Sunday, November 9, 2003

Speaking Engagements



This is to respond to a number of emails I've received:



Yes, I do speaking gigs. In fact, I love 'em! Anything to get out of the house, you know? I can talk about cartooning, Afghanistan, Iraq, the crimes of the Bush Administration, you name it. My typical gig involves showing my cartoons on a projection screen, following that up with a talk, and then doing a back-and-forth Q&A session with the audience.



If you're interested in having me speak somewhere, please bear in mind the following:



I won't do the assignment unless it's properly promoted. That means ads in the local alternative weekly and daily newspaper, as well as listings (they're not the same thing). This is for your own good; leaving flyers at the local bookstore won't get you the crowd you're hoping for either.



I charge a flat honorarium for all appearances outside of the New York metro area (an hour or less drive from Manhattan). If you're a low-budget peace group in Portland, you may work with a local college or university, or the alt weekly, to go in on funding the honorarium. This seems to work out pretty well.



I also ask for round-trip first-class airfare to gigs away from NYC. While it's true that I'm used to roughing it in the fiendish skies--Air Tajikistan's first class is like cargo here in the States--I don't HAVE to to do speaking gigs and won't put my 6'2" frame through any more abuse than necessary.



One way to save costs is to piggyback my appearance on one I'm already making. If you see here that I'm already coming to your town and want me to chat to your group, let me know and perhaps we can work out something for less than my usual expenses.



In the last year I've spoken at Truman State University in Kirksville MO, Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Lima High School in Lima OH and I'm getting ready for an appearance at the Yale Political Union in New Haven CT.

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