A separate Undead Video category has been added to the bill at the Zombie CellSlam, a juried, stand-up science slam set for Monday evening, December 8, at the 2014 ASCB/IFCB meeting. The Undead Video entries will compete for a single $200 prize. “The undead have a zero cost of living,” explained Simon Atkinson, Chair of ASCB’s Public Information Committee (PIC), which is bringing CellSlam back from the dead by popular demand. “We thought $200 would more than cover it.”
The live stand-up slam with its top prize of $1,000 remains the main event at the Zombie CellSlam, according to Atkinson. Each slammer contestant gets a microphone, emcee Randy Hampton (University of San Diego Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology), and three minutes to convince a panel of overly distinguished judges, that her/his science is important or at least amusing. The live runner-up will receive $250. Live entrants must register by 5:00 pm EST on December 8.
For the Undead Video category, entrants can submit their original video on any vaguely cell science-related theme to the Zombie CellSlam, no later than 12:00 pm EST on December 8, by uploading it to YouTube or Vimeo. Contestants must then proceed to the CellSlam page and fill out the entry form with a link to their uploaded video.
A live (and registered) attendee who is in the cast or production crew for the Undead Video must be at the Zombie CellSlam in person to present it. Unaccompanied Undead Videos will be asked to leave. The Undead Videos will then be shown to the live judges before a live audience in Room 114 of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The videos can be of any length although the judges (and the audience) will watch no more than the first three minutes.
The Zombie CellSlam is an official Fun Event at 2014 ASCB/IFCB and the PIC reserves the right to change anything including the rules to preserve that status. All decisions are as final as final can be. Full details are here.
About the Author:
John Fleischman was the ASCB Senior Science Writer from 2000 to 2016. Best unpaid perk of the job? Working with new grad students and Nobel Prize winners.
