Public speaking for change

I originally started this blog as a way to keep more of our Benetech team aware of what was going on with me and other team members (through guest blogs) while on our travels. Many of us spend a big chunk of our time on the road rather than in the office, and it's good to share some of the reasons our office chairs are often empty!

Speaking publicly is an important part of our work. We do it both to advance Benetech objectives and projects, as well as advancing the field (we call these karma gigs). We invest in public speaking coaching (thanks, Melinda Henning!) to become better speakers, both for old hands like me and Benetechers getting ready for their first public speech.

I asked Joan Mellea, who keeps track of these and many other things at Benetech, about my upcoming speaking commitments: she quickly came up with fifteen! More than ten of these are in just the next two months. So, I thought I'd share what's coming up to give a flavor of where in the world Jim will be in the next two months (the other four talks are scheduled for next year already). Of course, I have other trips planned for just meetings as well.

9/19 (tomorrow!) Speed Geeking at the Gates Foundation Global Library Program about Bookshare International

9/22 Stanford Social Innovation Review online webinar "Nonprofit, For-profit, or Something in Between?"on choosing to be a nonprofit or a for-profit, based on my For Love or Lucre SSIR article

9/26 Kicking off the Stanford Social Entrepreneurship Lecture Series

10/1 Speaking at the Disability Rights Advocates board meeting

10/5 Duke Fuqua MBA High Tech Club Panel (Cloud Computing /Social Entrepreneurship panels)

10/5 Duke CASE Award for Enterprising Social Innovation, presentation and lecture

10/25-26 Silicon Valley Human Rights Conference

10/29 Keynote at Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired Regional conference in Cleveland, Ohio

11/2 Moderate a CEO's panel at the Social Enterprise Alliance Summit in Chicago

11/5 Address a foundation board meeting in Connecticut

11/20 Short inspirational talk at TEDxYouthCastilleja (high school in Palo Alto where my wife Virginia used to teach: we had our wedding reception there)

All of these talks are about social innovation, about technology doing social good, about the possibility that everybody can do something to help. Sharing these ideas is the way I recharge my batteries for doing more!

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