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| Jay holding his daughter prisoner for photo. |
I, Jared Matthew "Jay" Garmon, am a professional geek. Specifically, I am a writer, husband & father, technology advocate, science fiction nerd, self-professed trivia expert and general Internet addict. Each of these aspects is entertained at different venues around the Web, as listed below.
Technology Advocate: First and foremost, I have somehow conned my way into the presidency of the Louisville Digital Association (formerly the Social Media Club of Louisville), a non-profit group that advocates for technology startups and tech professionals in the Louisville region. Mostly, we have nerd get-togethers and try to jumpstart the next billion-dollar techno-IPO. For reasons defying comprehension, my fellow LDA board members assumed I'd be good at that sort of thing and placed me in a highly overstated leadership role. I speak regularly on social media and emerging technologies at both LDA meetings and to external organizations and, as a guest instructor, helped inaugurate a Social Media marketing curriculum at the University of Louisville.
Writer: This post is hosted on Jay Garmon [dot] Net (formerly known as The Written Weird), which is my personal blog where I prattle on about whatever topics interest me with very irregular frequency. You can also find herein copies of my science fiction short stories that I have "trunked," which is a euphemism for "given up on trying to publish." Yes, I have written other sci-fi shorts, exactly one of which has been sold for professional publication, and the remainder of which I am shopping to similar ends. As to the majority of the writing work for which I've been actively paid, look no further than my LinkedIn profile, and you'll see I've made my living in whole or in part by stringing together words for CNET, CBS Interactive, Scholastic Library Publishing, TechTarget and, at present, Backupify. But that's all non-fiction, so it doesn't count.
Husband & Father: Check out my Flickr photo stream, which is almost entirely dedicated to my daughter, wife, family, and friends, in that order, with each respective subject's photo volume descending logarithmically. I also have the requisite Facebook page, but -- fair warning -- I won't be joining your mafia wars, trivia quizzes, or 25 Things memes. I'm there to stay connected, not stay abreast of your newest herd members in Farmville.
Science Fiction Nerd: I am the originator of, and prodigally returned contributor to, The Geekend, a nerd culture blog at TechRepublic, a Web community for IT professionals run by CBS Interactive. Predating the Geekend is Geek Trivia, a weekly (ahem) geek trivia column that I wrote for most of the last decade. Both the Geekend and Geek Trivia (despite a two-year noncompete-induced absence) have been cited by sources as diverse as author John Scalzi to the editors of Wikipedia. Today, when not Geekending, I am an irregular contributor to the SF Signal blog -- usually their podcasts -- where I perform a barely passable impression of an expert in sci-fi media and fandom. I also help run a local science fiction convention should you be overcome with an urge to annually accost me.
Self-Professed Trivia Expert: As an adjunct to Geek Trivia, the kind and talented hosts of the TechTalk radio show on WRLR 98.3 FM in Chicago have me on as a regular guest. There I snark about movies, science fiction, technology, current events and ... eventually ... provide a geek trivia question each week. If you're game for a listen, you can tune in each Saturday at 11:00 am Eastern via the live video stream (where you won't see me, because I appear by phone) or just download the podcast via iTunes. I usually show up about ten minutes into the show and they hang up on me less than fifteen minutes later, so plan your listening accordingly. During the aforementioned two-year Geekend hiatus, I also occasionally wrote the Truly Trivial column here at JayGarmon.Net, wherein I threw a few hundred words at an obscure factoid that very possibly only I find fascinating. Inexplicably, other people were entertained by this.
General Internet Addict: Perhaps the most holistic view of my life as the Prince of Dorkness can be divined from my Twitter stream, which is riddled hourly with links that catch my interest. (I sometimes post my own thoughts there, as well, but for the sake of decency I keep those to a minimum.) More succinctly, my Google Plus profile also conveniently links to all the same items found in the Cyberstalk Me section to the right, but Google's version is both prettier and more comprehensive. Finally, for you economic determinists who really want the inside scoop on my consumerist self -- or are looking for the perfect way to bribe me -- there's always my Amazon Wishlist.
In the unlikely event you would like to retain my services as a consultant, writer, speaker, radio guest, conference/convention panelist, or one-shot dungeon master, you can reach me at jay [at] jaygarmon [dot] net. Depending on the job, I can be be had for very free or very not. Pitch me, and we'll talk.
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