1. Blaed Spence
Storyteller
310
425
2592
blaed@sonic.net
www.blaedspence.com
Profile
Copywriter.
Collaborator.
Ideator.
Creative
Strategist.
Twelve
years
of
experience
driving
the
creative
process
from
concept
through
execution.
Proven
talent
across
old
and
new
media:
vision
and
strategy;
B2C
and
B2B;
interactive,
gaming,
and
video;
brand-­‐based
storytelling
of
every
stripe.
Trusted
client-­‐facing
leader
skilled
in
active
listening,
brainstorming,
problem-­‐solving,
presentation,
execution,
and
team-­‐
building.
•
Entrepreneurial
spirit
forged
within
high-­‐profile
Silicon
Valley
startups
and
think-­‐tanks.
Creative
objectives
met
within
budget
while
hitting
often
aggressive
production
timelines.
•
Donut
addict.
Nature
nutcase.
Creative
secret-­‐weapon.
Projects
4word
Lead
Writer,
Ideator,
Executive
Storyteller
2002
–
2014
Content
collaborative
• Conceive,
write,
and
develop
solutions
for
national
agencies,
brand
consultancies,
and
production
houses.
[Clients
include
Ogilvy
Chicago,
Sterling
Brands
New
York,
Pearlfisher,
Ketchum,
and
others.]
• Ideate
and
develop
new
products,
features,
line-­‐extensions,
SKUs,
and
apps.
Write
content
across
media.
• Juggle
multiple
creative
production
responsibilities
while
meeting
and
(sometimes)
exceeding
client
expectations:
—
Field
RFPs
and
craft
responsive
proposals,
including
content
budget
line-­‐items.
—
Aggregate,
respond
to,
and
execute
client
and
end-­‐client
notes.
—
Manage
project
communications,
milestones,
content
assets,
and
content
production
calendars.
• Very
partial
client/project
list
includes
household
goods
[Dial,
Purina,
Procter
&
Gamble,
SC
Johnson],
personal
care
[Johnson
&
Johnson,
Philips
Oral
Healthcare],
food
and
beverage
products
[General
Mills,
Nestle,
Frito-­‐Lay,
Tropicana],
apps
[Orbitz],
educational
institutions
[UC
Berkeley,
Caltech],
and
toy
properties
[Mattel].
Ninth
House
Director
of
Digital
Programming
2000
–
2001
eLearning
and
interactive
management-­‐training
network
• Crafted
creative
vision
and
reconceived
editorial
for
non-­‐subscriber
B2C
website
in
effort
to
raise
brand
awareness.
[Hits
increased
14%.
Two
new
corporate
subscribers
acquired.]
• Utilized
high-­‐level
writer
relationships
to
create
reputable
stable
of
contributors.
• Managed
nimble
unit
of
three
direct-­‐reports
[producer,
writer,
and
production
coordinator]
as
part
of
larger,
cross-­‐functional
team.
Purple
Moon
Senior
Writer,
Senior
Designer
(Narrative,
Game
Play,
&
Interaction)
1997
–
1999
First-­‐in-­‐category
gaming
company
incubated
within
Paul
Allen’s
Silicon
Valley
think-­‐tank,
Interval
Research
• Member
of
senior
management
team
that
built
company
from
the
ground
up,
resulting
in
sale
to
Mattel.
• Created
series
concepts,
characters,
complex
story
arcs,
puzzle
designs,
and
wrote
instruction
sets,
and
marketing
collateral
for
three
award-­‐winning
gaming
brands.
[Secret
Paths,
Rockett,
Starfire
Soccer
Allstars]
• Wrote
treatments,
outlines,
shooting
scripts,
and
interactive
elements
across
five
different
game
titles.
• Managed
internal
content
staff
and
external
content
vendors;
co-­‐led
remote
development
teams.
Wired
Magazine
|
WiredTV
Writer,
Senior
Editor,
Founding
Partner
1992
–
1997
• Key
member
of
startup
team
that
took
the
magazine
from
prototype
to
sale
to
Si
Newhouse
and
Condé
Nast.
• Envisioned,
created,
and
implemented
systems,
processes,
procedures,
and
magazine
corporate
culture.
• Conceived
and
sculpted
editorial
voice-­‐and-­‐tone
of
magazine;
conceived
and
managed
three
editorial
sections.
• Wrote
and
edited
stories
across
feature-­‐well
and
other
sections;
edited
and
collaborated
with
new
and
renowned
contributors
[William
Gibson,
Neal
Stephenson,
Douglas
Copland,
John
Gilmore].
• Co-­‐wrote
stand-­‐up
segments
for
The
Netizen
on
MSNBC;
on-­‐air
co-­‐anchor,
The
Netizen.
Preparation
University
of
California,
Los
Angeles
BA
English
Literature
&
Journalism;
highly
accelerated
graduation
University
of
California,
Berkeley
Extension
Advertising
Copywriting,
Screenwriting,
Children’s
Fiction
Dominican
University
Certificate
in
Storytelling
Myth
&
Folktale
Analysis,
Writing,
Performance,
and
more

2. Blaed Spence
310
425
2592
blaed@sonic.net
www.blaedspence.com
Narrative Bio
Blaed
Spence
is
a
seasoned
writer,
ideator,
and
innovator.
Raised
by
an
educator
and
a
physicist
in
a
family
of
professional
artists
and
musicians,
Blaed
spent
her
childhood
surrounded
by
easels
and
musical
instruments,
computers
and
slide
rules
...
and
still
managed
to
come
up
in
the
world
as
a
trouble-­‐making
tomboy.
Blaed’s
experience
in
digital
media
began
during
a
summer
stint
at
the
Apple
Multimedia
Lab,
where
she
witnessed
and
supported
key
advances
in
interactive
storytelling
under
the
astute
direction
of
Dr.
Kristina
Hooper-­‐Woolsey
(recognized
as
the
mother
of
multimedia).
Later,
as
one
of
the
founding
partners
and
senior
editors
of
Wired
magazine,
Blaed
devoted
six
intensive
years
to
creating
and
building
the
magazine,
while
driving
the
brand’s
ambitious
plans
online
(HotWired)
and
on
the
air
(MSNBC).
Following
her
tenure
at
Wired,
Blaed
became
a
creative
director
and
one
of
two
senior
writers
at
Purple
Moon
—
an
award-­‐winning
Silicon
Valley
gaming
company,
and
the
first
viable
business
to
spin
out
of
Interval
Research
—
Paul
Allen’s
celebrated
Palo
Alto
think-­‐tank.
There,
Blaed
co-­‐developed
game
and
puzzle
design
and
the
brand’s
beloved
characters,
while
writing
shooting
scripts,
interactive
screenplays,
marketing,
package,
romance,
catalog,
and
instruction-­‐set
copy
across
all
media.
Blaed
also
contributed
to
the
brand’s
rich
online
world.
After
Purple
Moon
was
purchased
by
Mattel,
Blaed
became
the
director
of
dynamic
programming
for
Ninth
House
Network
—
a
subscriber-­‐based
management-­‐training
network.
Ninth
House’s
unique
pedagogy,
built
upon
original
content
from
such
thought
leaders
as
Tom
Peters,
Ken
Blanchard,
Peter
Senge,
Larraine
Segil,
and
David
Allen,
utilizes
Hollywood-­‐quality
production-­‐values
in
delivering
rich,
interactive
storytelling
to
the
desktop
as
part
of
a
robust
catalog
of
specifically
targeted
learning
modules.
Now
a
storytelling
lead
at
4word
content
collaborative,
Blaed
currently
writes
and
consults
for
various
design
firms,
and
production
houses;
advertising,
branding,
and
digital
agencies.
Her
expertise
spans
everything
from
corporate
initiatives
to
creative
properties,
and
covers
a
broad
range
of
B2C
and
B2B
content,
including:
website
and
interactive
copy;
creative
concepts,
mood
books,
pitch
decks,
treatments,
and
shooting
scripts
for
TV
shows,
sizzle
reels,
and
industrial
films;
marketing
collateral
of
all
stripes
across
old
and
new
media;
brand
name
and
tagline
development;
ad
copy
for
print,
radio,
and
digital
platforms;
new-­‐product
concept,
package,
and
romance
copy;
and
much
more.
A
short-­‐list
of
clients
includes
corporations
such
as
Allstate
Insurance
and
Visa;
futurist
think-­‐tanks
such
as
Paul
Saffo’s
Institute
for
the
Future
and
Beijing
University’s
Center
for
the
Future
of
China;
educational
institutions
including
the
California
Institute
of
Technology
(Caltech);
digital
agencies
like
HOT
Studio
(various
end-­‐clients),
Phoenix
Pop
(various
end-­‐clients),
Vivid
Studios
(various
end-­‐clients),
and
Emerge
Interactive;
production
houses
such
as
Fat
Box
Films,
Nadeau
Productions,
Redmond
Productions,
and
SpinPictures;
advertising
and
branding
agencies
such
as
Ogilvy
Chicago,
Sterling
Brands
New
York,
Pearlfisher,
and
BrandIQ;
plus
gaming,
toy,
and
interactive
companies
including
Mattel;
JPKids
/
Mindrocket
Media;
Get
Real
Girl;
Kibu;
Gravity
Inc.;
and
Santa.com
(inaugural
creative
launch,
pre
sale).
End-­‐clients
include
the
Lawrence
Berkeley
National
Laboratory,
General
Mills,
Orbitz,
Purina,
Unilever,
SC
Johnson,
Procter
&
Gamble,
IHOP,
Ketchum,
Wendy’s,
and
Johnson
&
Johnson;
plus
a
host
of
top-­‐tier
consumer
products.
On
the
creative-­‐strategy
side,
Blaed
works
with
respected
futurist
think
tanks,
incubators,
and
national
ideation
firms
to
facilitate
breakthrough
product
development
for
various
Fortune
100
and
boutique
companies
as
a
member
of
various
diverse,
cross-­‐functional
innovation
teams.
An
alum
of
the
San
Francisco
Conservatory
of
Music,
the
University
of
California
Los
Angeles,
and
Dominican
University,
Blaed’s
degrees
cover
English
Literature
and
Journalism,
Creative
Writing,
and
Storytelling.
Beyond
that,
she’s
a
science
and
space
nerd,
an
activist,
a
book
worm,
and
a
champion
for
niceness
(it’s
in
the
Celtic
Canadian
genes).
She’s
always
been
obsessed
with
maps,
but
she’s
currently
obsessed
with
the
show
Broad
City,
and
the
book
Syllabus,
by
Lynda
Barry.