Who is Mark?

I was born in Texas, raised in Ohio, and have spent most of my adult life exploring the overlap between creativity, business, and technology - which mostly means I'm good at getting interesting people in the same room and making sure something actually happens.

Growing up I was the kid who won the school spelling bee five years running, thrived in art class and anything outdoors, and played basketball every chance he got. That combination pretty much set the trajectory: competitive, creative, a little nerdy, and always looking for the room where the energy is.

I've been a sales leader at Capital One, the CEO of a creative agency I took over as a turnaround and eventually sold, and the co-founder of an emerging technology conference that brought world-class speakers, founders, and artists together in the Pacific Northwest. I've partnered with brands like Adobe and Microsoft for Seattle AI Week to produce immersive experiences, and I have a habit of knowing exactly who you need to meet - usually before you realize you need to meet them.

Right now I'm deeply invested in AI - not because it's trending, but because it sits at the exact intersection of everything I've always been drawn to: creativity, technology, human behavior, and the question of what becomes possible when you put the right people in the right room with the right tools.

I'm building things, learning in public, and spending a lot of time in the communities where the most interesting conversations about AI's future are actually happening. I'm based somewhere between Cincinnati, Seattle, New York, San Francisco, Miami, and wherever the next good conversation is.

I also paint watercolors, eat an unreasonable amount of sushi, and have a personal brand built around a duck that looks like a pineapple. I won't explain that here - but if you're curious, you can go ask him yourself.