Tampa Bay Skeptics Quarterly Meeting
Tampa Bay Skeptics quarterly meetings are generally held on the last Saturday of every March, June, September and December (barring special circumstances) and are open to the public. However, the December meeting is postponed due to proximity to Christmas.
Next TBS Quarterly Meeting
:
When
: Saturday, January 16, 2009, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Where
:
Center for Inquiry Tampa Bay
Bridgeport Center
5201 W. Kennedy Blvd., Suite 124
Tampa [
Click for Directions
]
Program
: [Pending]
Plus "Open Forum" and other fun stuff!
And after the meeting, join us for an optional lunch at a local restaurant.
What is Tampa Bay Skeptics?
Founded in 1988, Tampa Bay Skeptics is a nonprofit educational and scientific organization devoted to the critical examination of paranormal and fringe-science claims, and the dissemination of factual information about such claims. In 2004, TBS became a Special Interest Group of the
Center For Inquiry Tampa Bay
.
Particular areas of interest to TBS include UFOs, "psychic" power, astrology, fringe science & medicine, purported miracles and other New Age claims. Our interest in religion is restricted to claims that can be objectively tested and potentially verified, such as "weeping icons" or miraculous healings.
TBS conducts its own investigations, follows the activities of other skeptics groups, monitors the press coverage of the paranormal, and publishes a quarterly newsletter,
Tampa Bay Skeptics Report
, which is also distributed gratis to members of the press and to many other skeptics groups around the world. TBS also makes its representatives available to local and national media to provide a skeptical voice as a counterweight to the irrationalism and superstition that is increasingly prevalent in the television and print media.
TBS does not reject claims out of hand, but rather is committed to objective and critical inquiry. In this vein, we share the philosophy of the
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
(CSI) -- formerly known as CSICOP -- publisher of
Skeptical Inquirer magazine
, an international organization that has nurtured the growth of local skeptics groups (such as ours) all over the world.
TBS's "$1,000 Challenge"
Whenever possible, TBS attempts to put claims to the test. Since 1989 we have had a standing
$1,000 Challenge
available to anyone able to provide TBS with verifiable scientific proof of any paranormal phenomenon. No one has yet succeeded, but we remain open-minded (though highly skeptical) and desirous of subjecting testable paranormal claims to objective scrutiny.
Contact Us!
Send questions or comments to:
Gary Posner
(Executive Director, Webmaster)
Terry Smiljanich
(Chairman)
