anyone interested in how science is communicated and carried out online.

This year, we’re delighted to be hosted by the Wellcome Trust and the event will take place at the Wellcome Collection Conference Centre on Euston Road. Equipped with “unbreakable Wi-Fi”, we will be live-tweeting and live-streaming the event – check out last year’s archives for Storifys and videos of the sessions and join in the online conversations on the #solo12 hashtag. If you’d like to suggest a session, please email us at scienceonline@nature.com or post your ideas on the wiki. Tickets aren’t yet on sale, but you can find out here or via our Twitter account as soon as they are. Alternatively, email us (scienceonline@nature.com) to be added to our mailing list for further updates.

You can find out more about this year’s conference here.

SoBAY

The next ScienceOnlineBayArea event will be on the 17th July and the topic for discussion will be, Inside the E-book Revolution:

Gone are the days when your reading choice was simply paperback or hardcover. E-books are changing the face of publishing and reading in a variety of ways. You’ll hear from e-book publishers, librarians, and authors about how e-books are changing the marketplace for reading. Whether you’re hoping to launch an e-book yourself or just curious about how reading is changing, we have the experts on hand to introduce you to the field and answer your questions.

Presentations are followed by a panel discussion, audience Q&A, and follow-up conversation at a nearby bar (to be announced at the event). During the discussion portion of the evening, we’ll probe the challenges and opportunities of e-books. Bring your questions!

The talk will be livestreamed and you can follow the event on Twitter @sciobayarea and using the #sobay hashtag.

Tweetups

Science Tweetups provide an excellent opportunity to meet local scientists and science communicators for an evening of chatting in the pub.

For those interested in the next #NYCSciTweetUp, it will fall on the 17th July at the Loreley Restaurant in Manhattan. Join from 6:30pm and follow the hashtag for more details.

For Tweetups elsewhere, keep an eye on the #DCscitweetup for Washington, DC, UKscitweetup for London, UK  and #camscitweetup for Cambridge, UK.

Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF)

The Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) is Europe’s largest, general science meeting and is held in a leading Europe city every two years. ESOF 2012 will be hosted in Dublin from July 11th-15th and it aims to:

• Showcase the latest advances in science and technology;
• Promote a dialogue on the role of science and technology in society and public policy;
• Stimulate and provoke public interest, excitement and debate about science and technology.

Registration is still open and you can see the programme here, or follow the conversation on Twitter @ESOF2012.