The Amaz!ng Meeting
The Amaz!ng Meeting (TAM) is the biggest skeptical event of the year, held annually and hosted by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Held this year 2010 at the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa in Las Vegas, it was the biggest TAM in the series yet, with over 1300 registered attendees, showing that TAM as an event, and thus hopefully probably also skepticism as a whole, is growing.

This year's list of speakers included well-known skeptical superheroes such as Drs. Richard Dawkins, Phil Plait, Michael Shermer and Carol Tavris, and other familiar skeptics including Drs. Simon Singh, Bruce Hood and Massimo Pigliucci, and IIG's James Underdown, to name a few. JREF's The Amazing James Randi, D.J. Grothe, Jeff Wagg, Banachek and Alison Smith were of course also there, as well as skeptical veterans Paul Kurtz, Ray Hyman and Joe Nickell. Just to name a few. The list of speakers was large and impressive, and encompassed the very best of the skeptical movement, and judging from what was heard among the crowd, it seems Penn & Teller, Richard Wiseman and Mark Edward were some of the ones missed at this year's TAM. If you watched closely, you could also spot several celebrity skeptics hiding in the audience in the guise of regular TAM audience members, such as the person responsible for the Jenny McCarthy Body Count website as well as a leading investigator in the Billy Meier UFO story, IIG's Derek Bartholomaus, as well as Captain Disillusion, Mr. Deity, and StopSylvia.com originator Robert Lancaster. But what more inspiring, were the many regular TAMmers you meet during the convention, who each embody skepticism in their own way, and contributing with their various skeptical groups, blogs, websites and activism. It truly is, an amazing meeting. Of skeptics. In skepticism.

I attended TAM8, as my first TAM ever, and rumor had it I was not the only woo. Some guy who thinks he can cure numbness through paranormal means was lurking around I heard, and then we had that one guy who spoke up against MythBusters Adam Savage about the moon landing hoax and came across as a bit woo. I would totally recommend that woos attend TAM, though they must do so respectfully and without promoting their woo, not to ruin this fantastic skeptical event for the others, since I do think that woos are among the ones who would most benefit from this event and learn from the lecturers who carefully explain skepticism and illustrate with examples. I attended not only for my TAM demonstration, but equally much to attend and learn from the lectures. I had a great time, absolutely loved the lectures, met lots of new skeptical friends, did a few readings, had a TAM demonstration, and for those of you who wonder, I did pay for all of my travel, expenses, and even a $400 TAM registration, and am now a proud sponsor of the JREF until membership fees are due again.

TAM8 Hallway Video!!
I made a fun video walking up and down the TAM hallway interviewing the various TAMmers and known skeptics I came across. For those of you who missed TAM this year this video should show what it is like being at TAM in person. In two parts:

Part 1: Jeff Wagg, D.J. Grothe, Susan Gerbic-Forsyth, Hal Bidlack, Jarrett Lennon Kaufman, Ashley Miller, Joe Nickell, Steve Muscarella, Nigel Roper, Austin Luton some of the ones appearing.
Note how you can hear some skeptics saying, "No way! No way!" amongst themselves at the very beginning. Isn't that something you'd expect to hear at a skeptics convention? Do these people believe in anything?

Part 2: Wendy Hughes, Paul Kurtz, Eric Broze, Rose Schwartz, Michael Shermer, Jamie Bernstein, Spencer Marks, James Underdown, and others.
"Why Skepticism Makes Sense."

Still to come: my TAM pictures, stories, notes and about the TAM lectures. (I tried to photograph every skeptical superhero I came across, it felt like collecting baseball cards and was great fun, I captured most of them). I video recorded IIG Brian Hart's entire 15 minute lecture on their fantastic investigation on California Board of Registered Nursing, and expect to make that video available shortly.

And, of course, the TAM demonstration I had, the details of the demonstration procedure, the results, and where my investigation goes from here:

The TAM Demonstration Report

I also did several other readings on skeptics as the volunteers, and those results will be posted also. There are videos as well as pictures from those readings. One of the persons I read was a very famous and highly credible skeptic. All this coming up as I am working on it, so do check back again!

Other people writing about TAM8 (not affiliated to my woo, of course):