A Brief History of the Tame: The Road to Japan

Following a traumatic 2 weeks filling the jam vat at a Devon cheesecake factory, I moved to Switzerland where I became the fastest (and most dangerous) tobogganer in the mountain resort of Kleine Scheidegg. Breaking my collarbone actually turned out to be a good thing, as it played a key part in my decision to head to Japan with a working holiday visa.

7 years and plenty of adventures later, I’d successfully completed a degree in Japanese Studies at the University of Sheffield (including an exchange year in Japan), and was happily married, living and working in Tokyo.

Having started out in the traditional way (teaching English), I soon became immersed in the new wave of social media and mobile technology – this was just after the first iPhone had launched. I began to experiment as an LED-adorned performance artist and runner, and before long I was involved in all manner of crazy projects, from being the star of a GPS-art ad campaign for Nike Running, to turning into a running Christmas tree making global headlines.  

It was these adventures that led to the almost accidental launch of my own creative agency.

Past and Present Clients

Public Speaking

Over the past couple of years I have been requested to give live presentations on mobile / wearable / IoT technology at a wide variety of events, usually whilst operating the latest version of my ultimate social live-streaming machines. These include:

• Olympus (Tokyo)
• Daiwa Securities (Tokyo, 3 years running)
• Le Web (Paris)
• J.P. Morgan (Tokyo)
• Dentsu (Japan’s no.1 ad agency)
• Fab Cafe, Tokyo
• Wieden + Kennedy (Tokyo)
• Roppongi Hills Breakfast (MORI Building Co., Ltd)
• PechaKucha Tokyo (5 times by invitation)
• American Chambers of Commerce, Tokyo
• Mashable Social Media Day (Tokyo – twice)
• Plus many more…

Artist / Inventor

In addition to the above work, I continue to work on a number of digital art projects. These include:

• The invention of a series of unique wearable devices to solve everyday problems, such as the cloud-controlled mobile wearable chocolate vending machine hat, the wearable mobile Christmas Tree and the mobile photo printing studio
• Extreme mobile live stream broadcasts – the first to broadcast a continuous live stream of the full Tokyo Marathon from multiple iPhones to an audience of over 42,000; the first to live stream from the summit of Mount Fuji during a solar eclipse over a special mobile network
• The iRun: The Ultimate live video streaming machine (as featured in much of the media listed below)
• The Art of Running: large-scale pictures drawn on the streets using my feet, multiple GPS devices and mapping / imaging software.
• LED Art: Wearing a body suit of over 2020 LEDs, I create unique light-trace images
• Elephant Art: A series of hand-drawn cartoons featuring the exploits of an adventurous heard of elephants
• The original Remote-Controlled-Car-and-Wooden-Spoon-Mouse-Trap (didn’t quite perform as hoped)
• Numerous photography projects

And the rest

In my previous life as an employee

• IT Consultant, media producer, Impact Japan
• Video Producer, virgin earth inc (Japan)
• Marketing and Production Director, White Rabbit Press (Japan)
• Administrator, Overseas Broadcasting Center (Japan)
• Data Analyst, EDF Energy (UK)
• Waiter, Scheidegg Hotels (Switzerland)
• Gardener, responsible for restoring the Yew Tree Garden following 15 years of neglect
• Plus a heck of a lot more…

Voluntary work

• Livestreaming for many Tokyo based charitable events / organisations
• Core team, Communications Co-Lead for TEDxTokyo
• Translator for Meguro Ward Office
• Organic farming in France, Switzerland, Japan
• Camp Counselor for adults with physical and mental dissabilities (USA)
• Minibus driver for University of Sheffield nursery
• Translation / office work for OXFAM Japan (Tokyo)
• Participant in OXFAM Japan Trailwalker 2007
• Security staff working with OXFAM (GB) at Womad Festival
• Regular feature writer for international children’s magazine
• Author of numerous articles for university publications

Hobbies

Pushing mobile / IoT technology & Duct tape to the limits, Photography, writing, running, Japanese language, reading, smiling.