Hello, I'm Colin 👋🏼
I'm a creator and entrepreneur who produces experiences that build connection and improve relationships between communities.
I've done a lot of different things over the years from speaking and hosting, writing and producing, and developing and growing digital products.
I'm a proud father of two young kids, and my family lives in Northern CA among the redwoods where the river meets the sea.
Deepening Relations
During this period of converging crises, my work has explored relationships between communities and species over generations and lifetimes.
The River Remembers
Bringing history to life with community
A community event series with the Russian River Historical Society that brings images and videos from the archive to the big screen along with live stories from lifelong residents. The events have uncovered new stories, documented oral histories, and highlighted local musicians along the river down to the coast. Learn more >>
Powers of Time
Exploring the relative speed of existence
A creative project exploring how different animals and other beings experience time. The vision for this project is to produce immersive experiences that enable people to expand empathy and appreciate the relative speeds of life. Learn more >>
Flag Relations
Iterations of the American flag
In the context of my complicated relationship with the American Flag, these iterations of the flag attempt to strike a balance between being respectful to the flag and history, while also being hopeful and inclusive for current and future generations who will lead the country forward. Learn more >>
Internet Dreams
Coming of age in the early 2000s, I was an early believer in participatory media, and helped pioneer creative commons and crowdfunding as ways to give people more power over what gets promoted in culture.
Making Change Louder
Crowdfunded Reach for Artists and Activists
First launched in 2010 with crowdfunded billboards and TV ads, we had an audacious vision to build a world in which regular citizens have the power to choose which voices and stories get promoted. Our innovations and learnings in crowd promotion resulted in Louder being acquired in 2015 by Change.org. Learn more >>
Premixing the Commons
Exploring tensions in intellectual property
An early pioneer of Creative Commons highlighted by its founder Larry Lessig, my words and music have been used by 100s of digital artists, resulting in two collaboratively produced “Premixed” albums and a 10 city “Free Culture” tour to major conferences and universities throughout the US, with stops in Mexico, France, and Singapore. Learn more >>
Participatory Pop Culture
Live show in London with social integration
In the early days of Twitter, I led a project at R/GA London between Rihanna and my client at Nokia. A first of its kind - the event was a multi-channel experience that included online fan tweets that were screened and broadcast live on screens at the show, which was also livestreamed on the Nokia site. Case study video >>
Personal Expression
My songs and poetry have served as ways of digesting my experience and trying to listen for the wisdom in these complicated times.
The Benefits / Good Works Slow
An album written over two decades
An album of songs written over two decades that I recorded at Tiny Telephone after the birth of my first child in 2015. Listen on Spotify >>
Language of My Reality
We are a generation raised on media
Spoken word piece from 2005 that has been used in over 30 remixes. "I am speaking the language of my reality, images expressed, the distinctions between, the experience of moments of illegality, and the slanted views of what they mean." See the piece >>
Who Gets to Live in Peace?
Poetry + Photography in Durham, NC
In 1999, I drove around with a unit of the Durham police department as part of a class with the Center for Documentary Studies. This video includes my photographs along with words reflecting my experience with these communities at the edge of the law. Learn more >>
Idioteque 9/11
Video mashup from Brooklyn 2001
Mashup video made for a drag king performance in Nov 2001 that uses photography, archival and news footage, and ads to show a powerful interpretation of global events before and since 9/11. Watch the video >>
The Archive
Some of my additional projects, talks, songs, and videos from the past.
TEDx talk that explores stories of regular people coming together to crowdfund mass awareness campaigns to accelerate impact and awareness in their countries.
A website and "movement" from 2005 that is about moving your hips when you dance, especially for all of us white folks.
Social Good Tech Week talk exploring the high hopes and unfortunate truths about how social media and our relationship to advertising has evolved.
A presentation after two weeks in India with INSEAD business school a spoken word piece about my learnings that has been remixed into a song.
A TEDx talk and performance from 2010 the explores the creative possibilities and challenges in a world of shared content.
Affiliations
Many teachers, mentors, and communities and have helped educate me over the years. Below are some of them.
Institute for the Future
Social Good Fellow
THNK
Creative Leadership Program
Reforge
Product leadership courses
INSEAD
MBA inGlobal Business
Duke
BA in Public Policy StudiesLet's Collaborate
Say hello, I'd love to learn more about what you're working on.
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