Marc Saltzman

Topics

Presentations

Hot tech trends & the future of technology

Marc discusses the latest gadgets, social media, video games, the Internet, etc. Gadgets can include products and services related to televisions, home theatres, computers and accessories, digital photography, smartphones, GPS, mobile media players, e-book readers, and so on.

Getting the dream job - living the life you love

By sharing his own unique story, Marc enjoys speaking to the youth of today about finding their passions, how to succeed in business right out of school and how doing something you truly love to do is the way to prosper. His encouraging story is a true testiment of these insights in his current position as a freelance journalist, author and broadcast specialist. Quite familiar with the multi-billion dollar interactive entertainment industry, Marc is also well-versed on developing game patents, protecting your invention, and working as a developer. 

Internet safety tips for kids and parents

Whether the audience is made up of kids or parents, Marc can speak about how to best protect kids in cyberspace. Parents can often feel helpless because the kids know more than mom and dad in some situations. For kids, Saltzman addresses items like "Texting Do's and Dont's" and "10 Tips to Safe Facebooking."  For parents, he advises child-proofing Internet tips and tricks (in plain English).

Getting the dream job

As someone who reviews video games and gadgets for a living, and makes a great living at it,  Marc enjoys talking to kids (or kids at heart) about following your passion and doing something you love as an occupation.

White collar slacking

Marc provides a fun, tongue-in-cheek look at all the ways you can make it look like you're working when and where you're not. It's my response to the 24/7 work culture of today, caused in part by email, BlackBerry, etc.

Summary Profile

Marc Saltzman has reported on the high-tech industry since 1996 as a freelance journalist, author, lecturer, consultant, and radio and TV personality. His specialties lie in consumer electronics, computers, Internet trends and interactive entertainment.

Along with his weekly syndicated columns with Gannett ContentOne (formerly Gannett News Service), CNN.com and USAToday.com, Marc currently contributes to more than 50 prominent publications, including USA Today, CNN.com, AARP - The Magazine, The Costco Connection (U.S. and Canada), MSN, Yahoo!, Sympatico, Toronto Star, PostMedia (CanWest), Connected (Rogers Publishing), Telus Talks Business, IT Insider Online, Common Sense Media, Inc.com, Playboy, Movie Entertainment, Chill, Homefront, and others. 

Gannett ContentOne is the USA's largest newspaper group, with 84 daily newspapers including USA Today, 130 websites (reaching nearly 24 million unique visitors a month) and nearly 850 non-daily publications.

Saltzman writes a daily blog, Sync (sync-blog.com), which has won the award for Best Canadian Sci-Tech Blog in 2008 and 2010 (cdnba.wordpress.com). He contributes three times each week to the popular USA Today blog, Game Hunters (gamehunters.usatoday.com), awarded Best Consumer Technology Blog at the 2010 EPpys, and USAToday.com's Technology Live! Blog three times a week.

Marc Saltzman was one of the first journalists in the world to break open the MP3 phenomenon in late 1997 on CNN.com. He correctly predicted this controversial audio file format would revolutionize the recording industry.

His 14 books with Pearson Education and McGraw-Hill/Osborne are: Internet Games Directory (1996), Gamer's Web Directory: Sites, Cheats and Secrets (1997), Quake II Strategy Master (1998), Game Design: Secrets of the Sages (1999), Game Design: Secrets of the Sages, Second Edition (2000), Game Design: Secrets of the Sages, Third Edition (2001), Marc Saltzman's 250 Best Palm Games (2001, on CD), Marc Saltzman's Top 300 Games for the PocketPC (2002, on CD), Game Design: Secrets of the Sages, Fourth Edition (2002), DVD Confidential: Hundreds of Hidden Easter Eggs Revealed (2002), Game Creation and Careers: Insider Secrets from Industry Experts (2003), DVD Confidential 2: The Sequel (2003), The X-Play Insider's Guide to Gaming (2004) and the White Collar Slacker's Handbook: Tech Tricks to Fool Your Boss (2005).

Saltzman has also written video game manuals for Quake II and Sin, writing fiction for the games, as well as contributing names for many of the weapons and creatures. He also writes and hosts Gear Guide, a technology-focused video that runs nationally across Canada at Cineplex Entertainment movie theaters (and IMAX theatres), five minutes before the film trailers start. This 2-minute clip airs daily on 1,650 theater screens, 6 times a day per screen, resulting in approximately 60 million impressions per year.

Saltzman also writes for Cineplex's digital signage arm, creating five unique scripts per week that displays on screens in office towers, shopping malls and other public locations.

In May of 2001, Marc became a frequent technology expert at CNN, the Cable News Network, and currently hosts a weekly technology segment called Tech Time on Sunday afternoons.

Saltzman also hosts Tech Talk with Marc Saltzman, a weekly technology segment on CTV News Channel in Canada. The 5-minute interview runs 10 times nationally each week, plus Marc is the network's "go-to guy" for all other technology-related stories. Marc is also a frequent guest on Canada AM, a national Canadian morning show.

Saltzman has also made appearances on NBC's Today Show, CBS Early Show, Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight and QVC's Saturday Q.

In June 2006, Saltzman was invited to join celebrities such as Donald Trump, Al Gore and Stephen Hawking to answer a question for the "Ask The Planet" promotion sponsored by Yahoo! Answers. Marc was tapped as a leading consumer technology expert.

Saltzman also writes and hosts two radio shows. Tech Talk with Marc Saltzman, airs on Canada's most listened-to talk station, NewsTalk 1010 (an Astral Media company), at 7am on Saturdays and Sundays. The second Tech Talk radio program is a nationally syndicated radio vignette (60-second interstitial) that airs daily Monday to Friday, on 30 AM and FM radio stations across Canada, the U.S., the U.S. Armed Forces Network and on XM Satellite Radio's NHL Centre Ice channel (roughly 2.5 million listeners daily). He is also a frequent guest on CNN Radio and Martha Stewart Radio.

Saltzman is one of the Game Critics Awards judges for the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), and is also a judge for the annual Spike TV Video Game Awards and the annual Codie Awards to recognize innovative software and online services.

Client Testimonials:

"Marc Saltzman is Canada's top consumer technology journalist, and within the top three on the continent in my opinion. Marc has participated in my workshops, at both the graduate student level as well as at high-end public relations industry conference. In all circumstances, he has proved knowledgeable, engaging, interesting, and handles difficult Q&A's with aplomb."

  Mark LaVigne, APR

"Marc Saltzman was the highlight of our conference this year. He prepared a presentation that catered to our specific audience. He is well spoken and had our attendees riveted in their seats. I look forward to booking Marc for future presentations."

Founder & Co-Chair of the Landscape Designer Conference

 "Marc's ability to speak about complex technology (and technological issues) in plain and engaging terms made his recent visit to our school a valuable and informative one for 10-year old students and 50-year old teachers, alike. His discussion of "Safe Facebooking" and his demonstration of new technologies were equally well received by everyone at the school. He was mobbed by the next generation of technology journalists at the end of his talk."

Principal, Leo Baeck Day School