Public Good

"The medium shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action." Marshall McCluhan

My nonprofit and for profit work life has been driven by a belief in a medium's capacity to effect human association and action. When I was 13 I photocopied hand set copy for gag (marijuana is legalized) windshield flyers. (I was early.)

Printer, radio journalist, writer, computer jockey, Internet of Things (IoT) and AI director are all media-based work, through which I share insight and imaginative content to effect social and economic change.

Youth Video Storytelling

Youth on Martha's Vineyard produced a set of videos produced with the guidance of Vineyard Voice, a nonprofit media organization I founded.

Here are a few of their stories.

Local food — Farm to market

Putting a camera in the hands of Island kids is an "Oh, cool" moment. Creating stories and producing them takes a little support. In this video, Oscar Thompson, and Island kid, video producer and chicken/egg farmer, and his mom Liz, give us an entré to life from farm to market on Martha's Vineyard.

Wind Energy and Local Production

This video was produced by young people on Martha's Vineyard at a time when the idea of local wind energy production was first taking root. Today local wind energy is becoming a reality. The kids were on to something.

The Giving Tree

See if you agree: intro is unnecessary. But, it'll help. This short, a spin on "The Giving Tree," was completly shot, directed, produced and published by two Island young people.

HereLab

Youth Engineering Camp

HereLab began as an attempt to create an island-wide sensor network for social and economic wellbeing. While laudable, the job was too big for a small nonprofit.

Instead we taught young people in Island schools.

HereLab became a STEM-focused public service. We enabled Island youth to learn coding, electronics, radios and internet-ready data through hands on projects.

HereLab's focus on The Internet of Things, or IoT, proved there is a relationship between innovative tech and youth education and local sustainability.

We helped West Tisbury, MVRHS and seasonal young people learn to apply STEM skills to environmental sensing. Youth engineers monitored pipes in the West Tisbury School. High Schoolers created prototype motion, temperature and humidity sensors. And, summer Youth Campers created air temperature and humidity devices and soil moisture sensors to help Island Grown understand more about their greenhouse environment.

Through their experiences, youth engineers learned that any environment and all life is continously "speaking to us." We just need the tools to see, hear and share what they're saying.

Civic Sensing

Winona Minnesota

HereLab took the learning from local sensing projects on Martha's Vineyard and extended it to municipal focused Civic Sensing. Our intent, in collaboration with a local arts organization, was to demonstrate how a local sensing network could build social and economic collaborations and strengthen local life.

Winona Minnesota is a small community with light manufacturing, a couple of colleges and a significant service and tourist economy.

We talked with city hall, schools, device manufacturers and the local tourism council to create a series of collaborative briefs.

HereLab's goal was to reaffirm and strengthen connections between people, the environment and a sense of place.

RISD Social Sensing Workshop

Tellart, a socially conscious design studio and HereLab ran a multi-day workshop on Social Sensing at RISD in Providence. We enaged design professionals in Design Thinking exercises around using technology for social change.

HereLab Co.

Ultimately, HereLab became a for profit company, and it was purchased by a Cambridge, MA IoT company. Our work with the parent company was to help build industrial IoT devices and proofs of concept in US auto manufacturing plants.

While this work wasn't technically "public good," the floor foreman for the plant was seeking a gold Energy Star rating — a worthwhile goal.