For 15 years, I’ve been an evangelist & serial entrepreneur in the world of Social Media & community building. As a self-proclaimed ”Instigator,” I began my world on the “interwebs” in 1993 with an AOL account. Soon after, my brother & I established a following in our hometown, having opened the very first Internet cafe in Central Wisconsin – RockWater. Our weekly online newsletters grew to over 10,000 subscribers – but this was still the dawn of Internet media.
In 2002, I started my first blog while unemployed due to a layoff (first of three). Later, friends & family members wanted their own blogs, so this is how I honed my design skills. Soon I was traveling in & around California contracting and working for my own web consulting firm, Superstarch. Eventually my wife & I settled back in Wausau, Wisconsin where I founded a coworking space called CitizenDesk.
From there, efforts went to creating a citizen-powered journal aptly named, CitizenWausau. On February 15th, 2008 I left the journal and became involved with a Social Media tool called UserVoice - this online feedback forum services companies wishing to collaborate with their most valuable resource, their customers. The product launched April 17th.
In addition to my professional work, I’m also an advocate & supporter of several non-profit communities including: Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Web414, Coworking and Barcamps.
