I am so many things… sometimes, all at once!

I really am a Celtic Viking, descended from centuries of Norwegian and Irish ancestry. More the “Ragnar” type than the “Rose Nylund” type, but I can still come up with a good “St. Olaf Story” on a moment’s notice! , and proud of that too.

Canadian-Amerian, native to the Pacific Northwest. now living in Seattle. Almost an earthly version of Asgard itself, Puget Sound is a landscape that shapes you, influences how you think and how you relate to the world.

I’m a Corgi dad. A used-to-be biker, tattoos & all. Once-upon-a-time actor, musician, and singer in opera / musical theatre. Former teacher. Insatiably curious, the kind of guy who’ll know all kinds of bizarre trivia with no idea how/when/where/why he picked them up, just because it’s so much fun to learn about — well…. anything, everything! A guy who composes music, because it brings him so much joy, and he hopes his music will do the same for others.

So the journey to Conversation Design has been a “long and winding road”, but I love where the road has led to. How do I approach what I do, what’s my relation to technology? Let me tell you a little story in that regard — awww, c’mon, I’m a Viking; sagas are in my blood!

I recently saw the London concert of the pop group ABBA. I knew the entire thing was “tech”, it was holograms of them — but after 2 minutes, it just didn’t matter and I didn’t care, one little bit! The entire experience was so well done, so seamless, so great, so amazingly satisfying, that whether it was high-tech or a “real person” just wasn’t important, any more. And that is exactly what I aim for, in every conversational design I create!

Chatbots, voice bots, IVR, or just a nice hygge heart-to-heart by the fire, with a mug of gløgg or a pint of Guiness — it doesn’t matter; it’s the conversation that matters, so I make the machines talk like people talk.