The joys of – part-time - academia

I came home from my travel this week to a nice package. It was a copy of my new book signed by many of the folks I presented the book’s themes to at Stanford a few weeks ago. What a wonderful gift!

It reminded me I do enjoy presenting at different campuses a few times a year. Get the benefit of the rich conversation and picturesque campus settings, and yet not be there full-time. The participants and the lead instructors at the Stanford program were technology executives from around the world and from the dinner I had with them were also clearly relishing their time there.

I similarly enjoyed a presentation last year on my previous book, The New Polymath at Arizona State U. I did not realize the book had been a classroom assignment in an earlier semester, and the professor had kindly arranged many of the students to colorfully mark up a copy of the book into sections like “learned from”, “surprised me” etc. Again, such a pleasant takeaway for me.

Or a presentation at Olin Business School at the beautiful Babson campus where the students were part of a unique Global Entrepreneurship Program with classes spread across the US, France and China.

Or a presentation at the iSchool in Toronto where the audience was mostly faculty and I spent most of my presentation off script – talking about ethical issues around technology. It is a topic which I generally skirt in presentations to business audiences because it makes them uncomfortable.

I hope I get a chance to keep doing 3-4 such talks a year and maybe even being a student every couple of years.

Readers, happy to consider presenting to your alma mater when I travel to those cities!