October is crazy. Not only is the science/art thing at York still ongoing until the end of this week, there are three interesting multi-day science-related events in this part of Ontario in the next few weeks. There’s pretty much nothing the rest of the year, of course, and one of these should really have known about one of the others being on the exact same days. (I’ve wanted a central science calendar for this part of the world for so long, I am this close to angrily setting something up myself. But it would be totally empty until next October anyway, so who cares…)

This is what’s on the calendar:

October 15-25 – Quantum to Cosmos Festival in Waterloo
The speakers list includes Stephen Hawking, as well as a few friends of mine, so I really want to go. They also have music on the program, so you’d think I’d be all over it, right?

Oh, but wait.

There is also this:

October 28-30 – Canadian Science Policy Conference
I know some of the organizers. They’ve been working on this for a while, and it looks really good. Support from important people, money from organizations that still had some to give, program about all aspects of science policy and regulation in Canada. I’d love to go.

But on the exact same days, a few blocks away, is this:

October 28-30 – Gairdner Awards lectures
The 50th anniversary of the Gairdner Awards. The Gairdners are awards for research in medical sciences. A not insignificant number of Gairdner Awardees either has a Nobel Prize, or will one day be nominated for the Nobel. And since a lot of the speakers are current or former Gairdner winners, the place is packed with Nobel Laureates.

So, where to go? What to see? I have all the time in the world these days, so what’s holding me back?

Money. My monthly income is about 1/5 of my monthly rent right now due to a range of issues best left undisclosed (although you’re free to know that Service Canada’s “service” is like a Higgs Boson: on paper I should really have employment insurance, but I have yet to detect it.)

The Q2C festival has ticketed events that are either sold out (the free ones) or expensive. Besides, it’s far away and costs money to get there.
The science policy conference costs $500 for unaffiliated community members if registering now. It’s free for media, but I’m assuming that requires a media pass.
The Gairdners are free.

So, have fun talking physics or policy. I’ll be listening to Oliver Smithies, Elizabeth Blackburn, Sydney Brenner, and other Nobel Laureates.

For free.

What bugs me is not that there are costs. I fully understand that it’s impossible to find enough external funding to hold big events like that. It’s also not entirely that I can’t afford admission or transportation to these events – that’s temporary. It’s a combination of the two: if science is to be accessible, so accessible that your events are open to the public, and engaging the wider community, then why is it seemingly only accessible to those who can afford it?
I am feeling somewhat out of the loop by not being able to go to two events where I know some organizers and/or participants. And I don’t think I really am out of the loop. I can only imagine trying to start networking and attending relevant events on a low budget. (I’m just on a break now, I’ll be back.)

But Q2C does have a solution: all their events are recorded and can be watched online through a webcast after the event. So I, and you, and anyone else rich enough afford a fancy computer and fast internet, can watch the webcasts once the conference kicks off later this week. It’s still not the same as being there and meeting people, of course.

Meanwhile, my entire conference “budget” for the fall is probably going towards cheap bus tickets to New York, so I can see my own movie. Oddly, it’s still cheaper than it would have been to take the bus to Waterloo for Q2C, which is much closer. That’s North American transportation for you.