Rob on "The Conversation"

Last week I went to a lunchtime meeting all about "The Conversation". It's a news and comment website which is written by academics from all over the world. It's a great idea, and there's some very interesting stuff on the site. All the content is published under the Creative Commons licence and so it can find it self republished in all kinds of interesting places.

I left with a strong desire publish something and they were asking for something about biometric passwords, so I wrote up a little piece. One of the best things about the site is that the articles are generally short - around 600-800 words or so. This means that they aren't too intimidating, and don't take too long to put together.

Another really lovely thing that I discovered was the great quality of the editing. I've had this experience before when I've written books. A good editor can take words and make them read really well. In the age of the internet and self publishing I worry that this skill is being lost. Not at all. What emerged from the process was so nice to read that I felt a bit guilty about my name being at the top.

I'm looking forward to writing more in the future. If you are an academic who wants to brush up your writing skills and tell the world a bit about yourself and what you are about, I strongly recommend that you get involved.

One of the most useful skills you can have is the ability to write well, it will serve you in any number of different situations. The Conversation gives you a chance to do just that, and get the benefit of the involvement in a proper editing process.

You can find my article here.