Why Analog Human

We should probably explain the name.

By day, one of us builds digital experiences that focus on bringing real, regular people closer to leading the life they want — ranging from travel that helps people see the world, greater access to healthcare, or making it easier to find their next home. The other designs the acoustics of spaces where all gather to connect, listen, and experience life together. (Think concert halls and performing arts venues, religious spaces, etc.) And through it all we’re also raising two humans, navigating the modern-day tap dance of raising kids in our increasingly digital world.

Analog Human is our conviction that as the technology around us advances faster than ever, we must also be intentional about how we remember and maintain what it means to be human. From the imperfections of the stories we tell and the things we make with our hands, to the belly laughs and reflections we can only experience with good conversation.

Here's what this will be (at least to start):

Storytelling. Notes and honest sharing about embracing the more analog elements of life while working in tech and architecture: what we're trying and learning, what we're getting wrong, and who we're becoming.

Creating. Shane and his mom run Pawpaw's Workshop, an intergenerational woodworking program inspired by his dad — a grandfather who believed the best way to teach a kid anything is to hand them a tool and stand close by.

Connecting. Local, curated events. Our No Small Talk series, where icebreakers go deep on purpose. Debate dinners, where disagreeing well is the whole point. More to come.

We clearly don't have this all figured out. But that’s kind of the point and what’s making this exciting. We feel a need for this ourselves, and have come to believe others do too. We’ll be figuring it out in public — at the human pace of two busy working parents — and we'd love company.

If this sounds like your kind of thing, the newsletter is where everything starts.

<3 Julia & Shane