Nerd Nite #39: Lets Get Political
The Essentials:
- Date: Wednesday 20th September 2017
- Time: 6pm (for 6:30pm start – get there early for food and a good spot)
- Venue: Meow Cafe & Bar (9 Edward Street)
- Cost: $5 (tickets via Eventfinda or on the door)
Speaker details (in no particular order):
What goes wrong with political polls and referenda?
Richard Arnold
When the public are asked questions about what they think, the results can be unexpected. What goes wrong with political polls and referenda? Why are they sometimes such bad barometers of public opinion? With our own election mere days away, can we believe what we’re hearing in the media about the way New Zealanders are going to vote?
Richard Arnold is a lecturer and researcher in Statistics at Victoria University of Wellington and is also the election night forecast statistician for TVNZ. He will discuss some of the more and less obvious pitfalls of opinion polling.
What’s the deal with climate data?
Dave Frame 
How come climate scientists can be confident that climate change is caused by greenhouse gas emissions, and why doesn’t our good scientific understanding of the problem translate into effective global action?
Dave Frame is a lecturer and researcher in Climate change and Policy at Victoria University of Wellington. His talk will cover the gambit of physics, game theory, and technology as applied to climate change modeling.
I have the solution!
Damian Reid
NZ politics is in turmoil. None of the current political parties can be trusted to sit the right way on a toilet let alone govern a country. What NZ needs is a benelovant dictator and there is only one person who can fill that role and that person is … (you need to come along to find out).
Damian Reid was born at an early age and will die eventually. In the mean time he keeps busy as MC for Armageddon, spending time with his dog and plotting to take over the world if he can just find his lucky socks.
Posted in nerdnite wellington