Greetings, potential cyber-stalkers! You've reached this page in all likelihood by following a link from one of the various obscure and irresistible outposts I haunt throughout the intarweebs. (That, or Google's "I'm feeling lucky" button just totally hosed you.) Now that you're here, I suppose you want to know just who is this Jay Garmon jerk I've been hearing about?The answer is far geekier than you ever could have dreamed.
I, Jay Garmon (or, to hear my parents of the federal government tell it, Jared Matthew Garmon) am a professional geek. Specifically, I am a writer, husband & father, social media consultant, 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.
Social Media Consultant: First and foremost, I have somehow conned my way into being a board member of the Social Media Club of Louisville, a non-profit group that advocates for new technologies and their use for the betterment of communication and society at large. Mostly, we have nerd get-togethers and pontificate about the future of online discourse, commerce, and tech. For reasons defying understanding, the SMC'ville founders assumed I'd be good at that sort of thing, and placed me in a very minor leadership role. I speak regularly on social media and emerging technologies at both SMC Louisville meetings and to external organizations, not the least of which is an ongoing Social Media marketing program at the University of Louisville. (They have their own Facebook page.) I also, upon occasion, develop social media strategies and tactics for businesses, for which I am also occasionally paid.
Writer: This post is hosted on Jay Garmon [dot] Net (formerly known as The Written Weird), which is my personal blog where I pontificate on 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, but those I'm actually still trying to get into print. If that ever happens, expect the first announcement to appear on JayGarmon.net along with a copious overuse of exclamation points and bragging to my writers group. As to writing work for which I am 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, and TechTarget, among others. 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 beat your high score in Scrabulous.
Science Fiction Nerd: For several years, I was the host of 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 nearly eight years. Both the Geekend and Geek Trivia remain archived online, and have been cited by sources as diverse as author John Scalzi to the editors of Wikipedia. Most of what I would have written for Geekend ends up on the Written Weird today--most notably in my Nerd Words column--but you can always go back and see where my online writing career truly began. I also help run a local science fiction convention and make appearances at various local geek meetups, should you be overcome with an urge to stalk me.
Self-Professed Trivia Expert: As a successor to Geek Trivia I now write the Truly Trivial column here at JayGarmon.net, wherein I throw a few hundred words at an obscure factoid that very possibly only I find fascinating. For reasons beyond understanding, other people are entertained by this. Also quite inexplicably, the kind and talented hosts of the TechTalk radio show on WRLR 98.3 FM in Chicago have me on as a regular guest and there I prattle away 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.
General Internet Addict: Perhaps the most holistic view of my life as the Prince of Dorkness can be divined from my Twitter stream. More succinctly, my Google Profile also conveniently links to all the same items in the Cyberstalk Me section to the right, but it's prettier. 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.
2 comments:
Also you are my buddy/ former boss who always outgeeks me.
I was just checking blog visitors and backtracked a couple of links to your blog. And it amused the heck out of me to find that you are Written Weird. Best of luck with the writing. It's a blast, isn't it? (Except for those pesky rejections.)
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