re: But try as I might, I just can't compete with "watery Mars"
Who exactly are these folks you claim to know in the impact community, and exactly how "many" of them are there?
Wouldn't you like to know?
700 impact specialists participate in the Conference...
Actually, it's 699 and 1 hanger-on/wannabe. Guess where you fit in?
That's the job of a good journalist: sharing the news.
There you go again, E.P. Seriously, you need to get help for this delusion you have about being a journalist. In case you don't know, just claiming to be a journalist, scientist, expert, etc. does not make it so. Perhaps you could post a list of your qualifications? Oh yeah, participation in online forums does not count.