What Is the Future of Work?! Live Panel Show in NYC on Feb 13th!
“In this live show, comedy and tech come together at last. Each month, the tech ethicist David Ryan Polgar and the comedian Joe Leonardo invite a wide range of guests to pick apart and laugh about such matters as algorithms and artificial intelligence.” -The New York Times
The future is either bright or non-existent, depending on who you ask. Our visions of future work (Georgia Jetson had a four-hour workweek that consisted of pushing a button) have typically included images of comfort, hyper-efficiency, and more leisure time. So what is the future of work? Funny as Tech, a live panel show and studio podcast that tackles the thorniest issues in technology, has assembled a diverse panel of experts to have a freewheeling conversation on the future of work for their live show on Tues, February 13th from 7 to 8 pm at the Peoples Improv Theater (123 E. 24th Street). Reservations for this nerdy night out of laughter and learning can be made at bit.ly/FunnyAsTechFeb13
The panel for What Is the Future of Work?!: Charlie Oliver (CEO & Founder of Tech 2025), Galina Ozgur (General Manager of Grand Central Tech), and Lisa Cervenka (Employer Brand Evangelist at The Muse)
What Is Funny as Tech?
Funny as Tech is a NYC-based monthly live panel show and weekly podcast that tackles the thorniest issues in tech! Co-hosts David Ryan Polgar (tech ethicist) and Joe Leonardo(comedian) invite a diverse range of experts to unpack our absurd present and uncertain future. The aim is to have a freewheeling conversation that is informative, accessible, and entertaining. Topics have included diversity in tech, trolls, tech addiction, and the future of conversation (chatbots, etc). Previous guests have included CNN’s Laurie Segall, comedian Chuck Nice, media theorist Douglas Rushkoff, WNYC’s Manoush Zomorodi, x.ai’s Dennis Mortensen, design researcher Pamela Pavliscak, and futurist comedian Baratunde Thurston. Live shows are held monthly at the Peoples Improv Theater in Manhattan, while weekly podcasts are recorded at Grand Central Tech.
The Panel for What Is the Future of Work?! Feb 13th
Charlie Oliver
Charlie’s years of experience in the trenches of old media include working in advertising in New York at such media goliaths as BBDO Worldwide and Condé Nast, to producing sitcoms and dramas at Sony Pictures Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers, Dreamworks and Oscar-award winning indie production companies, to event management at the Sundance Film Festival.
After spending several years in corporate law in document review at global firms (White & Case, Clifford Chance and Wachtel Lipton, to name a few), Charlie segued seamlessly into tech and new media as a web video producer where she co-created and co-produced experimental video projects such as an 8-hour live webathon for the 2008 presidential election and numerous web video series. Soon thereafter, Charlie launched ArtofTalk.tv (a site that brought the vast world of tv, web and radio talk shows online to Users in bite-size video snippets of debates and interviews in social media).
Served Fresh Media™ (a New York-based company that provides digital media strategy, product development, and branding across platforms including social media, mobile, and live-events) was a natural next step in her creative and media evolution. At Served Fresh Media, Charlie and her team provide digital strategy, senior management advisory, team building and training, strategic partnerships, and product development for startups and brands. Clients Served Fresh Media has worked with include IBM, New York Press Club, Digital Media Wire, Digital Flash, and It’s About Time, among others.
In the Fall of 2016, Charlie launched Tech2025 to educate entrepreneurs and consumers on the next wave of disruptive, emerging technologies that are expected to drastically change our world in the next decade (AI, machine learning, driverless vehicles, IoT, blockchain, VR, etc.), through live-events and interactive workshops with industry experts. The mission of Tech2025 is to help entrepreneurs and the general public to understand and embrace emerging technologies.
Galina Ozgur
Galina Ozgur is General Manager of Grand Central Tech (GCT)— a tech startup campus and accelerator program focused on high-caliber founding teams and companies poised for scale. She is responsible for building GCT’s acceleration programming, supporting the portfolio and managing Grand Central Tech’s network of mentors and experts. Prior to joining GCT, she was the first hire at Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator in New York City where she successfully ran 7 consecutive cohorts and Demo Days and managed platform and community.
Outside of GCT, Galina heads up the Board of New Women New Yorkers — a non-profit helping new immigrant women to reintegrate into the workforce — and mentors fellows at Venture for America. Galina is a native of Minsk, Belarus, where she studied Linguistics and graduated with a degree in the English Language and Communications. She speaks 6 languages and is an avid traveler.
Lisa Cervenka
Lisa is co-founder of Brand Amper, a brand building tool acquired by The Muse. A Brand Nerd for 20 years, she migrated from traditional marketing to the most dynamic brand of all: the employer brand. Dedicated to bold transparency, she does not believe in the notion of employees being “on-brand” and has read thousands of employee stories created with Brand Amper that prove the benefit of giving employees an authentic voice.
She now sits in product at The Muse and is the Employer Brand Evangelist. Lisa has Master’s in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern but believes entrepreneurism trumps all previous education. You can find her on Twitter @BrandNRD.
Additional information can be found at FunnyAsTech.com or bit.ly/FunnyAsTechFeb13
PRESS CONTACT: info@FunnyAsTech.com
“This new New York-based podcast is a mixture of deep thoughts and belly laughs as writer and technology ethicist David Ryan Polgar shoots the breeze with comedian Joe Leonardo who is a performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (comedy nerds will be impressed).”-The Irish Times
PREVIOUS LIVE SHOW
STUDIO PODCAST INTERVIEW
YOUR HOSTS FOR FUNNY AS TECH
Some people are the future of comedy. These guys are the futurist comedy.
David Ryan Polgar is a frequent speaker (3-time TEDx, The School of the New York Times, TNW New York ), tech commentator (SiriusXM, CNN.com, Inc.com, HuffPost), and a tech journalist for Big Think, Quartz, Dell Perspectives, and IBM thinkLeaders. He is currently focused on whether we are becoming “botified” online, along with the ethical concerns facing emerging tech. Some of his recent writing around AI, VR, automation, and more can be found here.
Polgar co-founded the global Digital Citizenship Summit and currently works with the virtual world startup Friendbase. As a Tech Ethicist, he explores our evolving relationship with tech from an ethical, legal, and emotional perspective. He is a frequent speaker and media commentator regarding tech balance, digital citizenship, and tech ethics.
Joe Leonardo is a comedian, improviser and writer who has been featured on ESPN, Travel Channel, NPR, Anderson Cooper LIVE, Cafe, and Prank Academy to name a few. He is currently a house team performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York and co-host of their Wednesday Night Improv Jam. Joe is also the creator/host of The Flying Blind Sketch Show, which plays bi-monthly at The People’s Improv Theater and is one of the founders of Sea Tea Improv.
Press Contact: Info@FunnyAsTech.com
“Above all, both men want their show to be funny. And given the slew of scandals, failures and ‘solutionification’ in Silicon Valley and further afield in tech, they aren’t short of material.”-Red Herring
“Those who like their comedy on the nerdy side will find just that in the blend of tech and jokes that this show and podcast provides.”-The New York Times
‘“Funny As Tech” tries to help us make sense (and a little fun) of technology”-FOX61
