Speaker

LJ Rich

Presenter, writer, producer, musician and self-confessed geek LJ (Laura-Jane) is best known for her role covering social media trends and gadgets on BBC News’ Click programme, Radio 5 Live and the Today programme.

Starting out as a musician (she started playing piano at the age of three and has perfect pitch) LJ quickly developed a taste for music technology. After a degree in music she worked as a touring musician and as a sound engineer for Pete Waterman before moving into TV.

With Click, LJ naturally covers developments in music and audio technology whilst also covering the latest internet memes and what made them into a social media phenomena. She was one of the top sellers on the QVC shopping channel covering gadgets and consumer electronics where she gained an insight into the retail and manufacturing side of technology. LJ was chosen as one of NASA’s Datanauts, collaborating with other experts to solve problems using the federal agency’s data. She’s also interviewed the likes of Google’s Eric Schmidt, Eben Upton of Raspberry Pi, and Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter.

Unsurprisingly LJ is also a regular blogger on the world of technology with her own blog covering new and upcoming gadgets, trends, the internet, music, commerce and all things in between. She has gained many followers with her YouTube video of her fixing her own iPad, and has built musical instruments and a device aimed at emulating her own synaesthesia. She’s also created installations for the SouthBySouthWest Festival, Bestival and Nocturnal Wonderland

LJ speaks about the latest consumer and technology trends, how social media works and affects the world, and the nature of viral content and what makes it successful. Along with her work in front of the camera, LJ also runs her own music production company and occasionally writes restaurant reviews.