October 24, 2013

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Welcome to Raleigh Video for ASTC

In my day job – a phrase that still doesn’t roll off the tongue, having been a freelancer for two decades – I work at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh.

By Brian Malow

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

In my day job - a phrase that still doesn't roll off the tongue, having been a freelancer for two decades - I work at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. Next year, our museum will be host to the biggest conference in the museum world. ASTC is the Association of Science-Technology Centers. Some 2000 attendees from all over the world will descend upon our little neck of the woods. Representatives from museums, science centers, planetariums (planetaria?), aquariums, zoos, botanical gardens, etc.

This year's conference was held in Albuquerque, NM, this past week. And our museum made a 3-part video teaser to give the folks a glimpse of North Carolina, our museum, and the city of Raleigh. I play on-screen host and Raleigh tour guide in the last section. Check it out - be impressed with the beauty of our state and then laugh at my silliness, as I interact with some locals.

If you're worried the video might be too serious for you, I should let you know that my part features such classic lines as, "At the State Fair, you can win a stuffed animal - and get it fried!"

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(My part starts at about 4:30)

In addition to performing and giving science communication talks for NSF, AAAS, NASA, NIST, ACS and other acronyms, Brian Malow has produced science videos for Time magazine and audio pieces for Neil deGrasse Tyson's StarTalk radio show. He has blogged for Scientific American and worked in science communications at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. He can be found as @sciencecomedianScienceComedian.com.

More by Brian Malow

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