Friend a Day – Rob Callahan

CONvergence week continues!

Rob and I run in many of the same circles and yet it seems that we typically only connect at CONvergence.  Consequences of busy lives.

Rob is one of those people who is always relaxed and comfortable.  At least he looks that way.  Striking up a conversation with him is easy because he’ll happily talk about almost anything. He is open and honest and if you want his opinion, you will always get it.

As a storyteller, he has the same relaxed personality.  There is a lived in quality to the way he presents himself.  He looks comfortable and confident with the material but never cocky.  He doesn’t oversell his work but instead he inhabits it.

His blogging is very socially conscious but I don’t feel he comes across as preachy.  It feels kind of like a dinner conversation where he is laying out his thoughts and you are nodding because you can’t think of anything to say that runs counter to his point of view.

His wit is dry, clever, and delightfully sarcastic.  His jokes don’t feel forced.  They feel natural.

In a lot of his writing, he has been a strong advocate for the geek community.  A lot of articles in the press will tend to focus on the “look at the freaks” nature of science fiction conventions.

Rob works to counter that with writing that says “look at these people with different hobbies and interests, wouldn’t you like to grab a coffee with one of them?”

He is a geek himself, sure.  But he recognizes that every community has their quirks and he’d rather celebrate and elevate the quirks of his community.

The convention is nearly upon us and, once again, I will likely find no more than fifteen minutes to chat with Rob.

That’s a shame.  If it is only fifteen minutes, though, I’m still looking forward to them.

I almost forgot!  You should read his blog!