Darwin the Data Dude
Darwin the Data Dude is so… experienced. From his early days in San Francisco, singing for donations in the Haight, to learning COBOL from that guy, to his Silicon Valley "sell-out" period, to his Professorship / Recording career, to his current dream of starting a Buddhist-based conflict management retreat/spa for over-stressed data workers, he seems to have packed his life with more than one person could possibly have experienced.
This has led some astute readers to ask me an important question:
"Is Darwin the Data Dude a real person?"
Here's my consultant's answer:
If you believe it's possible to exist in the corporate environment and still maintain your creativity, then yes, he is real. If you believe you can temper pragmatism with compassion, meld profitability and idealism, and balance power with empowerment, then yes, he is real. If you believe in love, laughter in the rain, or self-referential integrity, then yes, Virginia, Darwin the Data Dude is real.
Gwen Thomas
President of The Data Governance Institute and
Publisher of The Data Governance Institute Website
In the interest of full disclosure, I should inform you that Darwin the Data Dude is a composite character, based on several people living and dead. His opinions, views, and experiences are theirs, passed to us through conversations, written correspondence, and various sessions on a Ouija board :-) Actually, Darwin is voiced by Data Governance Institute Associate Reese Thomas, who, incidentally, looks nothing like the artist's rendition of Darwin above.
Gwen Thomas
