Meteor

As we both hit our 40s, we're embracing the “lost all our f*cks” part of aging. That means we're crying, we're snacking, and we're eye-balling this season's wrap-up questions from a little different angle. So, join us as we consider: Do mid-career scicomm pros need an assistant? What would we have someone do, do we want to spend our personal money on that, and the like?What are our favorite tools for managing groups and group projects?  Including some maybe-uncommon ways of using Google Drive plus Bethann's secret, vintage comms weapon. How can we convince people they are an expert and it's okay to act like one? (Or, should you just tell ‘em they need therapy!?) What are we looking forward to, and how completely are we committed to being feisty this year? Then, we ask you to dig in for yourself: what's something you're looking forward to, personally or professionally? Thanks for listening! We're hoping for a community potluck

Doesn't “in it together” mean…scicomm groups? Isn't that obvious? Well…actually. Scicomm community is not the only community or type of relationship that helps us be good, beyond-beginner scicommers. So, we talk this week about OTHER spaces and relationships that serve us as whole humans: Not everyone needs a big network to thrive. “You don't have to have twenty best friends in public.” Scicomm isn't the be-all, end-all. What we say no to gives us space to be people, not scicomm robots. (Find Bethann's No-buddy blog post here: https://www.commnatural.com/post/get-yourself-a-no-buddy) Then, we ask you to dig in for yourself: what's a non-scicomm community or relationship that helps you feel like a full person? Thanks for listening! We're hoping for a community potluck

We vaguely talk all the time on this podcast about what we do and where we work. But, we don't talk concretely about the specific projects we work on, which ones we love, and what makes them hard. Plus, we talk all the time about saying no, and sometimes saying yes. So, today, we're focusing on some things we actually said yes to. Today, we cover: Virginia's role as Chief Marketing Officer and co-founder of the ocean tech start-up Tini Scientific (https://www.tiniscientific.com/). Bethann's excitement about being principal investigator on a recently funded grant from the National Science Foundation. How Virginia's free, monthly coaching calls didn't start out as a community, but have turned into something of one. Bethann's nerdery and frustration and loyalty because …it's her department! And she's in charge of the department's assessment work, which involves curricular overhauling to reflect their visioning and branding. It feels GOOD to gush. We rant and talk about the bad things and what all needs fixing A LOT on this podcast. Doing that is essential for making a difference. But, we have to remember that there are good things happening too. That can keep us connected to our core motivations for doing this work. It can also help us remember that we do do work that matters, and that work actually does make a difference. (The opposite of that  —  convincing yourself nothing you do matters  — is a recipe for burnout, y'all.) Then, we ask you to dig in for yourself: what's a scicomm project you're working on —  with a community aspect  —  and why are you excited about it? (We really mean it on this one; please tell us!!) Thanks for listening! We're hoping for a community potluck

We are building, maintaining & running facilitated settings/communities. It's different to work hard to make a safe, productive scicomm community space (vs. just showing up and glorying in such a space). These spaces don't just happen. This week, we tackle what it feels like to be that someone who has to step up…and what's possible, in a good way, when we do step up! Moderation and leadership aren't just the fun stuff. And, ain't it tricky when you're co-running things, or only running part of a thing? And….what happens when WE are the ones who need course correcting!?

We find we have predictable periods of “now what”, with the podcast, Meteor, as well as in our own, separate professional endeavors. And we're trying to embrace these cycles as one of the indicators that we are in an advanced stage of our scicomm careers. The symptoms of our identity crises depend on our circumstances, like: the cadence of our evaluation cycles (say, annual reports for a grant or a supervisor) our workload (sometimes all freelance clients want everything at the same time!) and may display in recognizable ways, like an itch to update our websites, change our profile pics everywhere, or overhaul our bios. While we used to anchor ourselves first by asking whether we were doing the things that meet (external) expectations, now we're asking: how does this work serve our communities or this stage in our careers? Then, we ask you to dig in for yourself: What are you trying to decide in your scicomm life right now, and what sort of reflection questions do you use to navigate that decision? Thanks for listening! We're hoping for a community potluck

Genuine community and relationships make everything else possible. You want to change something? You can't change it alone. You want someone to whisper-network vouch for you? As we said in the last episode, you don't build professional community and relationships by lurking. But that's not all of it. There are a *lot* of payoffs to having strong professional ties. In the interests of being (overly) honest, this week we asked ourselves: what's the hidden curriculum of the success we've had in scicomm? And…it's COMMUNITY!!! But, what's that actually look like? This week, we tell you exactly what kinds of good things have come from having strong professional relationships. (And we ponder the downsides of the amount of time, effort, and perhaps money that it may take to build these relationships.) For example, we cover: Working with other people who care about the same effort/outcome/change can keep you going (in good ways and…also…maybe unsustainable ways). The material benefits and credibility that can come from working with/inside a given professional community and having strong relationships therein. How belonging in more than one professional community can facilitate code-switching that you can leverage for professional growth. Then, we ask you to dig in for yourself: What's the hidden curriculum that you think is responsible for your success in scicomm? Thanks for listening! We're hoping for a community potluck

Today, we're doing the big sister thing and sharing some straight-up advice: Lists of a lot of the places where we find (or are aware of) scicomm communities, especially online Recommendations on how not to be a creep (just in case you need to pass that advice along

Generosity is about a lot more than just money. We pondered this reality from a few points of view. And we found ourselves thinking through a lot of questions. For example: Is it possible to think about being generous with time separately from money? Is it possible to scale our impact while still protecting our professional (and thus personal) time? In what ways can we extend to other people the same assumption we grant ourselves — that we're all trying to be a “good guy” — and what are the mutual benefits of doing so? What kinds of expert knowledge, processes, network connections, and/or materials do and don't we share..and why? (And what differences here should we be scrutinizing wrt how individual scicommers/trainers operate vs. the big scicomm organizations?) Bottom line: Generosity doesn't always have to focus on financials. So, how else can we create abundance, together, beyond the bounds of money? Dig in for yourself: What's a non-montetary form of generosity that you practice professionally? Thanks for listening! We're hoping for a community potluck

First, we have a big announcement!We've not previously opened the show to guests because we can't monetarily compensate anyone for being on the podcast (even ourselves). But, we've heard from people that y'all would like to join the convo anyway. So, let's do this! If you want to join the possible guest pool for next season, visit meteorscicomm.org/podcast. And, if anyone listening has funding to help us compensate guests, please let us know!Now, on to today's episode!We're kicking off SEASON 4!!

REMINDER: We're running another cohort of SciComm STEP next spring! Applications are live right now on our website (MeteorSciComm.org)!

First - two big announcements: Our last episode will be a Q&A- send us your questions, ideas, puzzles, and dilemmas by December 1st. We're running another cohort of SciComm STEP next spring! Applications are live right now on our website (MeteorSciComm.org)!

First - two big announcements: Our last episode will be a Q&A- send us your questions, ideas, puzzles, and dilemmas by December 1st. We're running another cohort of SciComm STEP next spring! Applications are live right now on our website (MeteorSciComm.org)!

First - a big announcement: we're running another cohort of SciComm STEP next spring! Applications are live right now on our website (MeteorSciComm.org)!

First - a big announcement: we're running another cohort of SciComm STEP next spring! Applications are live right now on our website (MeteorSciComm.org)!

First - a big announcement: we're running another cohort of SciComm STEP next spring!

First - two big announcements: In Season 3, we're digging into systems and what we think about as we consciously try to change them. We're running another cohort of SciComm STEP next spring! Join our email list for a ping when the application goes live November 1st!

First - two big announcements: In Season 3, we're digging into systems and what we think about as we consciously try to change them. We're running another cohort of SciComm STEP next spring! Join our email list for a ping when the application goes live!

First - two big announcements: In Season 3, we're digging into systems and what we think about as we consciously try to change them. We're running another cohort of SciComm STEP next spring! Join our email list for a ping when the application goes live!

Per Meteor tradition, our last episode for this season was an open Q&A. This week, we tackled some questions and provocations from y'all! They fit into a loose theme of sustainability, including topics like: Does scicomm have to make money? [Spoiler: we have lotsa thoughts on this!] What scicomm tools are you loving right now? [We talked about time tracking, accountability, and planning.] Recent career realizations that we haven't talked about on air yet. Keeping up our enthusiasm for long-term scicomm commitments. Aaaaand, we got a little personal with some family relationship strategies that we thiiiink could have relevance for scicomm professionals. Here are the two resources we mention in the episode: Bethann's time-tracking spreadsheet: https://bgmerklecommunications.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/20200511_academic_productivity_time_tracker_resource.xlsx The Typology doc: https://bgmerklecommunications.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/typology-for-public-impact-focused-research.pdf (which comes from this group: https://scholars.unh.edu/research_scholarship/) Dig in for yourself: What are you looking froward to saying yes to or working on for the rest of 2022? Thanks for listening! Keep in touch... we're working on another Meteor project this fall, and then we'll be back with season 3 in 2023! See you at  https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm until then.

A quick opening note: Our last episode for this season will be an open Q&A. Send us your questions, ideas, puzzles and dilemmas by September 6. We'll fit in as many as we can for the September 8 episode! The whole upper rungs of mentoring, on the scicomm career ladder, are missing. Is it a question of relationships? Resources? Respect? Or is it that beyond-beginners need different kinds of mentoring and our profession just isn't structured to provide it? Either way, where do mid-career and advanced scicommers look for mentors? This week, we take on those questions, plus: When mentoring is needed Alternatives if you don't want mentors How mentors “happen” Dig in for yourself: What kind of mentorship do you feel you need, if any? What kind of mentorship would you most like to offer right now? Thanks for listening! Pass us a note…we sit right behind you, at  https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm.

A quick opening note: Our last episode for this season will be an open Q&A. Send us your questions, ideas, puzzles and dilemmas by September 6. We'll fit in as many as we can for the September 8 episode! In scicomm, it's inevitable to run into some expertise questions. There's the matter of whether one has expertise in science, how that compares to the expertise of others, whether one feels confident in their own expertise, and how expertise is and isn't respected. So, this week, we tackle questions like: Who defines expertise? Who actually *is* an expert? What responsibility goes along with that? What if you don't feel like you're an expert but you're asked to do expert things? Dig in for yourself: How do you feel about being called an expert? And, what's one thing you're really good at that you can help other people with? Thanks for listening! Give yourself some props - we'll cheer you on at https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm!

First, a reminder - applications for the first cohort of SciComm STEP are due TOMORROW: August 19, 2022! Listen to this episode for details and visit our website to apply! https://www.meteorscicomm.org/scicomm-step There's a lot of jargon in science, so it's no surprise there's also a lot of jargon in scicomm. We've been chatting… aaaand ranting… about scicomm jargon for a while. So we thought we'd go out on a limb and say what jargon we think works, what matters, and what jargon debates feel unnecessary. Why does the jargon matter? Because our work -- scicomm -- is about people, and words matter to people. So this week, we tackle things like: Being ready for situations by having thought through the terms you prioritize The debate about being a scicomm trainer vs. scicomm facilitator Scientific communication vs. science communication (aka scicomm) Bethann's rant that ‘blogging isn't dead' and ‘newsletters are just blogs' Citizen science vs. community science vs. civic science Dig in for yourself: What's an aspect of scicomm jargon that you think really matters …or maybe one that you think is downright silly? Thanks for listening! Share your jargon rant with us at  https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm!

First, a reminder - applications are open for the first cohort of SciComm STEP! Listen to this episode for details and visit our website to apply!  https://www.meteorscicomm.org/scicomm-step There's a nuance to scicomm careers that can really bog down your mental energy…and even complicate how you think about your own identity. That is: doing scicomm well often requires taking on the identity and ‘voice' of the organization - or project, place, or even species - that you're representing or sharing about. So this week, we tackle things like: What you have to weigh when you're representing someone/something else Everyone knows there's a person behind the social media account, but what's that mean for scicommers who are that person? What drives the shift to frame things in your own voice instead The many voices of a single scicomm career Dig in for yourself: Is your voice your own right now? And, how do you feel about that? Thanks for listening! Step up to the mic - we're all ears at https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm

First, a reminder - applications are open for the first cohort of SciComm STEP! Listen to this episode for details and visit our website to apply!  https://www.meteorscicomm.org/scicomm-step Visibility can mean influence, access, and power, which can lead to a sort of visibility monster issue (cue the Genie in Aladdin). Basically, visibility is often shorthand for credibility. But, we think there should be more to it than that. So this week, we tackle things like: Name recognition and credibility Balancing the need to uplift new voices with the need to vet someone before handing them the microphone Power imbalances Dig in for yourself: What's your gut feeling about the pros and cons of visibility? And, if you had a mega platform, what's an issue in scicomm or social justice that you'd tackle head-on? Thanks for listening! Meet us on stage. We're going for a sold-out show and encores at https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm!

First, a reminder - applications are open for the first cohort of SciComm STEP! Listen to this episode for details and visit our website to apply!  https://www.meteorscicomm.org/scicomm-step We've been talking a lot, without the recording button on, about when it's time to stick our necks out to try to spin a negative situation into something positive. Basically, when's it time to raise a ruckus?!? And how can we make a totally-outta-line request or situation into something that jives with our commitment this season to work actively toward the positives? So this week, we tackle things like: Reframing a commitment after you've said yes Accountability and validation buddies The equity side of raising a stink Not just saying no nicely - saying no in a way that makes sure someone else doesn't get asked to do the same unreasonable thing Leaving as an act of making change [And, of course, the only people who can make a stink are people who don't anticipate being punished. Basically, you often gotta have privilege to willingly ruffle feathers.] Dig in for yourself: Do you feel like you can make a stink for you or for the greater good from where you are right now? What factors did you weigh the last time you wanted to raise a ruckus? Thanks for listening! Meet us in the empty lot. We'll have a bonfire going at https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm!

First, a reminder - we launched applications for the first cohort of SciComm STEP last week! Listen to this episode for details and visit our website to apply! https://www.meteorscicomm.org/scicomm-step Now, change is basically a whole genre of opinion pieces, workshops, and podcasts right now. But, there are some specific, mid-career scicomm aspects of change that we want to tackle. So we're putting a Meteor spin on it this week, talking about: Wrangling expectations - yours, mine, and ours Branding and tipping points Negotiations - how I get what I want, so you get what you need Treating people right Whose job is it to follow through on what, and when Finite and spatial career changes Trying to stay while leaving Time tracking to manage change Our theme this season is saying yes makes room for action, accountability, impact, and yep, even hope in the realm of scicomm. And grappling with change is a huge part of taking action. So, we're wondering about you: What changes are you currently considering in your scicomm work? What factors are you weighing as you think through this decision? Thanks for listening! Join us on the front porch to chat about this. We'll have sweet tea at https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm!

First, a reminder - we launched applications for the first cohort of SciComm STEP yesterday! Visit our website to apply! https://www.meteorscicomm.org/scicomm-step Now. Collaboration is about so much more than finding people to collaborate with. There are hard decisions we cannot put on autopilot, no matter how a collaboration arises. Our theme this season is saying yes makes room for action, accountability, impact, and yep, even hope in the realm of scicomm. So, this week, we're tackling: Applying an abundance mindset to collaboration Collaboration isn't always about bringing your own funds to the table The hassle tax and other contract-style things that should always be part of your collaboration set-ups Collaboration red flags Saying no to say yes Dig in for yourself: What power moves are you currently using in your work relationships? What made you pick up those moves? Thanks for listening! Let's have a daaance party at https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm with those moves!

First - two big announcements: Season 2 is all about finding hope through action and saying yes. ✔ We're running the first cohort of SciComm STEP this fall! Listen to this episode for details and join our email list (https://www.meteorscicomm.org/scicomm-step) for a ping when the application goes live! Now, we're gonna say it. Finding and picking your people is not just nice, it's crucial. There's not enough time in the day, or energy in our overwhelmed, burnt-out selves, to compromise about who we spend our time with. [And yes, we know it's an enormous privilege to get to work this way! Some of us have a lot of obligations that don't leave room for choosing who we work with. Family. Finances. Friends. Still. We're finally at a career stage where we can make some choices.] We hope this conversation helps you identify at least one aspect of your work or personal life where you can be as discerning as you want and need to about who you spend your time with. So, this week, we tackle: How we know when there's a spark. Why it matters to look for people we actually want to work with. The value of community to inspire and lift each other up. Why we refuse to see scicomm as service anymore. Shared values as a higher priority than shared skills/knowledge. Looking for people who say yes to ideas, who create opportunities from nothing! Dig in for yourself: What is your SPARK? How do you know when you've bumped into a person or idea that you really want to work with? Thanks for listening! We're hoping for a community potluck - come on over to https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm!

In this episode, we're really talking with you about scicomm. We are answering YOUR questions, and we're excited to rove widely through topics and questions you've sent us. We touch on the big picture and the nitty gritty of: How we approach the on-going work of staying on top of convos around justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion and how they relate to scicomm. Framing up a scicomm CV (or do you really need a resume?!?). Pitching scicomm experimentation to clients, coworkers, or supervisors. Getting back to scicomm basics when talking a supervisor or client into prioritizing aspects of scicomm that are beyond their comfort zone (like experimentation or assessment). Life-long learning as a scicommer and how to learn new things in a scicomm career. Our hot takes? Learning about diversity and inclusion doesn't and shouldn't have an end point. If you can't wedge scicomm into a CV using Bethann's tips, maybe you gotta ditch the CV and dig into the world where resumes rule. Don't forget - you probably spend more time thinking about scicomm than anyone around you. What you think is reasonable might feel risky to someone else. Just calibrate for that. Don't get bored. And, don't look to scicomm alone for new ideas - lots of the innovative scicomm you get pushback for would be beige in other comms and marketing settings. We also shout-out The Writer's Co-op (https://www.thewriterscooppod.com/), a podcast about running a freelance writing business. We mention TWC while talking about career transitions including freelancing. While we're on break, TWC might fill the podcast-sized hole you'll have in your schedule. After all, a lot of the procedures and good habits of freelancing are productive in institutional scicomm settings, too. Thanks for cruising along with us for all of Meteor's first season! If we didn't cover a question or big theme you'd like to hear us tackle, hit us up! We'll be back in the new year with another season and some great courses. Virginia's running one about scicomm on TikTok, and Bethann's running a course on melding life and scicomm goals. Be sure you're subscribed to our newsletter. We'll take the work out of keeping up and send all the details about these courses and our next season straight to your inbox. Take care and talk soon!*** Join this conversation: follow us here and say hello (tell us what questions you want answered next year!) on Twitter with @MeteorSciComm (https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm).

We (Bethann and Virginia, not the collective ‘we') actively resist the notion of “work-life balance”. It has too many vibes of work and life being mutually exclusive, as if they're balanced against each other on a scale. And, in a lot of #SciComm, work and life are already so stinkin' integrated. So, we lean into the framework of “work-life harmony”. We aim for getting work done and fulfilling ourselves along the way. This gets complicated when we're doing scicomm for someone else: How fully do you want to “assume” the identity of that brand? When do you byline as yourself versus the brand? How do you keep from taking feedback personally? What if there's no brand strategy, so every scicomm piece hits a bottleneck? Navigating thin boundary lines is necessary in scicomm coaching and mentorship, too:Reconciling when you can work to make something better and when the client will have to take it the rest of the way. Setting our own metrics for success since we can't control if a client actually does what we recommend. Helping someone grow without getting too involved in their business and life. Knowing when to say goodbye, with the acknowledgement that we often don't get to know “the rest of the story” for someone we mentor, once they move beyond us. Work-life harmony is about active decisions, not passive participation. We're not always going to get things the way we want them, but we're trying. What about you? What keeps you up in the middle of the night? What are you so invested in that it pops up without invitation? It's not always bad... but the unbidden things indicate that your investment could be more deliberate. You don't necessarily have to get out or get rid of it. Just reckon with the space it's occupying. Bonus! Bethann's running a big-picture goals workshop in January. We'll be looking at trying to align our vision for our own lives, rather than pitting various priorities against each other. If you want to join that convo, sign up at meteorscicomm.org/courses.  *** Join this conversation: follow us here and say hello (tell us what you're making time for!) on Twitter with @MeteorSciComm (https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm).Share this episode using this link: https://meteorscicomm.org/2021/11/24/ep9-balance-schmalance/

Our last episode for this season will be an open Q&A. Send us your questions, ideas, puzzles and dilemmas by November 22, and we'll fit in as many as we can for the December 2 episode! There's a lotta baggage around being someone's partner, especially a wife, especially in science. These issues leak over into scicomm for many folks, whether you're a ‘science wife' or navigating some other kind of partnership. This week, we tackle:What we wish we'd known about being a science wife before started our relationships. Things about being married to scientists that we wish were common knowledge. The hardest thing for us in our roles as science wives. Ways that our science partnerships have positively shaped our careers. Navigating shared/overlapping professional identities and spaces. Dig in for yourself: Do you spend a lot of time calibrating for the people around you? Do you give yourself much just-you time? Take some time to yourself today, even just 5 minutes, to just be you. [We know...this kind of assignment might feel like it's for hoity toity people. But “taking 5 minutes for myself” could be just laying on the floor with the door shut against the kids, being unavailable for just a little while. And making that time, just a little every day, can help us feel way more in control. More like we choose who we are and the role we play in the world.] *** Join this conversation: follow us here and say hello (tell us how your unavailable time goes!) on Twitter with @MeteorSciComm (https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm). Share this episode using this link: https://meteorscicomm.org/2021/11/18/ep8-identity-science-wives/

Our last episode for this season will be an open Q&A. Send us your questions, ideas, puzzles and dilemmas by November 22, and we'll fit in as many as we can for the December 2 episode! There's a whole sticky mess of having time vs. making time, and it can drag you down, make you question your sense of accomplishment, and even put you at odds with folks you care about. This week, we tackle some ways of re-thinking time, timelines, and commitments. There's the friction of timelines in scicomm: Nanosecond turnarounds in the media sector. Agonizing over messaging at the institutional level. Possible micromanaging and bottlenecks associated with message control. Calibrating your own brand as a scicommer, wherever you work. There's likely not a magic solution to this tension, because the stakeholders for a given product often have mutually exclusive needs. For example, fine-tuning a statement may satisfy an institution's PR personnel while scrubbing the personality off of something ultimately destined for distribution via social media, where personality is key. And then there are short-notice opportunities, too! When we're trying to juggle those, we keep in mind: Does this help me meet a professional metric? What do I have to say no to in order to say yes to this? What actions must I take to avoid being the bottleneck in someone else's workflow? What's the balance between “done” and “done enough”? Take stock of what's demanding your time: Is there an ongoing thing that you're letting linger? Could you wrap it up? And if you're not doing so, why not? What would saying “good enough, done” help you say yes to next?  *** Join this conversation: follow us here and say hello (tell us what you're making time for!) on Twitter with @MeteorSciComm (https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm).Share this episode using this link: https://meteorscicomm.org/2021/11/11/drop-everything-for-something-new/

No one can decide what you do for free but you. Volunteering is often a portal into relationships and career experience. It's also a way to give back to our community or professional environments. But, unpaid labor is often exploitative (or not possible for some of us). It's a rotten conundrum. ⚖ An equitable system should do away with volunteer opportunities and every opportunity should instead come with payment or other meaningful compensation.

Being a good person means helping people for free and being a good business person means NOT helping people for free. So there has to be some kind of middle ground here for professionals. But how do you decide who you help and when? Saying no is complicated. You're weighing a lot: You might need to make money, or typically do make money, from this activity. Giving advice for free risks limiting you to giving low-quality advice or eating up your billable hours/time you could be spending making progress on your own work. Access to free advice is tied closely to the networks and inside info that can lead to career success. Thus, free advice plays a crucial role in gatekeeping. But, helping people can be so meaningful, and so many of us got where we are because people helped us for free. When navigating this obstacle course, we assert: Remember, whether you're an academic, a consultant, or an employee, there are only 24 hours in a day. You will have to say no sometimes. Keeping track of who you say yes and no to can help you identify unconscious biases (usually in favor of folks you know). Free help can feel more viable if it's going to be common or public knowledge that lots of people can access for free (think blogs, articles, podcasts, etc.). Audit your own process: Who are the last five people you said no to helping for free? What did they have in common? Do your answers match your goals? BONUS!

We are going to assume that #1: you agree that we could all benefit from expanding our networks, but #2: there's a cultural treatment of networking as if it has a bad aftertaste.

We have a love/hate relationship with branding, as in: we love to use branding to share the goods while we loathe some aspects of the system branding happens in. But we talk to lots of people who feel that branding themselves or their work is moldy-peach gross. Plus, branding seems to run counter to traditional science assumptions: Results are supposed to speak for themselves. Spinning someone's perception borders on unethical. Anything worth branding should be compelling enough on its own, without any marketing. We get where that comes from. We were trained that way too. But we say NO to those assumptions. We argue that: Scientific processes help us strive for objectivity in research processes, yes. But, science isn't neutral even if we want it to be. Deciding if something is compelling or not is rooted in our individual values, which vary from person to person. Avoiding branding doesn't mean that your thing emerges unbranded- instead it means that you're letting dominant science narratives or your institute assign the branding. Science mentors must advise their trainees on marketing and career advancement in the context of unjust systems. Examine your own relationship with branding: Why is it easier to market your work than it is to market yourself? What concrete steps can you take right now to practice getting comfortable marketing yourself (who can you talk to or get feedback from, what materials will you share with them, etc.)? *** Join this conversation: follow us here and say hello (tell us how branding impacts you!) on Twitter with @MeteorSciComm (https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm). Listen to the full episode for: Why we embrace branding and why we think some folks we work with don't feel great about it. What we think about fame (bring it on!). How Virginia (https://www.virginiaschutte.com/) is trying to view negative responses to her personal brand as a sign of success. How Bethann (https://commnatural.com/) advises early career scientists about branding given unjust societal constructs. Share this episode using this link: https://meteorscicomm.org/2021/10/14/ep3-branding-is-not-a-dirty-word

Instead of CVs and resumes being a tally, how can we think differently about CVs and resumes to get an extra career boost out of them?  Lately, we've tried: Using these documents as self-assessment tools to encourage positive self-evaluation Crafting our own job titles and definitions of ourselves so they reflect our motivations rather than the tasks we perform for a paycheck  Two tips to shift the way you present yourself in just a few minutes: For no less than 2 min: write down all the motivation words you can think of for why you hold your current position (don't stop until your timer goes off!) Build your own job title; make it reflect your word cloud better than the job description title you've been assigned by your employer Knowing your "why" is adjacent to setting attainable, measurable goals and will set you up to productively work more on this later. *** Join this conversation: follow us here and say hello (we'd love to know how reframing your position title impacts your sense of self!) on Twitter with @MeteorSciComm (https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm). Listen to the full episode for: A cheeky summary of our own CVs, resumes, and thoughts about these documents,  How Bethann (https://commnatural.com/) and Virginia (https://www.virginiaschutte.com/) have used CV and resume updates to ask for permission less and assume roles more confidently,  andOur strategies for getting quality and quantity into an application package. Share this episode using this link: https://meteorscicomm.org/2021/10/07/ep2-resume-or-cv-fairest-of-all/

How can we set and use scicomm goals so they lift us up instead of drag us down? We suggest: Clearly articulate your goals from the beginning of any scicomm project or whenever you have an inflection point in your career. Give yourself permission to give self-reflection the time, energy, and respect it needs to serve you well. Allow yourself to use your goals as a “living document” and recognize that your goals will change over time. That's life, not failure. How to get started setting your own goals in just a few minutes: For 5 min: write down (in brief) all the goals you can think of, big or small, that you're currently pursuing. For 5 min: write down why you are pursuing each goal. Knowing the why is adjacent to setting attainable, measurable goals and will set you up to productively work more on this later. *** Join this conversation: follow us here and say hello (we'd love to know your why!) on Twitter with @MeteorSciComm (https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm). Listen to the full episode for: Why setting goals is essential for science communication project and career success, How Virginia (https://www.virginiaschutte.com/) uses goal-setting to chart her freelance career, What it's like to set goals as a team, How Bethann (https://commnatural.com/) uses goal-setting to strategically add opportunities to her academic workload, How personal and professional goals can inform each other, and When goals become a burden and what strategies we use to turn things around. Share this episode using this link: https://meteorscicomm.org/2021/09/30/ep1-goals-life-raft-dead-weight/

We want to talk more with fellow science communication professionals (like you!), and we have lots of opinions! We think scicomm needs: More funding, A reliable way to hold people with power accountable, Leadership and development opportunities that extend beyond basic skill-building, More integration between practice and research, and Buy-in and formalized support from those with funding and power. Which is why we made Meteor! (https://meteorscicomm.org/) We want to talk with STEM professionals who are exploring science communication as a component of their career and with people who are pursuing a full-time scicomm position within an institution or as an entrepreneur. No matter what your plan with science communication is, we want to help you do it inclusively and sustainably. *** Join this conversation: follow us here and say hello (what do you think of our list?) on Twitter with @MeteorSciComm (https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm). Share this episode using this link: https://meteorscicomm.org/2021/09/23/ep0-what-scicomm-needs/

Where are mid-career science communicators (like us) supposed to go to level up? We crave deep conversations about advanced scicomm so we can grow and check ourselves when people disagree with us. And talking to each other and our peers helps us grow. So, we are opening up our conversations so that we can learn from folks with other perspectives and other folks can potentially grow with us. Which is why we made Meteor! (https://meteorscicomm.org/) Meteor episodes will explore science communication career issues like branding and practical issues like finding project ideas that matter. We will also grapple with stuff that makes us uncomfortable... ...like how much space two privileged white ladies (like us) should occupy in the inclusive scicomm community. Plus, each episode ends with a suggested action that scicommers can take to move ourselves forward. We want to talk with STEM professionals who are exploring science communication as a component of their career and with people who are pursuing a full-time scicomm position within an institution or as an entrepreneur. No matter what your plan with science communication is, we want to help you do it inclusively and sustainably. *** Join this conversation: follow us here and say hello (what made you check us out?) on Twitter with @MeteorSciComm (https://www.twitter.com/meteorscicomm). Share the trailer using this link: https://meteorscicomm.org/2021/09/16/podcast-trailer/