Ed Schipul…

This interview with Ed Schipul is quite fascinating. I love that he covers the future of the internet, where people might be missing the boat, things like NetSquared and just a variety of topics. Ed himself fascinates me every time I’m around him – I’ve never been able to quite nail down what it is, but it is somewhere between his candor, his sincere honesty, and the fact that he is brilliant. It may also tie into the fact that as people, we are drawn to people who are either similar to us or who exhibit characteristics that we wish we had ourselves. For me, Ed has both. I can see that he is an extroverted introvert (matter of fact, if I had to guess his Myers-Briggs results, I would bet that he is about a 7 on the scale, truly introvert, but that his work forces him to be more extrovert than that.)

I met Ed last year just after SXSWi, and I was fortunate enough to do a temp project at Schipul right about that same time. I remember quite clearly coming home and telling Mike that he was running the company I had always dreamed of working at. My photography business was taking off, and while I had shot my first 2007 wedding, I wasn’t doing them full time yet like I am now. I actually had a “fork in the road” feeling – I felt pulled to want to work there, I admired what he is doing so much. In the end, I chose to stay on the path I was on, and I don’t regret that for a moment — but I can’t say enough good things about Schipul, the people that work there, and Ed himself.

Social media – it is where it is at. The world is being flattened every day.

I’m blessed to have them in my life, and Ed is a constant inspiration to me — even if he no longer comments on my photos on Flickr.