On the advice of organizer Richard Lumb, who Jacob and I had met at the pgEd Industry Forum, I spent a day in Boston at the Festival of Genomics. Part trade show, part conference it was an unexpected opportunity to meet potential production and outreach partners.
The vendors were eager to explain their products or projects. Some even offered us equipment to use in the shoot, a space to film, or a shout out in their publications. I found a science illustrator who seems like a great fit for some conceptual drawings. A geneticist I met from Emory is very eager to organize a screening for the Emory/University of Georgia community in Atlanta when the time comes.
It was well worth the drive to Boston. I also ran into our science advisor, Ting Wu, heard a gene editing talk by George Church that was over my head, and had a great meeting with Richard Lumb about how the festival and his magazine, Frontline Genomics. could help in outreach when the time comes.
I shouldn’t have been, but I was surprised at how easy it was to talk to all the participants. Salespersons, geneticists, genetics counselors, administrators, editors, science communicators… they all seemed eager for a story like ANYA.
