The conference expanded to include Skeptics in the Pub events, fundraising dinners, separately ticketed workshops and live-podcast recordings.
The resulting lecture was a tribute to colleague Perry DeAngelis (died 2007), held near the August anniversary of his birth and death.
Feldman stated that about half of the conference attendees are from the tri-state area, (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) and the remaining 40–50% come from farther afield.
"[2] "Stimulus/Response" conceived by George Hrab and Brian Wecht was a three-act performance held on Friday night, and was separately ticketed from the conference.
This performance has Harb playing guitar and signing "This is the way the world will end" with Plait speaking statistics about the likelihood of various astronomical deaths, such as meteors, super-novas and solar flairs.
[14] In 2009 when Hill was attending the very first NECSS she mentions that the theme of the conference was very relative to her own current college degree work in Science & the Public.
She says "the overarching theme was science portrayed to the public – how the media delivers a message, how even scientists screw up and take missteps, how we can get better.
"[15] Magician and author Richard Wiseman performing at the 2009 conference explained in answer to a question by an attendee, people believe in the paranormal for many reasons, they might need to believe and it's possible that they have had "personal experiences" that convinced them.
As I walked on stage, I switched from my original intention, and decided to handle a specific example of the subject that I find very difficult to address, an example of the faith-healers' perfidy and cruelty that I'd previously only mentioned in the introduction to The Faith Healers.
"[18] The special "Evening with James Randi" event at the ninth annual NECSS in 2017 was open to the public and is estimated to have drawn a crowd of over 600.
Katie Mack and Raychelle Burks were part of a NECSS 2018 speakers explored the topic of sexual misconduct in the skeptics community in a panel named "SciComm Meets 'Me Too'".
[clarification needed] Talks included David Gorski on the hype of stem cell treatments, Harriet Hall on the dangers of cancer vaccine "manufactroversies", Clay Jones and Grant Ritchey on quack Tourette syndrome remedies, and Michael Marshall discussing his strategies with the Good Thinking Society that helped (almost completely) eliminate public medical funding for homeopathy in the United Kingdom.
Other workshops include "Psychology of Magic" with mentalist Eric Walton and "Shaping Your Child's Behavior with Science" with Jocelyn Novella and Liz Gaston.
However, unnecessarily divisive, counterproductive, and even hateful speech runs contrary to our mission and the environment we wish to foster at NECSS.
"[25] After much criticism, the NECSS apologized to Dawkins, admitted their dis-invitation was "not professional" and re-invited him, stating, "There is room for a range of reasonable opinions on these issues and our conversation will reflect that diversity.