Hi, I'm Joel
I design systems, both technical and human. CTO at Agility CMS, building AI-native content infrastructure for 21+ years without a dollar of VC. Football coach, theatre performer, small town Ontario dad. Here's my story. Want me at your event? Let's talk.
Bluebirds Tonight, and Vimy in 2011
I'm seeing Bluebirds at the Peterborough Theatre Guild tonight, directed by Bea Quarrie, and it has me thinking about the VOS Theatre production of Vimy she directed back in 2011, and about how far away 1918 gets with every passing day.
Read more→
The Real Photos Behind My Web Unleashed Talk
Every picture in my Web Unleashed talk this morning was made by ChatGPT, starting from real photos of my dad and me. Here they are side by side, plus the barn story that tied it all together.
Read more→
Streetcar in Their Own Words: Blanche, Stanley, Stella and Mitch
Our reading of A Streetcar Named Desire sold out the Firehall last night. Here's how Blanche, Stanley, Stella and Mitch were built, in the actors' own words, and a question about what comes next.
Read more→
What a Leadership Conference Taught Me About Vulnerability, Failing Faster, and Watching Film
I went to a leadership conference this week and learned some really interesting things about vulnerability, fail faster, and watching film like an elite athlete.
Read more→
Gemma Turns 25
It's my daughter Gemma's 25th birthday. She attacks life with a resourcefulness unlike anyone I have ever known.
Read more→
Nothing to Hide Behind: Directing Streetcar
A staged reading strips A Streetcar Named Desire down to its bones. No set, no costumes, no songs. Just the actors and Tennessee Williams' words. So I borrowed a trick from Williams and interviewed myself about directing it.
Read more→
Riding the Streetcar: Our Own Tryout at the Firehall
I'm directing a reading of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Firehall in Cobourg on October 16th. The original had its own tryout too, three nights in New Haven back in 1947.
Read more→
Reasons Don't Matter
If you forget to feed the calves, it doesn't matter WHY you forgot. They're still hungry. Something I learned on the farm that keeps showing up everywhere else.
Read more→
Football's Coming, But First: Mom's Birds
Football season is about to take over around here. But this week I sat on Mom's porch and watched her feeders instead. Jays, hummingbirds, a red-bellied woodpecker, grackles, and one very well-fed chipmunk.
Read more→
The Farm Still Has Its Hook In Me
A weekend at my mom's place at the farm. Scotch, my sister's she shed, a Spider-Man movie that got us both, and a deer that watched me the whole way past.
Read more→