Call for Videos! Participate in Skepticon the 13th

We know we made the right decision to hold a virtual Skepticon this year, but our attendees are some of the best parts of Skepticon. We miss your faces. We miss your passion for humanistic skepticism. We miss your sense of humor. We miss your geekery. WE MISS YOUR BUTTS!

So we’re hoping some of you will take a more active role this year. We’ll still have the ability for attendees to chat and ask our panelists questions, but we’re also putting together a short-“film” festival. We want you to contribute!

Our theme for Skepticon 13, starting on Friday, August 13, is things that scare us. Our panels will be on creepy-crawlies, horror as genre, and math. That leaves huge portions of this topic still begging to be covered. You can help fill in the gaps with a video of 3 minutes or less.

Do you have a favorite cryptid that other people haven’t heard of? Does your corner of the world share an unusual superstition or moral panic? Do you have the inside scoop on a “real-life mystery” that caught the public imagination? Are you good at explaining a particular piece of political fear-mongering? Have we left out something else important or funny about being scared? Tell us! Tell the world!

Yes, three minutes is very short. We’re looking for small bites of focused topics aimed at a friendly audience. Give us the things that make your eyes light up when they come up in conversation and everyone looks a little blank and you know it’s your chance to shine, like that time you explained slash fiction to science-writer Twitter (or was that just me?). But, you know, about being scared.

If you still can’t imagine how you’d make something this short, try watching this video on Ignite talks (cn: casual ableism and mention of suicide). Then fill out this form and tell us what you want to make, mostly so we know what topics are being covered. We’ll give you more information on making videos, pep talks if you need them, and space to upload your video.

We’ll pull these all together for the festival. All you’ll have to do at Skepticon is bask in the stardom. Or hide under the couch because people are looking at you. Whichever. It’s all fine.

Hope to see your submission soon!

Love,

Skepticon

P.S.- Donate to Skepticon the 13th and keep the spoopy dreams alive