The Best of Hack Education

So, You Want Me to Speak at Your Event?

Tue, 08 May 2018 10:30:00 +0000

I am copying (with some modifications) a page on Miriam Posner’s website, where she outlines what she expects and what she needs when she’s asked to speak or conduct a workshop.

Thank you for considering me as a speaker for your event. My travel schedule is listed on my website, so you can check my availability before you reach out to me. Do note: I will not travel during the months of November and December as I am working on my annual year-in-review.

Please tell me in advance exactly what you’re expecting from me: How long should I speak? Are there other meetings you expect me to attend in addition to my lecture? (If so, please recognize that traveling and speaking are really exhausting, and I will need some down time.)

I really would prefer to use my own computer for the presentation. (I use a MacBook Air, and yes, I will bring a dongle.) I use Keynote for my slides, and I find converting to PowerPoint messes up the fonts and the layout. Rarely do I include video in my presentation, but I will let you know if I need to plug into the sound system. If you insist that I use a different computer during the presentation or that I give you slides in a different format, know that I will not be able to hand you these until the day I am speaking. (I won’t lie. I finish my talk the night before.)

I don’t mind making my own travel plans, but you expect me to do so, let me know how (and how quickly) I will be reimbursed. If you book the hotel, please choose one close to the speaking venue (or arrange transportation).

Speaking fees: I do not have a fixed speaking fee as I charge a different amount depending on the size of the audience, the location, the type of event, and so on. But listen: this is how I pay the rent. I cannot speak for free. When you think about what an appropriate fee might be, do recognize I write a new talk for each speaking engagement. An hour-long lecture is about 5000 words. So my fee should not just account for the hour I’ll spend at the podium. There are real costs for me to write a talk and, of course, to travel. Please be respectful of that.

We will not need to get on the phone to plan my visit. I do this a lot; I know what I’m doing. We can talk about everything over email. I promise.

Some things I do like to know: is there a particular topic you’d like me to address? Are there particular issues – in your organization, on your campus – I should be aware of? Do you have a goal for my presence?

Please note that I can be a provocative speaker. You need to look for someone else if you aren’t interested in that.

It is usually fine with me if you want to record my talk or livestream it. I retain all rights to my talk. I will publish a transcript on Hack Education as well as my slides.

Here is a headshot you can use for publicity materials, and here is a short bio.

New Year's Updates

Mon, 01 Jan 2018 10:10:00 +0000

I’ve made some changes to this site, most obviously updating the header image. Thanks to Bryan Mathers. (Why a pigeon?)

Those who look closely will also note that I have also changed the copyright information. No longer is there a Creative Commons license on Hack Education material. This really doesn’t change much, I promise. It just means you have to ask my permission before republishing my work. If you do wish to reprint my writing, please contact me directly.

A Few Revisions

Sun, 02 Jul 2017 13:35:00 +0000

I'm making some changes to this site: reducing the number of featured essays to 20 and adding a link to the complete Hack Education archives.

Annotations, Blocked

Wed, 26 Apr 2017 08:49:00 +0000

I have added a script to my websites today that will block annotations – namely those from Genius and those from Hypothes.is. I have been meaning to do this for a while now, so it’s mostly a project that comes as I procrastinate doing something else rather than one that comes in response to any recent event.

I took comments of my websites in 2013 because I was sick of having to wade through threats of sexualized violence in order to host conversations on my ideas.

My blog. My rules. No comments.

I’ve made this position fairly well known – if you have something to say in response, go ahead and write your own blog post on your own damn site. So I find the idea that someone would use a service like Hypothes.is to annotate my work on my websites particularly frustrating. I don’t want comments – not in the margins and not at the foot of an article. Mostly, I don’t want to have to moderate them. I have neither the time nor the emotional bandwidth. And if I don’t want to moderate comments, that means I definitely do not want comments to appear here (or that appear to be here) that are outside my control or even my sight.

This isn’t simply about trolls and bigots threatening me (although yes, that is a huge part of it); it’s about extracting value from my work and shifting it to another (for-profit) company which then gets to control (and monetize) the conversation.

Blocking annotation tools does not stop you from annotating my work. I’m a fan of marginalia; I am. Blocking annotations stops you from writing in the margins here on this website.

New Blog

Fri, 25 Dec 2015 10:35:00 +0000

Adding a blog here where I'll post updates on this GitHub repo. As it currently stands, I have all the keynotes I've delivered featured on this site. Perhaps I'll take some off and list them here? I don't know of a really good way to surface my "best" work.