Dana Spiegel – President and Founder

Dana Spiegel is an independent software consultant and founder of sociableDESIGN, a software and consulting firm that specializes in social software and wireless technology research and development. He has worked with industry leading companies and small start-ups including Yahoo!, Nike, Primedia, IBM, ComputerRepair.com, and Bloostone to develop products and programs that utilize innovative social software and integrate new wireless technologies. He has also appeared as a speaker at Wireless and Media Industry conferences, and has guest lectured at NYU, SUNY Purchase, Parsons School of Design, and The New School University. Dana holds a Bachelors Degree in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from MIT and a Masters Degree in Media Arts and Sciences from the MIT Media Laboratory’s Sociable Media Group.

Dana Spiegel also serves as the Executive Director and a member of the Board of Directors of NYCwireless, a New York City non-profit organization that advocates and enables the growth of free, public wireless networks. The organization was formed in 2001, and is primarily focused in New York City and surrounding areas. It is most widely recognized for its work in deploying free Wi-Fi access in Bryant Park and Tomkins Square Park. NYCwireless is a member of the FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee, and is an international leader among Community Wireless Groups. As Executive Director, Dana created and produced Spectropolis: Mobile Media, Art and the City, a three-day event in the Fall of 2003 and 2004 that highlights the diverse ways artists, technical innovators and activists are using communication technologies to generate new urban experience and public voice. Spectropolis was co-produced by the Lower Manahattan Cultural Council and sponsored by the Alliance for Downtown New York.

At IBM, Dana developed a system to analyze and visualize the communication relationships between people based on their online interactions. At the MIT Media Laboratory, he helped design and build one of the first community-based unified messaging systems, developed next-generation chat systems, and created applications that could discover and visualize conversations within online text chat. Prior to MIT, Dana was heavily involved in the New Media industry producing enhanced CDs and multimedia CD-ROMs for such clients as Atlantic Records and N2K. He also helped create the first multimedia CD-ROM magazine, Blender.

Dana holds a Bachelors Degree in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from MIT and a Masters Degree in Media Arts and Sciences from the MIT Media Laboratory, Sociable Media Group.