My name is David Levy, and currently I am the director of interactive strategy at a full-service marketing agency in Darien, CT. I also have a blog called The thing is... where I write about social media, creativity & structure and marketing.
The thing about "Wikinomics"--both as a book and a concept--is that is represents to me an arena where nearly all of my career experiences and personal passions come into play. By way of explanation and personal background, my experience and passions include:
- Writing and editing -- Publsihed magazine writer and editor for several publications, including several at Reader's Digest, a magazine that was a pioneer in opening up the creation of its editorial content to a community.
- Business communication -- Teaching fellow in management communication at NYU's Stern School of Business (MBA, Marketing and Management) and always interested in the tools of the trade.
- Music -- I've played alone and I've played in bands and to me, music is all about collaboration and community, either between the artist and the audience, or among band members.
- Team sports -- The way I play basketball is also about collaboration. I see the floor. If you're open, I'll get you the ball.
- Interactive marketing - Since 1993 (the pre-Mosaic days) my career has been focused on riding this wave.
- Emerson and the oversoul -- Did my master's thesis on Emerson. His ideas about the oversoul and nature are relevant yet again.
- Start-ups and entrepreneurship -- Started my own thing--a couple of times--and have consulted to many start-ups. Wikinomics changes the rules for everyone.
- The interplay between creativity and structure -- Whether it's looking a the underlying structure of the blues form, understanding why it's easier to write a haiku than a free form poem, or looking at how corporate processes facilitate or inhibit creation and productivity, I've been thinking and writing about it for years. Wikinomics creates new structures and destroys others.
- Agency process -- I've been on the agency side for four years now, and how mass collaboration will impact the agency business model is something I'd like to explore.
I look forward to contributing to the community. I'm a very good writer, but probably a better editor. Maybe I'm "gardener" material?