I am a cog. This is my blog.

I like to build things. All kinds.

It started as a little kid, with the typical stuff; blocks, Legos, Lincoln Logs, mud. As I found I had a knack, I started to build houses and dragons and spy kits and maps and even a whole carnival which I used as a backdrop for a stop-motion piece I was filming. I was 11 and I made these things out of the simple materials around me. Construction paper and toothpicks and glue. I made them out of paper shopping bags, cardboard and other “found” objects. I learned key skills here. Enough to get me on over to art school where I honed those skills to a point. It was here that I first discovered how to combine my talents in the material world with those I was about to develop in the digital. The computer and it’s toolbox of software opened up wide avenues of learning and expression for me.

So I moved into the digital world. My first employ was in an architectural design studio where I used my knowledge and skills to bring to life 2D and 3D renderings of spaces for clients like MTV, JPMorgan and Tiffany. I used Photoshop, 3D Studio MAX, AutoCAD. I created mood boards both physical and digital. I became quite the large scale format printing expert. I was key in moving all of the creative reviews from a “print and ship” model to a “post and view” model via the company’s brand new intranet which I helped build. I attended client meetings and presented my work for the first time. I was learning key skills here but I was also developing a passion for the digital space and it started to consume me. I was online constantly. It was the first time I really started to really dabble in web design/development. I was a huge online gamer and I loved the interaction that allowed. I wanted to build digital things and found out I could. I learned here that I was creative AND technical. I had these skills all my life but it was only then that I recognized it.

I started a side company with a friend called CJWebmaster (remember web-masters?) and we built our first site. It was for a company called Tie Dyed Turtle. We used Front Page. It was February 1998. It was here that I learned how to program and to develop and to produce. It was here that I learned a little about writing and manipulating code. It was here that I learned to sell myself and my services and where I also learned how to bring the goods. It was here that I started to realize that I wanted to have a career in the world of interaction. I wanted to play purely in the digital.

My skills got me a job at a large advertising agency where I started to learn a lot about things like marketing, strategy, ROI, analysis, media, planning, insights, PR. It was where I created my first campaign. It was where I realized that I was a part of the advertising world. It’s where I first got the title Art Director. It’s where I learned many key skills. I moved around this new agency world with it’s many changes and complexities for 10 years. I now find myself at a smaller, more agile shop and my title is that of Creative Director, Interaction. It sounds great as a far as titles go but I don’t feel like it’s descriptive enough of what I do or where I’ve been. A lot of people like to call folks like me Creative Technologists (not a new term, I know) and that feels about right, but I’d like to hear what you think.

Here’s what we know: I can design, whether it’s in Photoshop or with a pencil. I can write. I’m very good at the conceptual level. I am fluent in HTML, CSS and XML. I can dabble in JavaScript and PhP. I can build, host and manage a website on my own. I’m a marketer. I can key out a green-screen. I’m excellent with a hot-glue gun. I’m engaged in the social space. I like to take things apart and am good at putting them back together. I like to make art. I can inspire. I can lead.

What am I? Other then just the cog who writes this blog. Let me know.