The SETI Institute is very fortunate to have so many people world wide supporting our mission to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the Universe.  It is through this support that the SETI Institute is able to succeed.

To show our appreciation and to create an opportunity for the public to interact with our team, we decided to host an event that would be both educational and fun.  SETIcon will be a family friendly event that will appeal to everyone from the hard core scientist or enthusiast who wants to know the nitty-gritty of how science really works, to the 5th grader interested in the wonders of space.

To accommodate this, we will have four simultaneous sets of programs:

* main programming panels that will include scientists, astronauts, and actors,
* hard core science talks and panels similar to paper or poster presentations at a scientific conference,
* an education panel/talk track interspersed with hands-on activities for young people and
* a series of individual speakers in Q&A sessions, with no set talk but fielding questions from their audience.

It is an exciting time.  This year brings the 50th anniversary of SETI research, the 80th birthday of SETI Pioneer Frank Drake, the 25th anniversary of the SETI Institute, and much growing momentum in the scientific community about the likelihood of life beyond Earth.  The public excitement is building as NASA's Kepler mission brings the world a greater understanding of planets circling other stars.  Dr. Simon "Pete" Worden, astronomer and Director of NASA Ames Research Center, was recently quoted in the press: "The fundamental question is: Are we alone? For the first time, there's an optimism that sometime in our lifetimes we're going to get to the bottom of that.  If I were a betting man, which I am, I would bet we're not alone — there is a lot of life."

There will be a party and a banquet and a few surprises that will make this event entertaining for people of all ages.

SETIcon blasts off August 13, 2010 and we hope to see you there!