Skeptics in the Pub#Skeptics in the Pub Online

"Skeptics in the Pub" is not a protected term, anyone can set one up. There also is no formal procedure to organising an event; organisers can fill in activities as they see fit. There are, however, some common approaches across the world in hosting such events that make them more successful.{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldxb_PjIgOs |title=Skeptics in the Pub Workshop (2011) |author=Michael Marshall, Simon Perry and Mark Pentler |work=QED: Question, Explore Discover |publisher=North West Skeptical Events Ltd. |date=20 February 2013 |accessdate=11 July 2016}}

The usual format of meetings includes an invited speaker who gives a talk on a specific topic, followed by a question-and-answer session.{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8544995.stm |title=Out of the labs, into the pubs |author=Owen Duffy |work=BBC News |date=9 March 2010 |accessdate=9 July 2016}} Other meet-ups are informal socials, with no fixed agenda. The groups usually meet once a month at a public venue, most often a local pub. By 2012 there were more than 100 different "SitP" groups running around the world.{{cite web|url=http://skeptic.org.uk/events/skeptics-in-the-pub|title=Skeptics in the Pub website}}{{cite web|url=http://skeptic.org.uk/sitp|title=Skeptics in the Pub – Google Maps|accessdate=16 February 2012}}

File:Merseyside Skeptics Society audience.jpg speaking at a Skeptics in the Pub event in Liverpool]]

The earliest and longest-running event is the award-winning{{cite web|url=http://www.timeout.com/london/features/4273/5.html|publisher=Time Out, London|title=Best Communities/Best Website 2008|last=Barber|first=Sonya|date=18 February 2008}} London meeting, established by Australian philosophy professor Scott Campbell{{cite web|url=http://londonist.com/2008/02/why_dont_creati.php|title=Why Don't Creationists Just Shut Up?|last=Brown|first=Matt|publisher=The Londonist|date=19 February 2008 |accessdate=14 July 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/318162-jennifer-cox-signs-up-for-skeptics-in-the-pub|title=Jennifer Cox signs up for...Skeptics in the Pub|last=Cox|first=Jennifer|publisher=The Metro|date=21 September 2008}} in 1999.{{cite web|url=http://london.skepticsinthepub.org/Default.aspx/21/About-Us |title=About Us |publisher=London Skeptics in the Pub |accessdate=14 July 2016}} Campbell based the idea around Philosophy in the Pub and Science in the Pub, two groups which had been running in Australia for some time.{{cite web|url=http://www.scott-cam.com/|title=Scott Campbell's Homepage|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805070801/http://www.scott-cam.com/|archivedate=5 August 2016}}

The inaugural speaker was Wendy M. Grossman, the editor and founder of The Skeptic magazine, in February{{citation needed|date=July 2016}} 1999; this first talk attracted 30 attendees. The London group claims to be the "World's largest regular pub meeting," with 200 to 400 people in attendance at each meeting.{{cite web|url=http://www.timeout.com/london/big-smoke/blog/7921/London_social-Skeptics_in_the_Pub.html|publisher=Time Out, London|date=9 June 2009|title=The Big Smoke, London Social: Skeptics in the Pub|last=Brown|first=Matt|accessdate=5 January 2010}}

Campbell ran the London group for three years while there on a teaching sabbatical, and was succeeded after his return to Australia by two sci-fi fans and skeptics, Robert Newman and Marc LaChappelle. Nick Pullar, who made a television appearance as "Convener of Skeptics in the Pub" on the BBC spoof show Shirley Ghostman,{{cite web|url=http://www.skeptic.org.uk/pub/shirleyghostman.html|last=Pullar|first=Nick|title=Shirley Ghostman and me|publisher=The Skeptic|date=20 April 2005}}{{cite web|url=http://www.tonyyouens.com/shirley.htm|last=Youens|first=Tony|title=Shirley Ghostman|date=21 April 2005}}{{cite web|url=http://www.boingboing.net/2008/10/12/high-spirits-with-sh.html|last=Metzger|first=Richard|title=High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman|date=12 October 2008|publisher=Boing Boing}} then led the group from 2003 to 2008.

As of 2011, the London group was co-convened by Sid Rodrigues, who has co-organised events in several other cities around the world.{{citation needed|reason=Source did not mention Rodrigues or London.|date=July 2016}} This group has conducted experiments on the paranormal as part of James Randi's One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge{{cite web| url=http://www.randi.org/jr/060305be.html#6|title=A Preliminary Test for the JREF PRIZE is Completed|last=Randi|first=James|publisher=Swift|date=3 June 2005| accessdate=5 January 2010}} and co-organised An Evening with James Randi & Friends.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/an_evening_with_james_randi_and_friends|title=An Evening With James Randi & Friends|last=Cohen|first=Jon|magazine=Skeptical Inquirer|date=23 May 2008}}{{cite web|url=http://itricks.com/randishow/?p=23|title=Preview of the Amazing Meeting with James Randi on iTricks|publisher=The Amazing Show|date=15 May 2008}}{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article3798760.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724204819/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article3798760.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 July 2008 |title=Homeopathy – what a waste of time|last=Singh|first=Simon|newspaper=The Times Online|date=23 April 2008}}

Some of the speakers at London Skeptics in the Pub have been Simon Singh, Victor Stenger, Jon Ronson, Phil Plait, David Colquhoun, Richard J. Evans, S. Fred Singer, Ben Goldacre, David Nutt, and Mark Stevenson.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

The ease of use of the internet, via social networking sites and content management systems,{{cite web|url=http://www.csicop.org/si/show/skepticism_2.0/|title=Skepticism 2.0|last=Grothe|first= D.J.|publisher=Skeptical Inquirer Volume 33.6|date=November–December 2009|accessdate=14 July 2016}} has led to more than 100 active chapters around the world, including more than 30 in the US and more than 40 in the UK. In 2009, D. J. Grothe described the rise of Skeptics in the Pub across cities in North America and elsewhere as a prominent example of "Skepticism 2.0". SITPs were often founded outside the realm of existing skeptical organisations (mostly centred around magazines), with some successful meetings growing out to become fully-fledged membership organisations.

"Skeptics in the Pub" would later serve as the template for other skeptical, rationalist, and atheist meet-ups around the globe, including The James Randi Educational Foundation's "The Amazing Meeting", Drinking Skeptically, The Brights, and the British Humanist Association social gatherings.{{citation needed|date=January 2011}}

Since 2010 Edinburgh Skeptics in the Pub has extended the Skeptics in the Pub concept over the whole Edinburgh International Festival Fringe, under the banner Skeptics on the Fringe and from 2012 done the same at the Edinburgh International Science Festival with the title At The Fringe of Reason. The Merseyside Skeptics Society and Greater Manchester Skeptics (forming North West Skeptical Events Ltd) hosted three two-day conferences, QED, in February 2011, March 2012 and April 2013. Glasgow Skeptics has also hosted two one-day conferences, as of July 2011.{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}

{{Portal|Beer|Wine|Drink|Society|Companies|Business and economics}}

• Camp Quest
• CSICon
• European Skeptics Congress (ESC)
• List of public house topics
• New Zealand Skeptics
• SkeptiCamp
• Skepticon
• Skeptic's Toolbox (sponsored by the Center for Inquiry)
• Question, Explore, Discover (QED)
• The Amaz!ng Meeting (TAM)

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{official website|https://www.skepticsinthepub.org/}}
• [https://sitp.online/ Skeptics in the Pub Online official website]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldxb_PjIgOs Skeptics in the Pub Workshop – QED: Question, Explore, Discover]

{{Skeptical conferences}}

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