This weekend I crossed something off my bucket list- a visit to Eastside Studios and meeting a geek God, Leo Laporte. of “The Screen Savers” and “The Tech Guy” shows.

I have been listening to Leo forever, and cannot honestly remember a time when I wasn’t tuning into KFI on the weekends or firing up the TWIT app and tuning in for episodes of “The Tech Guy.” Being a lover of tech and all things geeky, “The Tech Guy” show has been my go to place to tech news and reviews, help when things go wonky (techguylabs.com is one of the best resources for tech help/news/reviews on the internet). He and his show are my dose of tech geekiness that completes my weekend, and when I can’t listen I feel out of the loop on tech news.

I have wanted to visit the studio and see where the magic happens for years, especially after being able to see him live on the app, which supplies a video feed as well as audio of the show. Work circumstances placed me in Northern California last weekend, and I emailed the show to see if I could get tickets to the show, and lo and behold, I was told there was space.

The experience was awesome. From the pleasant studio staff to Leo himself, they all hit it out of the park!  Leo has a down-to-earth style and is easy to talk to. He was interested in the things I am doing, and I loved geeking out with him about our shared love of everything tech. I was also amazed (and crazy envious) by the amount of tech loaded into his office studio, from the 12 monitors surrounding the room to the 6 or 7 devices he was interacting with during the show (Note 8, Galaxy Tablet, iPad, surface book/pro, Linux computer, MacBook). I get flustered talking and working a computer at the same time for my screencasts, and here he is switching camera angles, working his mixer, bringing up callers, researching questions online. He was a multi-tasking wizard. And on top of all that, I was impressed by his genuine interest in helping each and every caller, staying on with almost all of them through commercials and taking the time to make sure they were helped or pointed in the right direction.

He made me feel like a friend coming to visit, and I loved watching the magic happen during the show both on and off the air. We talked about everything: his new Barbeque grill (ceramic, nice!), and AI tech and watching him pose for his Amazon Echo Look, and even my podcast, and instantly relating shared experiences of being prepared on the go and always having the right dongle for the job. We could have spent all day talking about the awesome history of tech he has hidden behind his desk (old iPods, palm pilots, phones and cameras from tech past). It was an experience I will not soon forget.

Thank you, Leo, for being the example and the standard by which I measure my success in my role of helping with tech. I strive to be as relatable, patient, helpful, and geeky as you. If our little show can help even the tiniest percentage of people you do, I will consider it time well spent!