photo by Harold Brown
Interview by Dave Combs Images courtesy of Pete Brown Pete Brown works three day jobs and has two different and very interesting side projects we wanted to learn more about. In his off hours he somehow finds time to run Piggyback App and Midwest Street Art in addition to having a family. A couple of years ago he interviewed us on WFYI Indianapolis, and this is our opportunity to find out more about him. Here’s what he had to say. Can you tell me a little about what you do at your day jobs? Yes, I have a few day jobs. I run a modest creative digital services company in Indianapolis called ASH Interactive. My team and I do audio/video production, help companies with basic websites, graphics, social media strategizing, basic branding, project management and consulting. My real mission there is to help small businesses, individuals and non-profits put together cost-effective and creative solutions that help them get their mission out to the world in engaging ways. I’m also an adjunct professor at the University of Indianapolis in the communications department and I teach the classes that cover topics tied to ASH Interactive services. Those include, audio and video production for ra-
dio, TV and freelance, marketing, PR, digital media for the web and social media and intro communications classes. Another job that’s been a blast for the last 18 months is being an on-air contributor for Indy’s NPR affiliate WFYI, focusing on local arts and culture stories. As I go through these things, it hits me that I’m just one of those people that is fortunate enough (depending on your point of view) to be able to juggle several creative professional endeavors and they usually end up gelling together. That and I have an amazingly supportive and encouraging family! Your side projects are Piggyback App and Midwest Street Art. Tell us more about what you do for those projects. Sure, Piggyback App is a free mobile platform for increasing access to our nation’s arts and cultural organizations. It was created with the intention of providing an even playing field for giving arts and cultural organizations a voice for connecting with new and underserved audiences through their smart phones. On one level it’s akin to Yelp!-style directory with a tight arts and culture focus that also has a second purpose. That purpose is to give the cultural organizations access to the backend to let them create and manage their own content, analyze data about who’s exploring the content and let them cross market with 5
