Work Experience
These are the places I’ve worked, the things that I did when I worked there, and the schools I attended.
Chief Creative Officer,
Mindset Digital
I’ve been working with Mindset Digital, a feisty agency based in Columbus, Ohio, for the past six years, designing award-winning learning experiences for a wide range of corporate clients.
In each project I work closely with clients to understand their needs and messaging, then assemble teams of top-notch creative talent to deliver on-time and on-budget.
While the needs of every project have varied, we regularly design custom-branded solutions that include video production, animation, 3D modeling, interactive multimedia and game design theory.
We have always pushed the limits of what people expect. Our clients hire us to take big swings. My job is to ensure that we make solid contact when we do.
Check out my Learning page for examples.
Blue Monkey Communications
I started Blue Monkey in 2008 and it has served as a home for the wide range of freelance production projects, film/television writing and directing, podcast production and more.
In 2010, I took on writing, editing and directing duties for Kinect NatGeo TV, an award-winning educational video game developed with National Geographic and Microsoft; I also worked with Clutch Interactive to design narratives and cartoon scripts for a literacy project for McGraw Hill, and launched Blue Monkey Books, an interactive book publishing application aimed at K-5 readers.
Check out my TV/Film and Gaming pages for examples of my work.
Corporate Communications
At several points in my career, I’ve built and managed corporate communications teams, and have been involved in corporate communications at all levels…from the drafting of initial business plans through annual reports, investor relations, ongoing PR and marketing communications.
At telemedicine startup HealthSpot, I provided creative direction for and oversaw the production of all public-facing media pertaining to this telemedicine innovator, including print and electronic sales material, website and Social Media channels and all video and interactive projects.
I managed writers, graphic artists, videographers and editors, as well as owned agency relationships. As needed, I worked on internal vision documents and publications that articulated the specific features and experiences that the development teams executed on.
At Exceptional Innovation, I built, then directed, the work of a 9-person communications team to create and manage all corporate communications, including all media and public relations, technical and training documentation, print and electronic publications. I also scripted immersive theater experiences for the NextGen Home at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
I’ve also worked in my career as a straight-up technical writer (Epicor) and a quality assurance manager (Pixel Magic Imaging). I mention these not because I want to do these jobs again (I don’t), but because both gave me a firm foundational understanding of software systems that I’ve found has always benefited my writing about technology, and my work managing communications for tech firms.
All of my jobs and the projects I worked on are available for review on LinkedIn.
Education
Ohio University
Bachelor of Arts, English - Creative Writing, 1993
I’m a Bobcat through and through.
As an undergrad, I always volunteered at the Spring Literary Festival, and played intramural softball and flag football every year. I was a fullback on the club rugby team for two seasons.
Kansas State University
Master of Arts, English - Creative Writing, 1995
William Hickock Writing Fellowship
Taught multiple sections of Freshman composition and Principles of Rhetoric
Editor, Touchstone national literary journal
Columbus College of Art and Design
Documentary Video Track, 2012-13
I went back to school in my early 40s to brush up on my production and post-production skills. My classmates referred to me as “that one old guy in the class.” Good times. Good times.