RRRREEEEPPPPOOOORRRRTTTT

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Thank you everyone: the scores of volunteers who helped make it all run smoothly, the hundredsof presenters, the new and varied organizations that made it twice as big this year as last year.Thanks also to Mathilda Gregory, Eiluned Jones, Emily Dubberley, Drew Scobie, Nina Garner,Ruth Harper, Nadine Barber and William Barre-Older, who organized it all.

And our sponsors, without whom nothing would be possible.Richard Robinson (Director)

Brighton Science Festival 2015.

As 2014 slipped by and the funding we had so much relied on in previous years slippedaway with it, we realised the cuts are deepening, but industry is not necessarily going toleap to the rescue. Four things had to be done:

1) Ticket prices had to rise. £1 on the Bright Sparks ticket was a small rise that generatedabout £2000. Prices hadn’t risen since the Festival began, so it might have beenexpected, but it’s not something we can do again any time soon. We need to be availableto all regardless of income.

2) The publicity had to pay for itself. Several schools and colleges took full page ads inthe brochure and all participants were asked to contributed.

3) The administrative burden on the office had to be reduced. Visiting productions wereasked to make their own arrangements with the venues. This was particularly importantfor the half term programme (see below). The Festival office concentrated on BrightSparks and Big Science Weekend.

4) An appeal was launched to make up the residue of £6000. The appeal had anelectrifying effect on everyone involved. Up to now the Festival had been taken forgranted. Suddenly it was vulnerable. Most heartening was that dozens of people gavetens of pounds, amounting to over two thousand. Larger sums of money came from avariety of better-placed individuals and more companies. I hope they are impressed withthe results this year, which – and I have never yet been anything like effusive in thesereports – were terrific, as follows:

p4 – Bright Sparks once again matched variety with vitality, even more than before.

P6 – The Half Term programme grew in size, originality and popularity.

P8 – The adult programme was entertainment plus science, not the other way round.

P10 – The January Tour introduced KS3 students to how our minds work.

P11 – The Pocket Science Festival toured Sussex after the Festival was done

P12 – ...and the statistics and

P13 – ...the accounts show that

P14 – ...the publicity was just enough to get us full houses all over.

P15 – In conclusion, the Festival survived and will survive, because firstly, everyonerealises that without the continuous learning of old skills and discovering of new skills theeconomy is doomed, secondly there is a thirst out there for learning and discovery, thirdlythere are amazing people willing to satisfy those needs, in vibrant ways.

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Incredible camera obscura

Herschel space

Bright Sparks

Two days of Bright Sparks, over the first weekend of half term, for 2700 people atHove Park Upper school.

A noticeable change - there was a great deal of enthusiasm from local regionalcolleges and universities to participate in the Festival. Teams came fromPortsmouth, Southampton, Reading, Chichester and Winchester, and very goodthey were. We also hosted teams from UCL, Queen Mary University of London,Kings College London and the Universities of Bristol and Birmingham.

As yet neither university in Brighton has shown an interest in outreach to sciencefestivals in the UK.

This situation should change for either of two reasons:

1) Other universities are showing off their skills over here; we should show off ourtalents over there.

2) On the day we are able to reciprocate it will bring the science festival scene tolight down here. Which will be good for that major reason - the reason why BrightSparks is so important - that science in the child begins with their parents. Therewas an extraordinary degree of concentration. And there were displays to match.It was utterly inspiring.

The positive impact these days have on children’s development cannot beoverrated.

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Half term in central Brighton

A brilliant week of highly focused workshops from experts. Each day an average of sixwilling venues - media centre, hotel, pub, church hall or theatre, all of which werenormally vacant during the day - generously hosted workshops from enthusiasticteams of communicators, students, professors or plain enthusiasts. Everyone kept theircosts low, so tickets for visitors were often around £1 - £3. The result for the 1200people per day who visited was friendly, enthusiastic and inspirational. 200 people perday came to each activity. 200 is a big enough number to make the financial rewardssufficient for the presenters, and small enough to give excellent attention to the youngvisitors.

Each group was self-organised and independent. We didn’t have to supervise, thoughwe monitored the quality of presentation. This shows the energy that exists for this kindof work. There are many more groups, formal and informal, which can be involved infuture years

Looking at the statistics below we would like:more children aged 13+, more from the non-professional demographic and more workshops from industry which are career-focused.

In a previous generation young people approaching fourteen would be restlesslythinking of leaving school and getting down to work. We are searching for challengesthey can relate to during two more years in school. We need help, equipment, spaceand facilities from industry.

Table (left) shows age range of children at youth events Bright Sparks and half termevents - an improvement on previous years at the upper age range!Table (right) shows employment of parents. 20%non-‘professional’ is the same as last year.

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Adult programme through February

This year the number of Festival-curated events came down to eight from fifteen,reducing further the cost to the budget. The standard of presentation for all thirty twoadult events was remarkable: the shows were proper entertainments, mounted by peoplewho knew what an audience wants - which by and large is not tons of science, but humaninterest, irony, songs and jokes. This science-by-stealth has seen a steady growth overthe decade. Entertaining science is a delicate flower - scientists aren’t generallyentertainers and entertainers usually don’t know their science. We should celebrate theseevents as a rarity, while hoping they will one day become as common as weeds.

There were more serious scientific sessions, which is to be expected. But we should notexpect or accept obscurity or esotericism. Nessa Carey, for example, describes thecomplexities of epigenetics with fantastic ease, while during the Q&A she can answerdeeper questions with deeper answers. (One or two of the events suffered frompresenters who were out of touch with the audience, either because they spoke tooquietly, or couldn’t handle the technology - Powerpoint and mikes - or because theirterminology and phraseology were obscure. We know where they live).

For Big Science Weekend we were forced by budget restraints to drop the single issueSunday event. Instead, two days of talks were accompanied by two days of exhibition. Arare opportunity to use the full area of the foyer was jumped at, and some terrific displaysshowed us the best of both Brighton and Sussex universities, alongside excellent showsfrom Birmingham, Portsmouth, Oxford and the Open University and Kings CollegeLondon.

At the end the audience was asked howmany shows they had attended.Comparing the scores with last year(right) we find an increase in multipleattendances. we hope this will be atrend.

44 adult events through February included (picture left from top left corner) the history ofrocketry, internet security, the 350th anniversary of the plague of 1665, Cycling the SolarSystem, science cabaret, cycling science, maths games with Matt Parker, musiccommemorating Hiroshima’s 70th, science of the paranormal, Richard Wiseman ondreams, epigenetics, stem cell tooth replacement, how a bee sees, monogamy,astronomy in pubs, cafe Scientifique, Cancer Landscapes, climate change denial, Themoral compass, Robin Ince’s Reality Tunnel, management psychology, serotonintherapy, Einstein, 3D museums, forensic psychology, consciousness with Anil Seth

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January school tourA second crack at the WellcomeTrust-funded Of All The Nerveworkshop gave us the chance toshow students that the way anerve operates is very much likethe way they themselves operate.For instance, just like a neuron,they receive input from manydirections but only take action inone direction.

They learned about inhibition,thresholds, fatigue, excitation,attention, memory formation,learning and reaction time - theirown and that of their neurons.

Jonathan Hare pointed out thatthe way neurons make decisionsis like the way computers work,with groups of neurons behavinglike decision gates in a computer(AND, OR, AND/OR and NORgates).

The grand finale was a renditionof ‘Mary Had A Little Lamb’,showing that even 30 neuronscan be pretty smart, let alone ahundred thousand million ofthem.

As usual the workshops weretwice oversubscribed by tea timeon the day they were announced,and as usual we will be addingthis to our workshop repertoirefor outreach work.

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The Pocket Science Festival is acompilation of successful schools’tour workshops devised byJonathan Hare and RichardRobinson, plus simple challenges,plus talks from Richard orJonathan.

It was not deployed during theFestival, since last year it ended upbeing a distraction from the mainevents in Brighton. Instead it hasbeen promoted during the rest ofthe Spring and Summer. It is acaptivating event, thoughexpensive to mount because thepresenters all have to be qualityexplainers. Its future may dependon sponsorship

It’s versatility means that it canwork as class-based activities inprimary school or as a stand-alonefun-fair in town centres.

The Pocket Science Festival isavailable all year for schools andsocials.

Pocket Science Festival Outreach

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StatisticsEach year we look at different statistics - we can only ask so many questions of the publicin our evaluations. If there are any other figures you would like to have, please ask.

Total events - 76. The numbers about the same as last year: for the first time, no growth.

Total audience: 9,640

Half term events attracted 6,125.

YOUNG PEOPLE’S EVENTS

Saturday Science for girls 50BHHS 30Build Brighton: Cobra Coding 30Bright Sparks Saturday 1200Bright Sparks Sunday 1500Maker club x 5 50Chi Sci 200Artlab x4 350Jaws & Claws 150Okido Craft Workshops 150Rocket Challenge 50Sphere Science 280Lush x2 30Think Forensic 180Arcola Energy 30Mathemagical 40Curiosity Hub x3 140Fun Learning 180Wet & wonderful x2 360Science Surprises x2 500Brad Gross 200Framework 30Oliver Meech x2 50Build Brighton 20Repair Café 25Sundae Club 220BHHS 80

Total for young events 6,125

ADULT EVENTS

Correspondence 150Cycle the Solar System x 2 54Robin Ince 220Sunday Assembley #1 300PIPS: Moral Compass 65Plague 40Matt Parker 120MOOT 185History of Rocketry 80A Cancer Landscape 150Café Scientifique 60MOOT 65Nerd Nite 200Stella 120How the Victorians ruined the world 85Astronomy in pubs 120Rosie Wilby 35Complexities of Modern Existence 80Women in Physics in Palestine n/aSunday Assembley #2 250Love conquers all 70Eastbourne Sceptics 80MOOT 60Science of the Paranormal 35Catalyst club 85My Manager and other animals 85Night school 190Big Science Saturday 230Cycling Science the ride 12Big Science Sunday 170Philosophy café 30Relatively speaking 100

Total for all events 9,640

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AccountsFull accounts will be available later. A rough analysis is below.

The result of our hands-off policy with productions was that production costs fell, office expensesand staff wages likewise. Publicity was kept at the same level, but the brochure now earned itskeep, thanks to advertisements and inclusion fees. Ticket sales fell, obviously, but were boosted bythe £1 added to Bright Sparks ticket prices, which didn’t affect numbers on the days

The result was that the interim planning costs, which are supposed to tide us over for six months inbetween Festivals, will realistically be able to do that.

Festival 2013 2014 2015

COSTS

Production costs 11,000 10,900 4,500

School tour 1,300 1,700 1,300

Publicity printing, distribution, ads etc 10,100 9,100 9,900

Office expenses 1,500 2,800 1,900

Staff costs 12,000 16,500 12,700

Director’s fee 4,000 4,000 4,000

KTN Summer project 2,100

Interim running costs 1,900 1,800 4,800

____ _ _

Total 49,000 48,900 39,100

INCOME

Ticket sales 25,000 24,800 16,400

Sponsorship 22,600 22,700 9,000

Schools 1,400 1,400 1,400

Brochure 5,300

Appeal 7,000

_____ __

Total 49,000 48,900 39,100

PublicityAttendees who found out about the Festival through our online presence rose by 5% to20% this year, so our use of digital media is now on a par with print in terms ofeffectiveness as a promotional tool. This is via our website (www.brightonscience.com),Facebook page, newsletter and Twitter account.

Publicity is important not just because it advertises the Festival - it advertises SCIENCE.This year we spent 20% of the budget on publicity (£9,100).

Word of Mouth is the most important publicity agent.

The newsletter has 6,000 subscribers to our monthly newsletter, covering science in thenews and in the Festival, especially when they overlap

The Festival Website; Use of the internet has risen steadily over the ten years, from60% in 2005 to 80% today. Not bad, but that still meansa fifth of the public depend on printed materials for theirknowledge, as the chart on the right shows.

Leaflets distributed through schools; 80,000 Festivalleaflets giving details of the family days and the adultprogrammes were distributed to families in Sussexthrough all Sussex schools. Sixth Form and FE collegesreceived posters and booklets.

Booklets; 25,000 12-page booklets and 1,000 posterswere distributed in pubs, community centres, shops andcafes in Brighton, and in a circle of towns fromWorthing, Horsham, Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill,Lewes and Eastbourne, via Swat Distribution.

Libraries and council offices, All of Sussex’s libraries and council offices displayedposters and booklets.

Universities and colleges; Advertisements, poster and booklet distribution through thedepartments and the calls for helpers, presenters and volunteers raised our profile in theUniversities of Sussex and Brighton.

Newspapers; The Argus were our local media partners, and Latest TV were constantlyon demand for reviews, interviews with Simon Singh, Adam Rutherford, Trevor Cox andothers. Local papers around Sussex promoted theSchools workshops.

Magazines; Adverts and articles appeared in regionalmagazines, educational magazines and Brighton areamagazines, including editorial features in Latest 7. AlsoKemptown Rag, Primary Times, ABC Magazine, SevenDials Directory, Regency Magazine, Magnet, PrestonPages, Sussex Uni Bulletin, Sussex Life, Viva Brighton,Teen File, The Scene, Business Edge, The Whistlerand BN1.

As this chart, right, shows, 40% of our crowd werefrom outside Brighton and Hove this year. Good news!

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Internet use 2015

“Are you rrom Brightonand Hove?”

2016Because we are at the start of the year, we take a keen interest in

anniversaries, to set everyone up for the rest of the year.

Anniversaries

1816 - Davy Lamp, Stirling engine, Stethoscope, Frankenstein & TheVampyre, Match, Photo - Niepce, Kaleidoscope, Bicycle

1866 - Fish and chips

1916 - Zeppelin, British Summer time, Rationing, Tank, Nissen hut, Battleof the Somme, Elephant on trial for murder in USA

1966 - Kelvar, Ring pull, Polaris sub, Dolby.

CUTS AND MORE CUTSOrganisations funded by the government - researsh councils, sciencesocieties, local government, etc, will all have less money, so that’s avaluable source of income in jeopardy. Individuals will have less cash intheir pocket, so that’s another constriction.

Next year is going to be tough.

But think how much science does for us, how much we love it, and howmuch we depend on it. Now imagine a world where nobody understandsor cares for science. We will quickly become a desolate land of ruin anddepression. Nothing is more important than science.

Contact:

Richard Robinson, 18 Temple Street BN1 3BH

richard@BrightonScience.com

01273 777 628

www.BrightonScience.com14

To those who gave to the appeal in 2014, donating 0ver two thousand pounds in small sums, weproudly dedicate this, an ephemeral monument, to a solid contribution.

“Congratulations on yet another highly successful Brighton Science Festival – you will bepleased to know the reach continues to broaden as more and more people – many of them notscientists – from across the region have been talking to me about various events which theyattended this year” Andrew Lloyd, Dean of Life, Health and Phys. Sci. University of Brighton

“Having inspirational science communicators like you visiting us every year has made a greatdifference. Did you know that our GCSE results were the best in Sussex?”

Dr Eric Demoncheaux, Head of Science, Battle Abbey School

“Hi,I just wanted to email to say how impressed I was by your event at the Brighton media centrethis week. I am a primary school teacher, with 2 young boys of my own (ages 3 and 6), and amalways hunting for fun things to take them to during the holidays. We had an absolutelyfantastic time, so many fun, educational activities and friendly informative science enthusiasts.The science show was such a big hit with my boys... They even asked to go back the next day!Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for organising such a brilliant event.”

Michelle Harley, visitor