What do you have to say for yourself?

Dear readers (yeah, all nine of you!),

I need your help. I have been trying to write a gol derned bio for, oh, forever, and I'm really having a tough time figuring out what to say about myself.

First, I am one of those 21st century workers they keep telling you about - I have a job that didn't exist 5 years ago, and my resume reads as schizophrenic to anyone born before, say, 1976.

Second, I started my first company at 24, and I've never worked more than a few months in an office setting before I was like, "Wait. You want me to show up here every day at the same time for, like, ever?! Uhhhhh..."Don't get me wrong: I love the principle of an office, I just think it's a disincentive to tie performance to presence.

[It's like paying creative people by the hour - inspiration is what you're paying for. If it happens, it happens in minutes or in months, but either way you're not getting what you pay for. You're getting way more than that...and I'll save the rest of this rant for another post.]

As an outgrowth of this entrepreneurial mindset, and the polymathematical requirements of adaptive creativity, I've also got a resume that reads as a list of experiments more than finished products. And it's true to conclude that I'm experimenting. Indeed, I have no idea what I'm doing next, I just know that the core values that inform my life will inform my work and the final product.

To make it even worse, I'm one of those idiots who really believes in changing the world. I look at the systems of life around me, and I see room for improvement. That doesn't preclude profit-making (shit, man, I want my Tesla, too!), but that's a tough sell to some.

This DIY experience has, however, necessitated my multi-valent skill building. Look, when you have to create something from nothing, you learn how to do everything. I know about magazine distribution models, feminist economics, and political theory. I know about myths, folk and fairy tales. I'm an expert in something called "creative management," and in organizational design. I've designed, produced, and developed content for linear, single-player educational games, multi-player virtual worlds, and Alternate Reality Games. My dream job is to relaunch Wonder Woman as a cross-platform, immersive story world. My two biggest contributions to the planet are probably my tan, and a brain that thrives on strategy and synthesis.

So here's where you come in. I've drafted a couple bios, neither of which I'm happy with. But I need a direction, and I'd like you to tell me where to go from here.

Here's the funny one:


Phoebe Hitchcock Elefante was born at the age of 35 into an endearingly dysfunctional family. Shortly after deciding to become President, she ordered the delivery of a younger brother, and has made consistently world-changing contributions ever since.


Armed with an education spanning political science, economics, media studies, organizational design, and years of experimental entrepreneurship, she embodies the multi-skilled, adaptive worker of her generation. 


Her career as a writer and world designer began at the tender age of 7, when she submitted a heavily plagiarized derivative of Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove for an enthusiastic A+. Cognizant, then, of the power of stories to move and inspire, while requiring little to no commitment, she set about inventing a uniquely 21st century lazy labor model.


Motivated by a religious belief in the representational value of imaginary worlds, she has developed several methods for bringing them about, games being by far the most lucrative. She's created content for mature and new media, and made several inconsistently exceptional attempts at producing.


Most recently, she revised her middle name to more accurately represent her maternal heredity.


For a more objective take, click on one of the links at the top of this nonsense.



Here's my attempt to be straightforward and informative:

Howdy! I'm Phoebe.


I'm looking for ways to use networked, digital, and traditional media to draft the fairy tales of our future, and to explore new educational arenas for learners of all ages. Sounds cheesy, but it's true: I want to change the world.


I've got a masters in telecommunications (I don't really know what that means, either), and my "thesis" was actually the organizational, financial, and creative model for a boutique game design company of stay-at-home moms. I'm not one of those, yet, I'm just planning ahead. 


I've experimented with storytelling in a number of different forms: single-player, multi-player, and alternate reality games, as well as web and print. I've built and managed small and large project teams for live events as short as 3 days, and for virtual collaborations as long as 2 years. I've founded and folded a couple of companies. I've taught at the elementary, middle-, high-school and college levels. I've made a few stabs at advertising, but I'm just not that cool, or perhaps too rigidly idealistic. I've written character designs and dialogue, game design documents, academic articles, business plans, research briefs, interviews, pitch decks, and some pop culture fluff.


Most recently, I've worked on the narrative world, character development, and dialogue for several game start-ups. 


If you want to try something new, I want to hear from you!

Ok, readers. Now it's up to you!