Tom Merritt .com » Speaking Appearances

Dragon*Con Approacheth!

Tom — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 01:30:01 +0000

In just a month I’ll be winging my way to Atlanta once again for Dragon*Con! This year my schedule has been spread out lightly like butter across the four days. If you’re going to be at the Con, here’s where you can find me if you’d like to say hey.

Friday August 31

Panel: Tech News
Tom Merritt discusses what it takes to keep up with the ever-changing tech news industry, and how they keep the hit podcast, ‘Tech News Today’ running.
Time: Fri 04:00 pm Location: Crystal Ballroom – Hilton (Length: 1 Hour)

FSL Tonight LIVE!
Justin Robert Young and myself will bring you the post-game wrap-up from the FSL championship. Vulcan vs. Lannisport? Coruscant vs. Rivendell? Whatever it ends up being, we’ll be there, with special guests.
Time: Fri 05:30 pm Location: 204 – Hilton (Length: 1 Hour)

Saturday September 1
Sword and Laser Podcast – LIVE
We’ll do a live version of our audio podcast with a special guest author and take your questions. So get to reading!
Time: Sat 02:30 pm Location: Crystal Ballroom – Hilton (Length: 1 Hour)

Parsec Awards
The Parsec Awards are the yearly awards for speculative fiction podcasts. I’ll be presenting, and Veronica Belmont will be hosting!
Time: Sun 04:30 pm Location: International North Room – Hyatt

Sunday September 2
Panel: Irrational and Mistaken
Brian Brushwood, myself and some other guests will discuss how public perceptions of science and scams and irrational and mistaken beliefs affect the ability to explain the world in news and entertainment.
Time: 5:30 PM 207 / 206 / 205 – Hilton (Length: 1 Hour)

Monday September 3
Geek & Sundry Panel!
Meet some of the minds behind Geek & Sundry including The Guild and Sword & Laser!
Time: Mon 10:00 am Location: Grand Ballroom A-F – Sheraton (Length: 1 Hour)

Come say hi at Comic-Con!

Tom — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 03:56:01 +0000

So I started planning to go to San Diego Comic-Con when TWiT decided not to cover it live. I thought, “Hey, I’ll just go and cover a few panels, walk the floor, have a good time. easy.” Then Geek and Sundry decided to add Sword and Laser to its lineup, which rocks, and I thought, well there’ll be some G&S stuff to do for sure, so that’s good. Then I decided to schedule a TWiT special on bandwidth caps, because that is an issue that need some explaining. And so why not schedule it during Comic-Con. Amiright?

So all of that is a long way of saying, I have a crazy schedule at Comic-Con this year, and here it is.

THURSDAY July 12 (all times Pacific)

10 AM – Tech News Today live from the San Francisco airport. Any tips on where to get good bandwidth? Turns out Virgin America doesn’t open their lounge until 12:30. /me shakes fist.
3 PM Sword and Laser meet and greet at Belo, 919 4th Avenue, San Diego.
9 PM Geek and Sundry Disco Dance Party, also at Belo. (more details on all Geek and Sundry events)

FRIDAY July 13 (all Times, spooooky , also, still Pacific)

9 AM Bandwidth caps special with Dane Jasper (Sonic.net), Benoit Felten (Analyst), Reid Fishler (HE backbone provider), Chris Mitchell (Muninetworks.org) – Skyping from San Diego, live on TWiT.
10 AM – Tech News Today – Me live from San Diego in my hotel room, other hosts in Petaluma.
1 PM Sword and Laser Q&A at the YouTube stage. 325 7th Avenue, San Diego. Come ask us things!
2 PM Beer. Anywhere.

So if you’re going to be in San Diego fro Comic-Con, come on out and say hi!!

I’m speaking at BayCon 2012

Tom — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:40:00 +0000

BayCon, the San Francisco Bay Area science fiction and fantasy convention is happening Friday, May 25 to Monday, May 28 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara.

My Sword and Laser co-host Veronica Belmont is speaking on practically every panel!! I think she’s only outdone by star convention guest Brandon Sanderson.

Of course Veronica got me to head down there too and we’re doing a Sword and Laser panel!! So come on Bay Area SFF fans, head down to Santa Clara.

The Sword and Laser panel is Saturday from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM in Central. I assume “Central” is the name of a ballroom. But it *might* be Central Command or something which would rock.

Hope to see you there!

WonderCon Panel in Anaheim March 17th

Tom — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 20:35:41 +0000

Wondercon is in Anaheim this year, and I’m extremely pleased to be invited on Felicia Day’s panel about her new web series channel Geek and Sundry

The panel is on March 17th from 2-3pm in room 204. Ms. Day will be announcing her slate of series for the year. My co-host and pal Veronica Belmont will be there along with geek hero Wil Wheaton.

Reading of United Moon Colonies at Falkirk Mansion in San Rafael

Tom — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 18:12:35 +0000

My friend Sarah Houghton from the San Rafael Public Library has talked me into doing a reading of my novel “United Moon Colonies“.

The event is Thursday November 3rd from 7 PM – 8:30 PM at Falkirk Mansion in San Rafael. Get all the details on the Facebook Events page.

I’ll read a bit from the book and answer any questions people have then likely have a stiff drink to calm my nerves. Sure, I do podcasting and speaking appearances, but reading my little self-published NaNoWriMo project to PEOPLE in PUBLIC is honestly a bit daunting. Free PDF? No problem! Read it to you in front of others? Knee-shaker.

So please, if you’re anywhere near San Rafael on that Thursday, considering stopping by, even if it’s just to pat me on the back and tell me it will be all right. There’s the added incentive of being near Sol Food which is some of the best damn food you’ll ever eat. NOW how can you pass this up? Huh?

I’ll be at Dragon*Con in Atlanta, Georgia this weekend!

Tom — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:25:52 +0000

Once again we’re headed to Dragon*Con, where I’ll be doing a few TWiT shows in front of a live audience as well as our third Sword and Laser from the conference. Here’s the schedule of all the panels/shows I’ll be on:

Geek a Week Podcast Reunion
Time: Fri 01:00 pm Location: Regency VI – VII – Hyatt (Length: 1)
Description: Join artist Len Peralta as he talks with geek superstars that were featured on the Geek A Week Podcast.

Geek a When art meets science and skepticism
Time: Fri 07:00 pm Location: 205-2097 Hilton

Title: Sword and Laser Live Podcast
Time: Sat 01:00 pm Location: A601 – A602 – Marriott (Length: 1)

Title: Tech News Today
Time: Sat 02:30 pm Location: A601 – A602 – Marriott (Length: 1)

Title: Frame Rate
Time: Sun 04:00 pm Hilton 205-207

Title: NSFWShow
Time: Sat 08:30 pm Hilton Crystal Ballroom

PAB 2010 – What if my boss finds out?

Tom — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 02:39:28 +0000

I’m headed to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada for the Podcasters Across Borders conference this weekend to speak on a panel about podcasting in your off time, and hopefully drink whiskey with Canadians.

The conference is happening at the National Arts Centre. My panel is on Saturday June 19 at 11 AM. I’ll be on with Dave Brodbeck (AKA Dave the psychologist) Ken Hernden and Scarborough Dude.

If you’re in Ottawa and can register for the conference come on by. And who knows, we may have an impromptu meetup or something too. Check Twitter for details.

Speaking at New Noise Santa Barbara

Tom — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:02:33 +0000

I’m very pleased to have been asked to moderate a panel at the New Noise Santa Barbara conference Friday October 9.

The panel is called THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN: Exploring The New Frontier In Music. I don’t mean to shout, they just wrote it in all caps on their website.

It will be at 2:00 PM in the Channel Islands Room at the Canary Hotel

“The panel will discuss the impact of technology on the music industry including its effect on distribution, marketing, copyrights, etc. The panel will analyze the mobile revolution, the current and future state of mobile applications and the emergence of subscription and free services. The panel will also discuss whether artists can be “compensated” for their music other than through sales, and can artists monetize their audience rather than their content.”

Panelists:
Brendan Mulligan (Founder/CEO, ArtistData)
Michael Schneider (CEO, Mobile Roadie)
Ethan Kaplan (VP Technology, Warner Bros. Records)
Cheryl Hodgson (Copyright & Entertainment Attorney)
Jacob Tell (President, Oniracom)

I’m not sure if New Noise will make nay of the panels available online after the fact, but if I find out I’ll let you know.

SABEW: Creating podcasts

Tom — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 23:32:57 +0000

I’ll be speaking at 1:15 PM, 27 April at the Society for American Business Editors and Writers annual conference in Denver. My session is about creating podcasts. I’ll cover why you would want to do a podcast, how to get started and best practices for current podcasters.

IFA International Press Conference

Tom — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:29:52 +0000

I spoke on two panels at the IFA International press conference in Malta. The first panel, on Friday discussed blogging and podcasting, and how that relates or even threatens the print model of tech coverage.

On Saturday I was part of a group summing up the show. I spoke up on copyright, user interface design, and usability.