PSFK Conference New York Speaker Greg Verdino

We’re excited to have Greg Verdino, Chief Strategy Officer at crayon, mediating our Collaborative Coworking panel at PSFK Conference New York. In a conversation with Robert Kalin of Etsy and Andrew Hoppin of NASA, Greg will offer his insight on the importance of collaboration in both the creative process and in terms of business strategy. We asked Greg to talk a little about himself and where he finds inspiration.

First, who are you and what do you do?

I am Chief Strategy Officer at crayon, a strategic advisory group that has helped clients like American Airlines, Audi, Coca-Cola, Starwood, ooVoo and others make effective use of conversational marketing approaches and social media channels. I blog about marketing, media and technology at http://gregverdino.com and otherwise spend far too much time playing with social media tools like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Second Life and pretty much anything that offers me a beta invite. Before crayon, I toiled away at a series of ad agencies, new media start-ups and technology companies. I never made my Dot Bomb millions but at least I’ve lived to tell my war stories.

You’ll be moderating our Collaborative Co-Working panel - can you sum up your views on how collaborative work is changing how companies engage with their customers, staff, partners, and the community?

My views on collaborative work – and the model for the workplace of the future in general – are best illustrated through personal experience. crayon is a remote and virtual company. We’re ‘headquartered’ in Second Life but in the real world we all work out of our homes or wherever else life takes us, using a variety of web-based collaboration tools to connect internally, with clients and with partners. Beyond that, we have built our company around a small core of key individuals and turn to an extensive network of outside specialists, partners and freelancers to bring our work to life. Our philosophy is that we want to work with the best people, regardless of where they’re located, no matter if they’re full time employees, freelancers or other likeminded companies.

Five websites that provide you with inspiration:

Am I supposed to say PSFK? Well, definitely PSFK, but here are five more in no particular order:
www.threebillion.com

www.smithmag.net

www.woostercollective.com

www.trendwatching.com

www.mediastorm.org

Plus anything else that presents a diversity of perspectives and/or is fueled by consumer creativity. And, of course, by next week my list will be entirely different.

Thanks, Greg!