Frank Catalano

A “geek child” is defined as either the offspring of one or more geek parents, or any child who — no matter what the parentage — has inherent (if not inherited) nerd DNA.

And in both cases, decisions about college can be a challenge. Because sometimes the decision might turn out to be no college.

Over at GeekWire this graduation season, I’ve taken on preparing a geek kid for higher education with five tips that can be applied pretty much at any time in the teen and pre-teen years. These tips were honed from my own experience getting ready to attend Harvey Mudd College, and getting my son ready for his stint at the University of Washington.

And for those who wonder: no, I never did finish college. But my son did. From these two very different paths came two successful outcomes, and the handful of suggestions.

Consider it a column that could be read as a logical progression from my GeekWire post of a year ago, “7 steps to raise a geek child.”

So check out the sequel, “5 steps to prepare your geek child for college,” at GeekWire. (And afterwards, keep the below Haiku Deck handy for reference.)

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad

David Brin has lived at the intersection of science and science fiction for a long time as a best-selling writer, inventor and scientist. So when I found out he was coming to Seattle to both launch his latest novel, Existence, and speak at Westercon (the West Coast Science Fantasy Conference which, in 2012, is being held in Seattle), it seemed natural to interview him.

The result is over at GeekWire. And befitting the news site’s name, I draw parallels between geek and science fiction culture. And then pepper David with ten questions about the current status of science fiction in society, as a form of literature and about what it and its practitioners do that no one else can.

David is, as always, thoughtful and provocative. And very interesting.

Read, “10 questions: ‘Existence’ author David Brin on science fiction, science and geeks” over at GeekWire.

I’ll never forget an interview I heard with some of the original designers of the Supersonic Transport (SST) jet on the occasion of its final flight in late 2003. “We thought the future of air travel would be like a jet,” one said. “It turned out to be more like a bus.”

It was toward surviving that increasingly Greyhound-like experience that I contribute, at GeekWire, my geek guide to air travel. These ten tips (not numbered, thankfully) include websites, services and gadgets that can make anyone travel a bit smarter with the help of technology.

And every single tip has been honed by my many hundreds-of-thousands (and probably at least a couple of million, if you include award tickets) of actual air miles traveled.

Enjoy. (Unless you’re one of those who wear Bose headphones to the airplane lavatory.) Read “The Geek’s Guide to Air Travel” at GeekWire.

Over at GeekWire, I tackle an atypical subject: GeekWire itself.

For two weeks over a one month period, I had an inside view of GeekWire in particular, and digital journalism in general. I filled in for each of the co-founders as they went on vacation. I didn’t do the longer enterprise pieces or edit guest posts, but I did write a lot of brief stores (plus two of my longer columns) and covered in the newsroom while the others were in the field.

It was something of a George Plimpton-esque experience (for those who recall Paper Lion and many of Plimpton’s other adventures, years ago).

Plus, it taught me a lot. Not just about digital journalism. About startups and entrepreneurship in general. And about how what one has done in the past can be reconfigured to be applicable in just about any situation, if one can clearly understand and separate the skill strands of one’s career.

I mean, who knew Tetris would be an appropriate metaphor for work at a tech news site?

Read, “Two GeekWire weeks, three entrepreneurial lessons,” over at GeekWire.

Okay, I have to admit: this one was a lot more fun than usual. I mean, how often do I get a chance to interview six well-known science fiction writers for a tech analysis?

But that’s exactly what I did for my GeekWire column, following up on Seattle-area asteroid mining startup Planetary Resources’ launch by getting the take of a half-dozen established writers — who, it turns out, were as inspired by the news as the company says it was inspired by science fiction.

Read what Greg Bear, Vonda N. McIntyre, Kay Kenyon, William C. Dietz, Louise Marley and Brenda Cooper have to say in my latest GeekWire column, “Science fiction writers inspired as asteroid miners make fiction fact.”

And please, great SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America), forgive me for using the once-abhorred abbreviation “sci-fi” in this blog headline. It was the only way to make it fit — and the term, even though now common, still makes me cringe.

Occasionally I move from Practical Nerd to personal nerd in my columns for GeekWire. And “7 steps to raise a geek child” is my most personal yet. 

Yet it’s also practical, in that “geek” has gone from being a negative epithet to a kind of laudatory epaulet in a generation. The seven steps are all about balance and, I suppose, would work equally well for giving a jock child a more complete upbringing. Though I clearly didn’t have that direct athletic experience while growing up, my son — who suggested an alternate heading for tip number three, “Mindmeld with your child. (Or use the Force, if you must.)” — easily could have.

Decide for yourself by reading “7 steps to raise a geek child” at GeekWire.

A few years back, I had the honor of being asked to serve a two-year term on Alaska Airlines’ MVP Gold Advisory Board. It’s a group of twelve very frequent fliers who sign NDAs and get to see how the, uh, fuselage is made, and come to realize the airline industry is anything but glamorous. But it is cool, and there is much tech in play.

So when I was asked if I would mind giving up a whole day to see a really cool advance in airline cabin interiors, I said yes. And I focused on the technology — and psychology — being applied.

The result is chronicled in my latest column for GeekWire.

There’s a lot I didn’t elaborate upon (the champagne toast, the remarkable view on a clear day at somewhere around 10,000 feet from Everett to Seattle Tacoma International Airport via the Olympic mountains). But for what I didn’t write about, I posted a public photo album with captions.

Read “Inside Alaska Airlines’ new Boeing Sky Interior” at GeekWire.

In my work as an industry consultant and analyst in education technology and digital learning, I read. A lot. And there are some invaluable web resources on which I rely so much that I’d like to nominate them for the Edublog Awards — and share them with you.

• EdSurge is a relative newcomer:  a smart, sassy (is that even said anymore?), yet serious e-newsletter and site that covers all things transformative edtech with an emphasis on startup and non-profit activity and resources. If you aren’t reading co-founder Betsy Corcoran’s weekly dispatch, you’re not living on the edu-edge. For the Edublog Awards I nominate EdSurge (www.edsurge.com) for best ed tech / resource sharing blog.
• Hack Education is a labor of  love and journalism by independent edtech journalist Audrey Watters, who also writes for several sites. Watters follows a journalism tradition I admire — no cows are sacred, and no prisoners are taken. She’s also one of the few edtech journalists who thinks beyond straight reporting.  For the Edublog Awards I nominate Hack Education (www.hackeducation.com) for best individual blog.
• MindShift focuses on a critically important part of edtech — the impact of change on parents and the educational community as a whole. Hosted by San Francisco public broadcaster KQED and ably and actively guided by Tina Barseghian, MindShift features a broad array of thoughtful voices on the future of learning. For the Edublog Awards, I nominate MindShift (mindshift.kqed.org) for best group blog.

If you’re so inspired, please feel free to echo these nominations by following the process on the Edublog, er, blog.  And even if you aren’t, I hope you’ll enjoy the good work of those I chose to nominate.

When something is free, there’s frequently a catch. Sometimes it’s a requirement for your personal information, sometimes it’s a constant pitch for a paid version, sometimes it’s exposure to ads. But I have a serious problem with faux “free” when the real price isn’t clearly disclosed.

That’s the issue I take up in my latest Practical Nerd column for GeekWire, “The hidden price of ‘free’,” and free products — the Spotify music service and the AnchorFree Hotspot Shield personal VPN service — that have hidden or frustrating true costs. As state attorneys general are fond of saying: if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Even someone like me, who tends to research any tech product or service before using it on my primary computer, can get distracted by the alluring claim of “free.” Consider it a cautionary tale, and read the essay on GeekWire.

On a slightly unrelated note, I had the opportunity to fill-in as co-host of the weekly GeekWire podcast and radio show (airing in Seattle on KIRO 97.3 FM) with GeekWire’s Todd Bishop. Catch the podcast — and a rare photo of me and show guest Chris Pirillo — as we discuss Steve Jobs’ resignation, Facebook privacy and the future of Pirillo’s Gnomedex conference, also on GeekWire.

Every Spring, Seattle hosts one of the best literary-focused regional science fiction and fantasy conventions, Norwescon.

I was a fixture at many early Norwescons when I was actively writing science fiction and was the secretary of the Science Fiction Writers of America. I also was a panelist  at Norwescon years later when I was doing a lot of media commentary on technology trends. I’m pleased to have been invited back again this year to speak, this time about media, technology and/or education. Norwescon 34 is April 21-24, 2011 at the Doubletree Hotel Seattle Airport.

My panel schedule follows. (The descriptions are Norwescon’s; I quibble slightly with an assumption in the first one, but it’ll make for a more lively panel.) To see the full schedule, speakers and registration information, visit the Norwescon website. (more…)

Over at EdNET News Alert, I’ve had some fun (thanks to the calendar) with what the program for an education or ed tech industry conference might look like at the start of the next decade in “The Very Preliminary Agenda for EdNET 2020.“

There was a lot more I could have included — for example, internationalization of education was suggested by one reader, and you can probably think of your own additions — but in any essay like this, it’s important not to go on too long.

Still, occasionally some truth resides in humor. You can decide for yourself at the EdNET News Alert site.

Remember Pluto? The brontosaurus? Starfish? If so, the accuracy of your childhood science memories are now, well, wrong. According to science itself.

O’Reilly has kindly posted my Ignite talk on the subject from Ignite Seattle 11. For those unfamiliar with the Ignite format, each speaker gets five minutes and 20 slides – the slides auto-advance every 15 seconds, and the speaker is not allowed notes on stage. It’s a wonderful, terrifying event.

Here’s the talk, How Science Is Destroying My Childhood. Judge for yourself:

And if you’re tempted to try your own Ignite talk, read my tips for success. Or, at least, not abject failure.

If there is a defining interest throughout my career, it’s science and technology. I’ve written science fiction for magazines, reported on new science and tech developments for radio, television and newspapers, and consulted education and consumer technology companies.

So it may come as no surprise that I cherish my childhood memories of science — even as science itself is wiping them out, one by one.

Over at TechFlash, I’ve written a guest essay, “How Science is Destroying My Childhood.” It’s based on my Ignite Seattle 11 talk on the same topic but with a few facts I didn’t have time to slip into the five-minute Ignite presentation. No planets, dinosaurs or sea creatures were harmed in the writing of the essay.

Earlier this month, I took part in ritualized torture. Others call it an Ignite presentation.

Ignite, for the unignitiated, is something of a nerd presentation death march. You have a topic, which you propose. You have five minutes, which is firm. You have 20 slides, which relentlessly auto-advance every 15 seconds.

You do not have notes.

At the suggestion of a couple of previous Ignite presenters, I proposed a talk for Ignite Seattle 11 that was aligned with my personal interests, and about which I felt passionate enough upon which to pontificate: “How Science Is Destroying My Childhood.” My pitch: “I love science: As a kid, I marveled at planets such as Pluto, wanted to see a real dinosaur, and enjoyed mysterious sea creatures. My love of science spawned a career including stints as a science and tech reporter, science-fiction writer and, lately, tech industry consultant. But science is slowly erasing my childhood, and Pluto was just the start. It appears no planet — or creature — is safe.”

Having never even attended an Ignite before, I did not expect to be selected on my first pitch attempt. But not only was I selected as one of 14 presenters at Seattle’s King Cat Theatre, I was selected to go first.

How did I survive? By doing three things: (more…)

The strategy consultancy known as Intrinsic Strategy is, as of this month, a healthy one year old. (If you include its continuous Catalano Consulting predecessor, it cannot quite yet raise a toast to itself as they are now a consecutive, combined 17 years old. But it can attend a film with strong language.)

The year’s been busy for me. Kindly invited to speak or moderate at events of the Washington Technology Industry Association, Washington Technology Center, Software and Information Industry Association, Association of Educational Publishers and Bellevue Chamber of Commerce. Dove back into commentary and analysis as a guest contributor to TechFlash. And, of course, solidly doing marketing and business strategy consulting for technology-related companies in education, consumer and other markets.

I’ll shortly be taking my “Marketing Myths in a Down Economy” talk delivered to the Bellevue Chamber last week and reworking its advice as blog posts over the next several weeks. So the fun — and, I hope, useful information — is just beginning.

In the interests of irritating those on all sides of an issue, I’ve posted a guest commentary on TechFlash calling for the optional, voluntary professional certification of journalists.

Why would I do something others in my former profession might think, well, is stupid?

After all, I spent more than a decade as a full-time news broadcaster (radio and TV), and then — after I moved to marketing consulting — still worked on the side as a columnist for Eastsideweek/Seattle Weekly (for four years) and KCPQ-TV Seattle as a commentator (for another four years). I should be one of the last people to call for journalist “certification.”

Years ago, when I read Algis Budrys’ 1977 novel Michaelmas, I wasn’t just struck by its prescient vision of a distributed, networked computer intelligence. I was struck by its vision of the profession of its protagonist: as a highly respected, freelance journalist, handling his own research, video and reporting — and selling his reporting services to the highest bidder.

More than 30 years later, Budrys (who died last year) may have hit upon the journalistic future I think we’re about to embark upon: that of free-agent professionals who are medium agnostic and can produce text, audio and video for just about any kind of media outlet, including one they individually control.  Think of it as blended reporting. (more…)

The downside of book contracts comes when you lose control of your self. And that’s the case now that my name is attached to two “new” Dummies books that I had no direct involvement in writing … and didn’t even know existed until I read about them in a blog.

Let me say upfront this doesn’t mean they’re not good books. But my advice and image — state of the art nearly a decade ago — have been repackaged and represented as current. It’s marketing at its most automatic.

Background: In 2000, Bud Smith and I wrote Internet Marketing for Dummies, a successor to 1998′s Marketing Online for Dummies. The contract I signed allowed for non-U.S. editions, a good idea. IMFD was translated into languages and alphabets I don’t read, or in some cases, recognize. All in all, IMFD was in print for seven years, a good run.

But last year,  I noticed blog posts referencing Frank Catalano’s book, Digital Marketing for Dummies. (more…)

So what is this thing called blog?

Unlike some other blogs with which I’ve been involved going back to nearly the turn of the century, I have no illusions about readership or longevity of this effort. This is, out of the gate, a limited edition.

I’ve learned a lot of practical lessons about marketing: how it must align with business goals, how to introduce and balance branding where marketing has only been about sales support before, and how to make sure the initial intent survives what can be endless rounds of internal review. Everything from doing good competitive analysis, to choosing a new name, to tightly integrating strategic and tactical plans.

And over the next few months I’ll share what I’ve learned here in a manner unusual for a consultant: free of charge. (I’ll also provide asides on what I’m doing peripherally professionally, and observations on the marketing of others. Plus, I’ll continue experimenting with WordPress, beyond the earlier test posts.)

If you happen to find this blog, I hope you find it interesting and, more importantly, useful.

Want to know the tell-tale signs of a too-frequent flier? They pay more attention to the condition of their socks than their suit. They refer to the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s as “amateur season.” And all of their toiletries are in bottles of three ounces or less — even the ones they use at home.

If there’s someone like that in your life, perhaps you’re pondering the perfect gift. Here are seven of my favorite tech travel things, based on three years of nearly weekly trips: (more…)

Being a panel moderator is the hardest easy job in public speaking.

I’ve moderated, conservatively, more than one hundred panels over three decades (I started as a teen at science-fiction conventions). Aside from the aforementioned fan gatherings, there have been professional panels at events ranging from E3 Expo to technology industry conferences to book and education industry trade shows.

In the spirit of earlier tips for types of public speaking not everyone does, here are nine things you should know about being a good moderator, if you’re ever called to serve: (more…)