My very first tech talk was at a conference in the Netherlands — a poetry conference — where I was invited to explain how the website I managed, Poets.org, was developed and maintained. Alas, no recording exists.
Since then, I’ve had several more speaking opportunities, and people have said they find my presentations informative and amusing — enough so that one of the recordings below has been used in a class.
Want me to come speak at your conference? Get in touch!
Be a Better Developer: Build for Accessibility (Grace Hopper Program, New York, NY, 2017)
A 10-minute tech talk presented to my Grace Hopper class.
Accessibility was not addressed in our curriculum, so I wanted to make sure everyone was at least aware of the concept. So it’s not as tech-y as some of the other talks, but one of my classmates who had already worked in tech for some time told me she’d never known about the issues I raised and now wants to make all her applications fully accessible. So: Mission Accomplished!
Debate: Does ebook design matter? (ebookcraft, Tech Forum, Toronto, ON, 2016)
Copresenter: Nick Barreto. Moderator: Derrick Schultz.
Ebookcraft is a two-day conference dedicated to e-book production, held in Toronto; it is part of Tech Forum, an annual conference that focuses on digital developments in the book publishing industry.
This debate took place before a room full of e-book developers and served as a sort of comedy routine after all the technical workshops and talks. Kathy Sandler told me she makes students watch this video in her class E-Books: Technology, Workflow, and Business Model (Master’s in Publishing program, Pace University, NYC).
Making Beautiful Books (Data Conversion Laboratory Learning Series, 2014)
Copresenter: Allan Lieberman.
A webinar on print book production and design for independent publishers. My recommendations for that process are always informed by the inevitability of conversion to one or more digital formats.
Ebook Production: Covering All the Bases (Digital Book World Conference + Expo, New York, NY, 2013)
Copresenters: Colleen Cunningham, Iris Amelia Febres, Naomi Kennedy. Moderator: Joshua Tallent.
I talked about e-book quality assurance as part of a workshop intended to “walk you through the essential questions, processes, and information you need when developing and perfecting your eBook workflows and production plans.” The event was standing-room-only, despite its taking place at a multitrack conference.
“PAPER SMELLS NICE I READ IT IN THE TUB” (ITP, New York University, New York, NY, 2010)
My ITP thesis presentation.
After this talk, Red Burns, the director of ITP, asked if I’d be willing to come back and speak to her Applications class on the subject. This never happened, perhaps because I left the program without finishing, but it was an honor to be asked…
Presentation on Poets.org (32nd Poetry International Festival, Rotterdam, 2001)
I was invited to speak about the process and challenges of building and managing Poets.org. I think it was an hourlong presentation, and I had never given a talk before. Those poor, poor patient people.
I was also there to represent the Academy of American Poets, as one of 14 organizations from as many countries, in helping to plan the site poetryinternationalweb.org.