Anna Sakoyan: Brainstorm

On June 1, the participants of the meeting of the international publication Scientific American were engaged in their internal affairs almost all day (conditionally internal, since their area of ​​responsibility is almost the whole world). Their meetings were held at the Haitt Hotel, in a spacious room with a square placed square. Moderators at the discussions formally performed the Americans, but in fact no moderation was required. Each part of the discussion began with a certain introductory performance, then there was a short discussion of groups in an undertone with neighbors and, finally, who wanted to live in order of lively, but without visible conflicts expressed their thoughts.

“Our meeting today was mainly a brainstorming (Brainstorming),” said Michael OSS (USA). - We discussed different development options that our editors proposed. Everyone talked about how viable these options are; Which of them promise to be the most successful; which prevents the achievement of success. Brainstorming is a very important part of the process. Some ideas are already ready to test them in the market. And other ideas have just appeared - and this is the first step in any undertaking. After that, we are coordinating with colleagues how to get down to business. ”

To the question of whether each individual publication can act independently, without coordinating its initiatives with the rest of the group, the OSS replied: “We completely trust the editorial office of each edition. They all understand the significance of the Scientific American brand all over the world, but at the same time, they know their readers and their market better. And they know what to offer their audience, and so that the reputation of the brand does not suffer from this. And of course, if we see that one publication has successfully implemented the project, this can then be used for other publications. So the success of one edition can be divided by the whole group. And finally, the ideal option is when some initiative can benefit everyone at once. ”

“In general, today's meeting was very good,” he summed up. - In the morning we discussed our strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and risks. This group of questions was versed in each edition. And this is important, because it often turns out that different publications are faced with the same problems. For example, these are questions related to the attraction of young readers and how to interest people of advanced age. It also happens that, say, similar problems arise in Spanish and German publications, and in Brazilian and Italian - completely different. And again, these are very useful discussions, because, like on any other forum, anyone can come up with a solution.

In the afternoon, we discussed various innovations that have already entered into force in some publications, while others are only going to apply them. And the final part - actually Brainstorming is my beloved. Four offers have already appeared there, which made me new thoughts. And most importantly, the result of these discussions can be very different from the original plan, but the process has gone. ”

Only Professor Adnan Hamui (mathematician, editor -in -chief of the Kuwait edition) did not take part in a lively discussion. When asked why, he replied that when his colleagues enthusiastically discussing business issues, he has nothing to say, since he is engaged in the more substantial side of the matter, and the business as such does not interest him.

By half past six, the meeting ended, and representatives of the publications were divided. Four, led by David Swinbanks, was preparing to conduct a master class in “Pirogues on the Sretenka” (you can already find an online broadcast record at the link, soon the story of how the summit participants took this conversation, then the transcript and mounted discussion video). The rest began to gather in the lobby to go on an excursion to the Polytechnic Museum.

Taking advantage of this, we managed to talk with the representative of the Spanish edition - Lucia Ferreiros. Like some other participants in the summit, she noted that this summit is significantly different from the usual ones, because thanks to additional events, the editors received a more detailed idea of ​​the country where the meeting takes place. When asked why, in her opinion, this time the meeting was chosen by Russia, she replied that for a variety - there were no meetings for a long time (the previous one was in 1985). Mostly Lucia Ferreiros was pleased with good weather and friendly and pleasant people. “And the first event seemed very interesting to me - a meeting in Rusnano. There we learned how Russia invests in worthy projects. And we, of course, will make a review in our journal dedicated to what is happening in Russia. ”

The Polytechnic Museum reached after the end of its official working day. Therefore, only a few halls were opened for guests and offered to hold a blitz-excursion on them. They showed halls with microscopes, holograms, layouts of various power plants, as well as the Cosmonautics Hall and the Exposition “ Musical Basy ”. The guide most visitors obviously did not want to listen to and unedisciplinedly scattered through the surrounding halls, trying to independently study the exposition using English -language descriptions hanging near the exhibits.

Microscopes and power plants did not cause much enthusiasm, but the Cosmonautics Hall attracted general attention. A museum’s employee said that foreigners are always interested in this hall, unlike Russian visitors who more like exhibits like a musical box. Of the current guests, only the most energetic reached the casket. The rest sat in the neighboring hall and resting waiting for the next conversation - a meeting with the director of the museum Boris Saltykov .

Bogumil Bowze from the Czech Republic, after a cursory acquaintance with the museum, said:

“A very good museum. Russia (USSR) is the first country that sent a person into space. And of course, I was very glad to see here part of the exposition dedicated to the astronautics. By the way, it was very interesting to see there the spacesuits of the Intersmos program, because the third country in the world that sent a person into space was Czechoslovakia. The first foreign cosmonaut of the program was our astronaut Vladimir Remek, who worked with your cosmonaut Gubarev.

Now in Prague there is an exhibition dedicated to the anniversary of Gagarin's flight. And there, in the planetarium, there is a model of "East-1", an exact copy. You can climb there and get an idea of ​​how Yuri Alekseevich felt. ”

He also liked the holograms (“Whoever does not see, will not believe,” he said).

“To everyone who is interested in science, I would advise you to go there,” Bouise added. -Because lately this interest is not enough. But the more interest, the, I think, we will get more high -quality work. One thing is only upset. The museum is very beautiful, but few Moscow guests know about it. All tourists know about the Kremlin, about Swan Lake, about many other beautiful things that can be seen in Moscow. And they do not know about this museum. For example, I did not know about him. Therefore, I am especially glad that I managed to see him today. ”

Boris Saltykov immediately took an unofficial tone and offered to hold a meeting in the format of questions and answers. To begin with, he presented the Polytechnic Museum as a significant discussion platform, and also said that in the period from 1991 to 1996. He was the Russian Minister of Science in the Gaidar team. “And, of course, I was the main enemy of the academic community, because I destroyed the Soviet approach to science. And if you go to the Russian Academy of Sciences, they will tell you there that Saltykov ruined the Academy of Sciences. And my position was as follows: you, academicians, need reforms ”(a trip to the Russian Academy of Sciences as part of the summit is really planned - and the next day).

Saltykov also spoke about the planned reconstruction of the museum. It should begin around 2013 and end by 2018. He called this project provocative, because the topic causes a lot of disputes: some (including Saltykov) want to carry out capital modernization, while others want everything to remain as it is. “Our actions,” he said, “is often not popular among people of old hardening.”

Questions to Saltykov were asked lively. They asked about the leak of the brain in the 1990s; about what is understood by the modernization of the museum (the answer was that several European museums are now being considered that could become a model); about which budget is allocated for reconstruction; About how the museum’s budget will be planned in the future and what it is now; About whether he is familiar with the current Minister of Education and Science. It was already about nine o’clock when Michael OSS said that it was time to move to the hotel. After that, everyone got up to leave, but still for some time they continued the conversation.

June 2 - the last day of this SCIENTICOMMIT summit. Guests will have a final event with the Russian venture company, but at the Russian Academy of Sciences. Some, however, have already begun to travel, because editorial work requires their presence. Claudia di Georgio (Italy), which should leave before the official end, summed up her visit to Russia as follows: “The meeting that has just taken place is the most suitable end of my trip. Tomorrow I can no longer attend events. She was suitable because she was unusually interesting. You can’t come to a foreign country for several days and pretend that you understand everything. But now, perhaps, I have more tools to try to understand what is happening with Russian science and what role it plays in the country or could play. And it was interesting. Honestly, much more interesting than I expected.

We saw different things, including participated in very official events, for example, in Moscow State University . And here we had the opportunity to ask questions, and we received answers. In the 1990s. There were many stories about why scientists are leaving the country. And now it’s interesting to think about how the scientific tradition will survive. This is interesting to us, Italians, because because the state and the market are common problems for everyone in Europe. This is not only a Russian problem. In Italy, for example, the question of who will pay for what will pay for; what kind of science we need; What science we will finance. So it’s very interesting for us to learn more about the country in which such large -scale transformations occur. ”

About the first days of the Scientific American summit, see “First Steps” and “News from the Sparrow Mountains”.