Events & Speaking
Shared experiences are a powerful opportunity to tell your story. The thing to remember is that the people who show up are not there to bring about your intended outcomes. They are there for their own reasons. They want to learn, or be entertained, or just spend some quality time with their family. So it’s our job, when creating experiences, to acknowledge the story the audience already has playing in their own minds. Then we have to trust ourselves to follow the theme of the event to something of value that we can give to them.
During my career as a communicator, I’ve helped create a wide array of events in diverse locations, from live Q&A to festivals, from NASA science briefings to onstage talks. And let me tell you, I’m nervous every single time I step in front of an audience or a camera. But I always go at it seeking to deliver something the audience will value, whether that’s a fresh insight, a unique photo op, or a sense they’re connecting to something greater. And that makes it worthwhile, every time.
Events & Experiences
A few examples of the sorts of events I’ve helped plan and execute.
Arroyo Seco Festival
In 2018, our team from JPL collaborated with Golden Voice to bring a NASA activation to their community-themed music and food festival at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. JPL is just minutes up the Arroyo Seco from there, and it gave us a fun opportunity to connect as a member of the community – just there to celebrate wonder and beauty with the festival goers. We developed a fun, dome-shaped pavilion with a speaker stage and Instagram-ready photo ops based around NASA themes. I was also pleased to emcee the talks. It was a blast.
Explore JPL
The laboratory’s annual open house was a tradition people in Southern California looked forward to for many years. Let me tell you, it’s no small thing to turn a national lab into Disneyland for two days a year. But the personal connections we create through those experiences are truly special. The pandemic and changes to the NASA budget have put a hold on the event for a few years, but I have no doubt we’ll be back at it before long. My role for years was to plan and exhibit at our solar system themed venue, focusing especially on the Juno, Cassini, and Europa Clipper missions. I designed the exhibit spaces and produced exhibit displays, models, and handouts. It was also my job to recruit and schedule staffing with volunteers from the missions, and to engage with visitors myself.
NASA Discovery Program Site Visits
In early 2020, at the height of the pandemic, NASA was set to choose their next solar system exploration mission. This competitive process is done via a multi-step proposal and concept study that culminates in a site visit to the finalist institutions to meet the teams and answer all of the selection committee’s technical questions. Except…pandemic. So this site visit needed to be virtual. Also, the Perseverance rover was landing on Mars at the same time, claiming the bandwidth of our in-house staff who might have been able to pull it off. Fortunately, the team I helped found, called StoryLab, was ready to jump in. We developed a concept for turning one of JPL’s (at the time) not in use cafeterias into a soundstage and hired an external TV production vendor. The successful pivot to a fully virtual site meeting ended with one of JPL’s two proposal teams, VERITAS, being selected for flight by NASA. I served as the producer for that team’s site visit experience.
Galileo 400 Years on the Hill
A fun event from farther back: In 2010, our team pulled off a successful science day on the Hill in Washington, DC, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s world-changing discoveries – Jupiter’s moons in particular. Though quite a logistical challenge to develop an exhibit we would set up literally in the halls of Congress, it was an innovative way to raise awareness with legislators and staffers about NASA’s efforts to plan future missions to the outer planets, including the moons of Saturn and Jupiter.
Speaking Experience
Mainstage Talks – STORY conference
It was my privilege to address attendees to the world’s premiere conference for storytellers from all fields, as the opening speaker in 2020 and 2023. The STORY conference is an experience like no other, and has built a wonderful community of talented folks who give generously to each other.
My 2020 talk was recorded as a video. It was intended to help provide some hope in the midst of the dark times we all were then experiencing. And in 2023, I spoke about NASA’s mandate to tell its story of exploration, along with my own STORY epiphany that our true responsibility is to remind people who the really are.
My talk from STORY 2020. (Video copyright Istoria Collective. Used with permission.)
My talk from STORY 2023. Image credit: Istoria Collective.
Producing & Hosting Public Talk Series
For several years I served as a host and producer of the lab’s long-running monthly public talks, the von Karman Series. I planned topics for the shows, recruited speakers, and worked with them to develop their presentations. I also emceed the live events at JPL and Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium.
When the pandemic hit, I led the pivot to virtual talks, which had an unexpected benefit: it dramatically expanded the audience for this talk series. The shows now routinely have thousands of viewers and pull in a global audience to learn about the latest science and technology research at JPL.
Live news briefings
I produced and/or hosted several live media briefings during my time in the JPL News & Media Office, including events for the end of the Cassini mission, exciting news about Jupiter’s ocean moon Europa, and the discovery of hydrothermal activity in Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
Hosting Internal Events
I’ve been asked to host live events at the laboratory many times, helping to develop themes, content, and run of show, and coordinating with speakers on their presentations and messaging.
Live interview programming
In addition to the von Karman Series, I also have experience with producing and hosting live Q&A shows on social media platforms. These require a lighter level of effort to produce, and a smaller crew, while creating connection and a sense of intimacy with the SMEs.
Recorded interviews
I enjoyed speaking with my friend and storytelling mentor, Harris III, on his inspirational “Wow-Level Life” podcast. I’m glad to consider invites to appear as a guest on podcasts or other programs to discuss communication, storytelling, science, and yes, even aliens.