Speaking Inquiries

I love speaking to groups of all sizes! Each year, I visit educators' conferences, PR associations, user groups, trade shows, and other confabs to share some lively, funny time talking technology.

Alas, a weekly newspaper column, six television segments a year, five books per year, and three young Poguelets make travel more of an opportunity cost than it once was; drop me a note for information on fees and availability. (Also, note that I can't accept engagements from companies whose products I may review in my column.)

In addition to instructional seminars and courses (on palmtops, Mac topics, Windows topics, digital photos or movies, Web design, Microsoft Office, and other topics), I also enjoy speaking as a commentator on technology and how it impacts society. What follows are some of the talks I've presented recently (each is often topped off by a mini-concert of my trademark song spoofs at the piano).

The Megapixel Challenge

If you believe the marketing, the quality of a digital camera is determined by the number of megapixels it has. 10 megapixels must be better than 5, right?

In this hilarious talk, David Pogue relives his four-month quest to determine, once and for all, just how important megapixels are in a digital camera. His adventure wound up involving the Discovery Channel, the New York Times, the technical director of Professional Photography magazine, 100 passersby in Times Square, the way, and over 500 angry bloggers. You’ll walk away with a new understanding of how cameras work—and the unpublicized measurement that REALLY determines the photo quality you’ll get.

Dave’s Mobile Show-and-Tell

David Pogue reviews over 200 products a year for the New York Times. If anyone can identify the breakthroughs, he can.

In this lively presentation, David will present and actually demonstrate the latest and most amazing mobile gadgets, and offer his mini-critiques of each. The assortment changes monthly, of course, but past presentations have included the cellphone that offers unlimited free calls via Wi-Fi; the pocket camera that beams photos instantly onto Flickr (the photo-sharing Web site); the music player that downloads wirelessly from a catalog of 2 million songs; a folding memory card for cameras that eliminates the need for wires or card readers; the secret of getting Directory Assistance for free on your cellphone (rather than $2 per call from your carrier); the latest breakthroughs in speech recognition; and, of course, the iPhone.

Prepare to have your mind blown—and your credit card stressed.

The Digital Generation Comes of Age

For the last 20 years, computers and technology have been part of the everyday curriculum for a generation or two of digitally privileged kids -- and, as they become the majority, it's showtime.

As computer-literate children become America's new leaders, visionaries, and designers, how will their digital upbringing affect society and culture? New York Times technology columnist David Pogue takes a thoughtful, funny look at how the tidal wave will hit as the digital generation enters prime time -- what we'll gain, what we'll lose, and what beliefs and approaches will shift into something we've never seen before.

Five Technologies for the Next Five Years

As a journalist on the cutting edge of personal technology, David Pogue of the New York Times displays, discusses, and demonstrates the five technological advances--out of the hundreds introduced each year--that will have the most impact on the audience in the next few years. Which five? They're constantly evolving, of course. But in recent versions of this talk, David has featured Voice Over IP (free phone calls over the Internet), the online video revolution (like YouTube), radio iPod tags, personal videoconferencing, HDTV, and other goodies.

Web 2.0, Social Media, and Other Buzzwords

What do YouTube, MySpace, Craigslist have in common? They're all part of "Web 2.0," in which a Web site's material is supplied by its visitors.

What do blogs, vlogs, and podcasts have in common? They're all new ways for individuals (or corporations) to express themselves online.

In this head-spinning talk, David Pogue, the New York Times's most popular blogger (and video blogger), helps to make sense of the explosively expanding realm of Web 2.0 and all kinds of 'casting. He'll advise both individuals and companies on how to exploit these live-wire technologies, supply some horrifying and hilarious real-world stories, and even hint at the future of these revolutionary new channels.

The Undocumented Vista

Microsoft says that Windows Vista is the best Windows ever, and that it “just works.” But doesn’t Microsoft always say that?

In this entertaining presentation, New York Times columnist David Pogue, author of “Windows Vista: The Missing Manual,” lets you be the judge. He’ll demonstrate the considerable strengths of Microsoft’s latest effort, including its proficiency with managing digital photos and music, its redesigned user interface, and its dramatically hardened security plumbing. He’ll also comment on the downsides of Vista, including the intrusiveness of its security features and, for many, the requirement of buying a new PC to run it.

Digital Moviemaking: the Crash Course

This one is really a blast. Armed with a camcorder and a laptop, David Pogue (author of the bestselling "iMovie HD & iDVD: The Missing Manual") will attempt to make a complete digital movie, complete with dialogue, characters, sound effects, and music, in 90 minutes, using good-natured audience members as actors. In the process, you'll learn the essentials of digital moviemaking, including music, effects, and, of course, technical workarounds; the results can be exported as a QuickTime film, posted on the Web, or burned onto an actual DVD. This session will focus not just on iMovie and your camcorder, but the Hollywood techniques that separate amateur camcorder and production work from polished, professional efforts. Be prepared to be educated, entertained--and filmed.

He'll even post the finished movie on his Web site for attendees to show off after their return home!

The Operating-System Problem

2007 is the year of the modern operating system, as both Apple and Microsoft unveiled dramatically different new versions of their system software. Apple's Mac OS X and Microsoft's Windows Vista are both designed to solve the same sets of problems: security, stability, and serving as a hub for iPods, cameras, and the Internet. Sometimes, the companies wound up with virtually identical solutions; in other cases, they approached the problems with radically different philosophies.

Having authored bestselling books on both operating systems, David Pogue has witnessed firsthand both the brilliant breakthroughs and the misguided failures both companies came up with. In this fascinating tour, you'll discover out how much easier to use a computer can be, once you realize what its creators were trying to accomplish.

Interface Design: The Last Stumbling Block

Why are consumers so fed up with their computers? “Software rage” has become an epidemic, help lines are flooded, and people are flinging their machines out the window in frustration.

More often than not, the problem is the software design itself--the interface. The design of programs and Web sites grows in importance every day. Getting it right--packing a lot of features, the right way, into a small screen area--is extremely difficult, and the masters of the art are few and far between. But David Pogue, who analyzes software design each week in his New York Times column, has found some fascinating real-world examples that help to illustrate both clever solutions and horrifying failures. He’ll also look forward to interface design of the future--speech, animation, and other innovations--as we move into an era of both much bigger and much smaller screens.

Digital Photography: No "Negatives"?

Anyone who already knows photography has a huge advantage when it comes to digital cameras--a familiarity with principles of light and composition, for example. At the same time, the “digital” part is a whole new world, entailing a new set of skills. In this entertaining presentation, New York Times columnist (and digital-camera reviewer) David Pogue offers a concise, meaty, funny crash course for the photographer who wants to exploit the digital possibilities without going quietly mad. Includes an updated glimpse at what’s new and what’s coming in digicams, plus workarounds for the ever-shorter list of digital drawbacks.

PR and Journalism: How They've Evolved Together

I'm the press. I’m one of the guys public-relations people work with, or maybe I should say work on. I get about 50 pitch emails a day. In this talk, I offer an irreverant look back at the history of PR, starting with "master of propaganda" (as he called it) Edward Bernaise, and take the audience all the way to the present day of instant, do-it-youself, consumer-created media (via the Internet).

This talk, geared for PR professionals, also offers a few of the most hilariously bad, and impressively good, pitches I've seen in my days at the Times.

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