Dogs, House and Garden

A brief update on some of the things that have been happening around our house.

We've had our French Roquefort posters framed and they're now hanging in the dining room.

We gave the dogs bones recently. We've held off doing this because of an allergy to red meat, but they really need them for their teeth. They've been a little itchy since the last bones, so we might have to make them less frequent and maybe supplement with antihistamines.

Myf, in true princess Myf style, didn't want to get her paws dirty.

Morgan, however, was happy to get stuck in with both paws.

We've had some success in our vegie patch. We've got some small beetroots and and baby leeks. 

That pretty much sums up all the basic around the house news. Stay tuned to read about Stephen's visit, the new car and other social events.

Lessons Learned at Media140au

The key to effective use of social media is to keep people up to date and empower them to make informed decisions.

I went to a conference on the use of social media in science communication last week. I came away from the day feeling inspired about how we can use social media to inform others and correct the misinformation out there. I felt excited about how I could use it in my work. I felt so inspired that I joined twitter while I was at the conference. I can't believe it's taken me this long. - twitter is awesome.. but I digress. 

I wanted to blog about some of the things that I learned at this conference. I wish I had the talent and inspiration to be a fabulous, intelligent science blogger and put all of this to use. but instead I'll have to try and utilize all that I've learned at work and hope that it helps us to increase recruitment for our trial.

A good example of effective communication is Andrew Maynard's 2020 Science Blog in which he asks questions in order to promote discussion.

Key points from the keynote

You can't just emulate other people's successes without really understanding what it is that they have done to be successful.

Be careful not to alienate people by being forceful and uncivil with your own opinion. This makes it difficult to have an open and honest dialogue.

Social media makes it easier to listen to other poeple and their thoughts and concerns. Then we are able to build a two-way relationship.

It is important to engage listeners as equals.

How to "listen"

Buzz numbers is a "listening" tool that tracks your mentions on social media and the sentiment behind the mention.

There are other free tools (ie socialmention), but you get what you pay for.

We should be listening for: 
our brand/organization name; competitors; broader industry mentions;
key stakeholders (eg CEO/ministers); scientific research; topical issues.

Why should we be "listening"?
In order to identify raw insights and gain feedback;
to assist in engaging customers/participants by identifying opportunities and leads;
for campaign analysis - are people speaking about us online;
to build an online community and reach out to bloggers;
to get on top of bad media;
to analyze our reach and recognition.

Other points from the day

It's important to focus on the dialogue, not just the tools.

Look at the facebook page of the Chief Scientist of Australia for ideas on how to interact with the public.

It has been shown that the more you "communicate" the more popular you become ie the more followers you attract and the more they interact with you.

It's important to bridge the gap between on and offline. Don't limit communications to online. Once a communication/contact has started, it can be continued offline.

Questions to ask ourselves

Where is the target audience? How do you get the right audience into the discussion?

How can I empower people to make a decision that is right for them?

Who is in your social network and how can I use them?

On My Soapbox (now with photos)

I'm just popping in to say that I haven't forgotten about this blog, I'm just a bit preoccupied with a few things at the moment, but I have a whole host of photos and stories waiting for me to have a bit of free time to get them up here. It's a good thing we have an extra long weekend coming up!!

One of the things that has been occupying my time and my thoughts is the Discoveries Need Dollars campaign. The current government is looking at cutting funding to the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) this budget. The figure being bandied about is $400million over 3 years, which is around a third of the current budget. Many are saying they've floated this massive figure to soften the blow of a lesser cut, but any cut is not acceptable.

I work in medical research and this is something that I feel strongly about. A cut in funding will not only set Australian research back by many years, it will send young researchers overseas. I was once a young researcher and I know how hard it is to find a job in Australia as it is. With even less money most of our bright young researchers will have to leave our shores. 

We need MORE money, not less. 

The figure of $400million is peanuts to big business and mining giants. Tell me again Australia why we don't want to tax these guys??

All of us have benefited from medical research - vaccinations, antibiotics, painkillers... 

Not to mention all the work into diabetes, coeliac disease, cancer, malaria, etc that is currently occuring in Australia. We can't afford to lose these research programs.

Today I'm joining a rally to Protect Medical Research.

If you are in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney or Canberra, there are simultaneous rallies and I strongly urge you to join in. This is important!!

(edited to include photos of the rally taken from my iPhone)



Len and Candice with a banner



Decorated lab coat (much more tasteful than mine which read "Funding Cuts??? Kiss my...")


Candice and me



Signs from the rally



The crowd dissipating after the rally.


Len chatting with Adam Bandt (Greens member for Melbourne)

Progress in the Garden

Our garden is really taking shape. The plants are growing really quickly and we've had a couple of additions. We've been eating some of the products of our garden too. Using the herbs and tonight we had young beetroot and silverbeet leaves in a salad.

We repotted the succulents in slightly larger pots.

The Kaffir Lime has been flowering. I hope that we'll get some fruit.

Unfortunately we've had a caterpillar infestation, but we've since sprayed with citronella, so hopefully everything will recover.

The herb garden is looking great.

Because we've been loving the produce from the garden, we've added some extras. We've replaced the geraniums with basil and planted some mint in a pot - 3 varieties of each herb.

Pizza Night

Our 6th wedding anniversary was on the 5th February. Instead of having a romantic dinner with just the two of us, we hosted a pizza night at our house. We made the dough and everyone else brought toppings. It was a great success and I hope we can do it again. We had some nice bottles of wine, so I forgot to take photos of the pizzas, so I'll have to do that next time!

I did of course take photos of Jenson and I got one of Candice making her pizza.

 

Project 365 is off the rails

I got through January without missing a day, but then I hit February and fell off the wagon. I've uploaded as many photos as I can, but it's really not that many!! Feel free to check it out and see just how slack I've been. I'm hoping that March will get better.

Project 365

A visit to Adelaide

A couple of weeks ago I visited family and friends back home in Adelaide. It was just a short visit, but I managed to see loads of people.

It started with a lunch with Granny and Kate at the Whistlestop Cafe.

Then tea at Kate's for a visit with Tuppy.

In the afternoon I visited with a couple of friends who were in the neighbourhood. I saw Corri's new house and Halena's new baby.

  

Of course, I hung out with Mum and Dad and saw the kitty cats and the garden.

(this paper had been used to wrap some salmon!)

  

  

My visit finished at the pub for a lunch with friends.

  

And before I knew it I was back in the airport lounge bidding farewell to Mum and Dad.