Successful conference, skeptics bouquets and brickbats, and the Franklin Graham experience!

Hi there

This newsletter will be a bit short (well, only two articles, but the second one is quite a long read!). As I write this, we've just finished our annual conference in Wellington, so it's been super busy. We had a good turnout of skeptics from around the country, and a great set of informative and entertaining talks throughout the weekend.

The weekend started off with a fun social evening with stand-up comedy, followed by some challenging puzzles.

Saturday saw some great talks, including topics such as misuse of statistics, the rise of the alt-right, understanding Jihad, critical thinking skills, a scientist's journey into skepticism, and a look into the world of forensic pathology. We finished the day with our annual skeptic awards (more on that below) followed by dinner.

Sunday saw more great talks, including putting paranormal claims to the test, the Peter Ellis case, a look into Tikanga Māori vs contemporary values, and a look into foetal movement as an indicator of wellbeing. We also held the AGM for the NZ Skeptics, and did a first ever live podcast recording of our Yeah... Nah! podcast.

This week's articles are both guest articles. The first is a write up of our awards - both bouquets and brickbats given out, and written up by committee member Jonny Grady.

The second article is a contribution by one of our members, talking about his experience at the recent Franklin Graham event, which Mark has also written about.

Enjoy!