We at The Starr Conspiracy happen to love Thomas Middleditch. And not just because he’s the keynote speaker at InfluenceHR this year. That’s an added bonus. There are many reasons to love one of film and television’s funniest actors. Here are three.
- “Silicon Valley” is our spirit animal.
Put aside the fact that the hit HBO show was created by one of the greatest humans to ever write about workplace culture. (Office Space, anyone?) Put aside the fact that one of the writers is also a keynote speaker at InfluenceHR this year. “Silicon Valley” is a love letter to people who work in the tech industry. Or, at the very least, it’s a letter that humorously acknowledges some of the small idiosyncrasies that make up our day-to-day life (a Mike Judge forte).
And at the center of “Silicon Valley” is Pied Piper CEO Richard Hendricks — aka Thomas Middleditch. Middleditch’s take on a developer-wiz-turned-entrepreneur-turned-CEO-turned-CTO-turned-back-to-CEO-again pulls no punches and spares no humor. He balances unbearable awkwardness with bursts of charisma. And he’s a big part of why “Silicon Valley” works.
- He starred in a film written entirely by AI.
And in doing so proved a very important point: We still need human writers. (Right, guys?) Or, to cover a larger point, Middleditch helped prove that technology is powerful, but it is only as good as the information it collects and the people who build it.
Sunspring is a nine-minute short from filmmaker Oscar Sharp that was written entirely by an LSTM RNN artificial intelligence named Benjamin. The whole thing was filmed in only 48 hours. How did Middleditch get involved? We’re not exactly sure, but it’s stuff like this that makes us love him all the more.
- He’s speaking at InfluenceHR.
OK, you got us. InfluenceHR is going to be crazy this year, and Thomas Middleditch is going to be a big part of its success. Along with other keynote speakers like Disrupted author Dan Lyons and Inspirus and Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services, USA CEO Mia Mends, Middleditch is going to bring a fresh and unique perspective on the tech world, and we can’t wait to hear what he has to say.
InfluenceHR 2016 will be a day and a half long, giving you more time for each session, more time for networking, and more high-value content and insights. We’ll start the day before the HR Technology® Conference & Exposition at McCormick Place in Chicago. Hope to see you there!
Visit InfluenceHR.com today and get your tickets before they sell out.
Note: We deeply regret that some people are unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict with religious holidays. We plan to capture all the content and make it available for free as quickly as possible following the event.
