Author: Mike

I felt her hand on my arm before I saw her.

I had wandered down Ochsengasse barely a block off one of Basel’s main streets. Approaching Webergasse, I apparently and accidentally stumbled into the city’s red light district. More like a corner than an actual district. An estimated 800 prostitutes legally ply their craft in this Swiss town along the Rhine. Prostitution has been legal in Basel since 1942. I gave a polite, yet demonstrative, “No. Thank you.” and made my exit back toward Claraplatz.

I was in Basel to shoot headshots at Cloud Foundry Summit. After the conference, I took some time to explore this corner of Europe where the borders of France, Germany and Switzerland meet. I flâneured like Hemingway at the buvettes on the banks of the Rhine. I stopped for lunch, okay, Prosecco, on the Münsterplatz as kids scootered past and tourists craned their necks to the steeple of Basel Minster, which was built between 1019 and 1500. I watched members of an older generation drink wine and toss bocce balls beneath the changing leaves.

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And I made a new friend. She sat at my cafe table on the edge of Münsterplatz as I sipped my Prosecco. She ordered a tea. I told the waiter to put it on my bill. I asked her name in my best German. She told me it was Draga. I then asked where she lived. She said Basel. This is why I learn basic phrases when I travel. It doesn’t take much to make a connection and travel like a traveler instead of a tourist.

These are a few of the images I captured during my brief stay. Click one of the images to see the uncropped versions.

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A few years ago I was asked to shoot a few promotional images for the band, Barrage8. Super awesome humans who really made the job easy. Love seeing one of the final shots used on their concert poster and on student designed t-shirts. Music — and music education — matters.

I just got back from my annual Monktoberfest sojourn to Portland, Maine. I’m home for roughly 24 hours and then head off on a weeklong corporate portrait assignment in Basel, Switzerland. It will be the 25th country I’ve had the privilege of visiting. 171 more to go.

It was weird not having my Canon with me in Portland, but felt prudent to leave it home with the other equipment I’ll use in Basel. My office floor is currently an organized grid of camera bodies, lenses and lights ready to be packed up. Luckily, my iPhone was able to capture some of the beauty of Casco Bay during our sunset boat trip on Wednesday night.

When I get back from Switzerland, I’m excited to see images from my “This Is Our Town” project displayed as part of the pre-roll during the Saturday kids’ matinees at The County Theater in Doylestown, Pa. My daughters have had the luck and privilege of being taught by amazing teachers. Teachers whose work, caring and above and beyond effort too often goes unheralded. Working with the CB Cares Educational Foundation, I created portraits of our school district’s art department. The arts are the foundation for a well rounded, long term life of learning. They cause us to question and think about the fuzzy gray areas outside of the black and white lines of life we often live.

Earlier this year I challenged myself to focus more of my photography on developing my portraiture skills. Many friends, relatives and strangers have given of their time and patience to sit, stand and bend in front of my lens. There’s a good chance you’ve seen some of those images here or on my website.

One person who noticed them was the Director of Arts Education at the Michener Museum in Doylestown, Pa. She approached me to pilot the museum’s first workshop centered on photography. We’re kicking it off later this summer with a fun program for 10-15 year olds.

The Michener is named after Doylestown native James Michener. In 1948, he won this little thing called a Pulitzer for a book he wrote about the South Pacific. Local playwrights who went by the names of Rodgers and Hammerstein turned the book into a Broadway play.

While it’s a long way from seeing my photographs hanging on the walls of this great museum, I’ll take it.

Standing behind the podium at last night’s CB Cares Celebrity Waiter Gala, Kimberly Cambra reminded attendees “When you have Care in your name, you do.” And she has. To the tune of more than $500,000 over the years. Money — and, more importantly, time and effort — dedicated to enrich the educational experience of our community’s students. Last night was my third year creating portraits at the event. These are a couple of my faves from last night’s Parisian theme gathering.

I’ve had the privilege of working with really smart people over the course of my career. Individuals who created the computer code that runs the world we live in. Corporate executives managing billion dollar businesses. And incredibly intelligent startup founders like Carbon Robotics CEO Rosanna Myers with the vision to see the world beyond the disruptive technologies they build. I encourage you to give this talk a listen to understand better the value of treating humans like humans and not machines.

 

Tech trades aren’t what they were. There are but a handful of true technology trade media outlets left in an industry of wide-eyed innovation. There are even fewer traditional reporters.

And while the number of news outlets and reporters contracts, the number of startups and companies with stories to tell grows. Many of these companies are shut out of the storytelling process, never able to rise above the noise.

There are simply not enough news outlets to write all the great stories that deserve to be told. Story volume and media economics dictate that, like Silicon Valley itself, merit isn’t enough.

My friend Ron Favali and I believe there’s a way to fix this, and in the process, raise the visibility of those working to create a more diverse and inclusive industry.

 

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TechDeux is a media site designed to fill the gap between existing trade journalism and public relations. It’s what happens when you step back and look at the media ecosystem through a wide angle, unfiltered lens. It’s what can be built when you don’t try to disrupt an industry, but, instead, help it.

If closing the gap between PR and journalism was all TechDeux did, it would be enough. But we wanted to build something that meant more. Something that helped the entire technology industry, not just marketers and journalists.

Unlike traditional models, TechDeux’s storytellers underwrite the promotion of non-profit organizations focused on increasing diversity and inclusion in tech. In exchange, these underwriters are able to submit opinionated editorial content on the TechDeux platform.

We’re launching this summer. So, if you’re a startup, PR agency or VC with a portfolio of companies who want to make the industry a better place for everyone, shoot me a note to see how you can get involved underwriting TechDeux. In the meantime, we’re looking for your feedback: What’s missing in this model? What would you like to see? Which non-profits you think deserve to be seen and heard?

Sure, this may be an incremental fix to a bigger problem. But change only happens when someone is willing to try something different.

My mother’s father was a member of the 82nd Airborne during World War II. I am told he was one of the paratroopers who dropped into France on D-Day. My father’s father served in both the Pacific and European theaters during the war as a member of the 86th Infantry Division. One rests in peace near Arlington, Texas, the other in Arlington National Cemetery.

Both were role models in their own ways. My one grandfather showed me how to always keep my chin up, even when his had a cancer eating away at it that eventually took his life. My other grandfather showed me that family isn’t what you are born into and that love and playfulness knows not of age.

I think about them often. Especially on holidays like Memorial Day where people come together to honor those like my grandfathers who sacrificed to defend the democratic ideals upon which America was built.

This year, the small town of Doylestown, Pa., nestled near the banks of the Delaware River where the very concept of these United States first formed, celebrated the 150th anniversary of its Memorial Day Parade, making it the oldest Memorial Day parade in the country. 15,000 people lined Court, North and Main Streets to watch 96 marching units, 142 vehicles and 2,150 participants honor our country’s fallen heroes.

These are some of the images.

 

 

Growing up, we cheered for the New York Yankees. Especially when they played the Boston Red Sox. Especially on those game days.

Now, as an adult, I ‘ve had many opportunities to visit the city of my childhood rivals. Those visits have been a mixture of business, college visits with my daughter and plain old passing through on my annual pilgrimage to Portland for Monktoberfest. I’ve even watched a game from behind home plate at Fenway. Don’t tell my dyed-in-pinstripe-blue mother, but it’s a pretty awesome place to watch a baseball game. Through these visits I’ve discovered something. Something painful.

I like Boston.

I ventured back to the city last week to shoot a series of portraits for my friends at the Cloud Foundry Foundation during the opening day of their annual community summit. The foundation governs some of the technology that makes a lot of the things we take for granted work. It’s supported by big names in the tech industry, as well as big names outside of tech.

This is a sample of the roughly 70 images we created that day. In Boston.