TempleStudy.com Liveblogging the FAIR Conference 2008

[Update 8/6/08: Blair Hodges over at Life on Gold Plates will also be liveblogging the event.]

Anyone who has visited the site yesterday or today may have seen the “UPCOMING LIVE BLOG” banner on the homepage.  It is an email reminder tool that you can use to remind yourself that TempleStudy.com will be liveblogging the entire FAIR Conference ((FAIR = The Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research.  www.fairlds.org)), both Thursday and Friday, from Sandy, Utah.  I realize that FAIR officers have also announced some kind of liveblogging that they will be doing, but I don’t know the details.  Since I don’t know their plans, I have set up liveblogging that will occur right here on TempleStudy.com too.  It hope that both our liveblogging efforts (and any others) will be beneficial to those who cannot attend the conference, and that it will extend the reach of those who will be presenting. 

What liveblogging means is that beginning at 9:00am (maybe a bit earlier) Thursday morning and extending through 7:00pm on Friday, you will be able to visit TempleStudy.com and see a liveblog.  A liveblog is like an instant message chat directly from me to you.  I will be reporting on what is taking place at the conference in real-time, including my thoughts, feelings, opinions, polls, notes, and maybe even the occasional picture, if I can snap some with my cellphone.  Such blogging will be very beneficial for all those who cannot attend.  It will also be like a kind of journal that will be always be available here on TempleStudy.com even after the conference is said and done.

One of the neat features of the liveblogging software I will be using called “Cover It Live” is that it allows you to submit comments or questions too, in real-time, and live! All you will need to do is put in your name and comment/question into the lower section of the liveblog window and click on “Send.”  I will be able to see your comment/question and I can choose to insert them into the stream of thought that everyone sees, and I can respond to you.  You can feel like you are part of the action.  Nerdy, eh?

Now, just a small disclaimer.  I have never liveblogged before.  I may have some problems getting the system to work.  The WiFi might be extremely poor in the Exposition Center.  It may be downright dull what I have to say for 10 hours straight each day.  I may make mistakes in citing what someone said, or misspell, make grammatical errors, etc.  With that apology out of the way, on the other hand, it may be the funnest thing we’ve ever done here on TempleStudy.com!  I hope you will take a moment to visit the website on Thursday or Friday and check out what’s going on at the FAIR Conference!

Here is the schedule, just in case you only want to pop in during certain presentations.  The time is Mountain Daylight Time:

Thursday Schedule
Time                Speaker/Event           Presentation
8:00 am           Registration
9:00 am           Opening
9:10 am           Mike Ash           Shaken Faith Syndrome
10:10 am         Mark Wright           The Book of Mormon and Mesoamerica
11:10 am         Margaret Young and Darius Gray           Nobody Knows, the Untold Story of Black Mormons
12:10 pm         Lunch
1:15 pm           Brian Birch, Blake Ostler, and James Faulconer           Philosophy and Mormonism
2:30 pm           Jeffrey Bradshaw           The Message of the Joseph Smith Translation: A Walk in the Garden
3:30 pm           Snack Break
3:45 pm           Larry Poulsen           Book of Mormon Geography
4:45 pm           Ugo Perego           Joseph Smith’s DNA Revealed: New Clues from the Prophet’s Genes
5:45 pm           Closing

Friday Schedule
Time                Speaker/Event           Presentation
8:00 am           Registration
9:00 am           Opening
9:05 am           Ron Esplin           The Joseph Smith Papers
10:05 am         Matthew Brown           The Israelite Temple and the Early Christians
11:05 am         Newell Bringhurst and Craig Foster           The White Horse Prophecy: Myth vs. Reality
12:05 am         Lunch
1:00 pm           FAIR Business
1:30 pm           Scott Gordon           Online Apologetics
2:30 pm           Brian Hauglid           The Book of Abraham
3:30 pm           Snack Break
3:45 pm           Brant Gardner           Second Witness: The Book of Mormon
4:45 pm           Daniel Peterson           Humble Apologetics
5:45 pm           Closing