.
MANY STORIES MATTER.
Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign. But stories can also be used to empower, and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people. But stories can also repair that broken dignity.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Ted Talk (2009)
The Storyteller
I have wanted to be on television telling stories for as long as I can remember. I started out hosting "Panther Power Plays," the sports show for BRTV, at my high school. After college, I gave up a six-figure salary to move from behind-the-scenes at Bloomberg News to a $22,000-a-year on-camera role for Your News Now (YNN) in Binghamton, New York. Never regretted it for a second. Since then, I've had the honor of telling the stories of others alongside writing one of my own. I was a reporter for NY1, a podcast and docuseries host for Karma Impact, and a columnist at Forbes, to name a few. And, every once in a while, folks like to hear me gab about something important—I've lectured at NYU, MIT, and UPenn, and chatted up the stages of Singularity University and Nexus Global.
I'm writing a few books now, one on the Art and Science of Failure, and another a thriller trilogy about Pierce Edwards, a television journalist with total recall trying to clear his name and solve a politically-motivated murder. I'm also involved in the crime of blogging from my eclectic digital soapbox, St. Clair's Sanctorum.
I continue to believe in the fundamental power of storytelling to humanize—to move heaven and earth. As I continue writing and opining, it is with the simple hope to empower, repair, and remove the fears of ignorance, silence, and of being unseen (and unheard).
unless people understand what you say.
It’s no use of talking
Zora Neale Hurston
Sometimes people like to hear me talk. It's been amazing to grace the stage at Nexus Global to discuss Karma Impact, and to delve into "Reimaging a World of Zero" as a keynote at Singularity University. I've also guest lectured at NYU Stern, MIT Sloan, and UPenn Wharton, to name a few.
A few things I regularly guest-lecture on:
-
Intriguing Ruins: The Art & Science of Failure
-
How to create NextMen: Getting Men Involved in Women's Causes
-
Intrigue Marketing: The Art of Sending an Invitation Not a Solicitation
-
Inventing "Good Investing": A Path to Child Sexual Abuse Prevention
-
Removing Fear of The Economy: How the Private Markets Can Solve UBI
​
I am also a frequently-requested event host, including charitable "emcee" work for the Rise by Sundara Gala and "toastmaster" efforts for various fundraisers and events, including my own Corsair Society.
Speaking & Hosting
Speaking Sizzle
Singularity University (NY) : Reimagining a World of Zero (2019)
AI Tech Summit (2018)
The Gramercy Institute: Intrigue Marketing (2016)
IT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE LIGHTNING BUG AND THE LIGHTNING.
The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—
This instrument [television] can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.
There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance, and indifference.
This weapon of television could be useful.
Edward R. Murrow, RTNDA Convention Speech (1958)
CREATED FOR (TO NAME A FEW)
Original Content
I have written a few things, stood in front of a camera once or twice, and snuck into a recording studio late at night to talk into the "can." Some of it worked, some of it didn't, I'm sharing it all here just the same.
Fun fact: when I went "live" on television for the first time ever it was to more than 100 million people around the globe on CNN, Star India, and the BBC. This was for coverage of 2009's tragic American Civic Association shooting in Binghamton, NY.
HIGHLIGHTED WORKS
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life,
and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
Henry David Thoreau, Walden (August 9, 1854)
Forthcoming Authored Works
These aren't books-as-business-cards, but two sincere attempts at burnishing my polygraph credentials and publishing thoughtful work:
• One, a novel The Veritas Project, part of a trilogy of Pierce Edwards stories
• The other, a work of nonfiction, Intriguing Ruins, about the art and science of failure
Both are manuscripts-in-progress and will be published in 2021.
Story, as it turns out, was crucial to our evolution — more so than opposable thumbs.
Lisa Cron, Wired for Story (2012)
OPPOSABLE THUMBS LET US HANG ON; STORY TOLD US WHAT TO HANG ON TO.
Karma Impact
Some of the best stories I ever told were for Karma Impact (then the Karma Network). I conceived and developed three shows, which I also hosted: streaming television show "1Number," and premium podcasts "After Exit" and "Versus."
I developed and/or executive produced a half-dozen other shows for the network ranging from business-focused variety comedy "Hey Gordon!" to docuseries "Inflection Point." I also hosted several short-form impact investment trend reports for the network that can be found by clicking on the button below.
Reactions to my popular Forbes article:
"CMO: The Most Dangerous Title Around"
Thanks for sharing this thoughtful piece! I appreciate much of what the author is saying here, and recognition that a CMO must be able to wear many hats - I would venture to say, they must have a strong understanding of the broader IMC mix.
Crystal O'Neill, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications, Gannett Fleming
This is one of the BEST articles I've ever read discussing the importance of marketing and business development integration.
Michael Preston, Senior Business Development Manager, Litigation, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Through a series of odd turns, I was given a Forbes column for three years. I wrote more than 50 pieces on everything from media to marketing to entrepreneurship. My most well-known piece was on the need for Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) to become Chief Growth Officers (CGOs). As a small claim to fame, if you Google "Chief Marketing Officer," my article now comes up as one of the top search results.
Forbes Column
THE ONLY WAY OF DISCOVERING THE LIMITS OF THE POSSIBLE IS TO VENTURE A LITTLE WAY PAST THEM INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE.
When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke, "Hazards of Prophecy:
The Failure of Imagination", in Profiles of the Future (1962)
The day after I wound down my first startup, UnBuyThat, I became the Founding Correspondent and CEO of AlleyWire. I knew tech and I knew television news. Combining the two worked out pretty well. We won a few awards, created more than 2000 pieces of content, and had an amazing team of nearly 200 at our peak. As the first-ever video news service covering Silicon Alley, we created a powerful portfolio of early stories and digital shows covering many present-day unicorns. We were often their first piece of "real news." While we exited the business, you can still find the full roster of AlleyWire content here.
AlleyWire
SELECT ALLEYWIRE CONTENT
Philip L. Graham, The Washington Post (June 14, 1948)
Journalism is the first rough-draft of history.
Television Journalist
In the middle of the 2008 Financial Crisis, I stepped away from a guaranteed career at Bloomberg News as a behind-the-scenes producer. I left to tell stories on-camera in Upstate New York. It was one of the boldest and best decisions of my life. After a stint at YNN (then News10Now) as the head of the Binghamton bureau, I came back to New York and covered Staten Island for NY1.
While I ultimately decided I wanted to write a story of my own rather than tell those of others, my salad days as a television journalist are still some of my fondest recollections. My four-hundred-plus story archive can be found here.
Spectrum News Resume Tape (YNN, NY1, and News10Now)
Those who tell the stories rule the world.
Hopi American Indian proverb
OTHER STORYTELLLING PROJECTS
I am also always looking for amazing technical and creative staff. I'm currently working on several media projects (aside from my books), including "The Reason," a podcast appealing to independent voters and minds, and "Devil's Advocate", a split-screen show in which I debate myself on both sides of an issue.