On inviting me to give a talk at your event

Every year, I face the same problem. Come February, and I get flooded with invitations to speak at some event or the other. And I have to turn them down, because they are all in my “unavailable” period of mid to end-February (for various personal reasons, including my birthday, my wedding anniversary, etc.).

As I write this, I am staring at EIGHT different invitations to events where I would love to speak, but cannot, for two reasons:

  1. They all fall between mid to end-February.
  2. The organisers left it till the last moment to invite me.

If you would like me to come and speak at your event, please do keep in mind that I cannot drop everything at a drop of a hat and go rushing across the country to attend your event. I’d love to be there, but I will need at least 2 months advance notice. And I never take talk assignments between mid to end-February – my family comes first.

I do understand that colleges sometimes don’t have the flexibility to set dates, but if you can set your event for the 20th of Feb, then you can also set it for a week before or after that (if you want me to come and speak). If you do so, I can come and speak at your event (provided you let me know well in advance).

Thanks for understanding.

For more information about inviting me to speak at your event, please read this article.