As we both hit our 40s, we’re embracing the “lost all our f*cks” part of aging. That means we’re crying, we’re snacking, and we’re eye-balling this season’s wrap-up questions from a little different angle.

So, join us as we consider:

• Do mid-career scicomm pros need an assistant? What would we have someone do, do we want to spend our personal money on that, and the like?
• What are our favorite tools for managing groups and group projects? Including some maybe-uncommon ways of using Google Drive plus Bethann’s secret, vintage comms weapon.
• How can we convince people they are an expert and it’s okay to act like one? (Or, should you just tell ‘em they need therapy!?)
• What are we looking forward to, and how completely are we committed to being feisty this year?

Then, we ask you to dig in for yourself: what’s something you’re looking forward to, personally or professionally?

Thanks for listening! We’re hoping for a community potluck 🥗🍛: Connect with us on social media (BlueSky, LinkedIn, Twitter, various Slack communities, etc.) or at www.meteorscicomm.org.

P.S. If you missed it, we’re going to try something new next season — guests!!! Deets here if you want to join. And, if anyone listening reading has funding to help us compensate guests, please let us know!

Doesn’t “in it together” mean…scicomm groups? Isn’t that obvious?

Well…actually. Scicomm community is not the only community or type of relationship that helps us be good, beyond-beginner scicommers.

So, we talk this week about OTHER spaces and relationships that serve us as whole humans:

• Not everyone needs a big network to thrive. “You don’t have to have twenty best friends in public.”
• Scicomm isn’t the be-all, end-all.
• What we say no to gives us space to be people, not scicomm robots. (Find Bethann’s No-buddy blog post here: https://www.commnatural.com/post/get-yourself-a-no-buddy)

Then, we ask you to dig in for yourself: what’s a non-scicomm community or relationship that helps you feel like a full person?

Thanks for listening! We’re hoping for a community potluck 🥗🍛: Connect with us on social media (BlueSky, LinkedIn, Twitter, various Slack communities, etc.) or at www.meteorscicomm.org.

P.S. If you missed it, we’re going to try something new next season — guests!!! Deets here if you want to join. And, if anyone listening reading has funding to help us compensate guests, please let us know!

We vaguely talk all the time on this podcast about what we do and where we work. But, we don’t talk concretely about the specific projects we work on, which ones we love, and what makes them hard.

Plus, we talk all the time about saying no, and sometimes saying yes. So, today, we’re focusing on some things we actually said yes to.

Today, we cover:

• Virginia’s role as Chief Marketing Officer and co-founder of the ocean tech start-up Tini Scientific (https://www.tiniscientific.com/).
• Bethann’s excitement about being principal investigator on a recently funded grant from the National Science Foundation.
• How Virginia’s free, monthly coaching calls didn’t start out as a community, but have turned into something of one.
• Bethann’s nerdery and frustration and loyalty because …it’s her department! And she’s in charge of the department’s assessment work, which involves curricular overhauling to reflect their visioning and branding.

It feels GOOD to gush. We rant and talk about the bad things and what all needs fixing A LOT on this podcast. Doing that is essential for making a difference. But, we have to remember that there are good things happening too. That can keep us connected to our core motivations for doing this work. It can also help us remember that we do do work that matters, and that work actually does make a difference. (The opposite of that — convincing yourself nothing you do matters — is a recipe for burnout, y’all.)

Then, we ask you to dig in for yourself: what’s a scicomm project you’re working on — with a community aspect — and why are you excited about it? (We really mean it on this one; please tell us!!)

Thanks for listening! We’re hoping for a community potluck 🥗🍛: Connect with us on social media (BlueSky, LinkedIn, Twitter, various Slack communities, etc.) or at www.meteorscicomm.org.

P.S. If you missed it, we’re going to try something new next season — guests!!! Deets here if you want to join. And, if anyone listening reading has funding to help us compensate guests, please let us know!