W. Gene Powell is President and Chief Creative Officer of SPOKE — a Toledo, Ohio-based digital agency specializing in online Branding, Usability and Findability. After nearly two decades in design and advertising, Gene launched Spoke with the goal of helping small, medium and enterprise level businesses define and build digital marketing platforms that influence and empower customers. An award-winning designer, his interactive, film and print work has been honored by the Detroit Chapter of the AIGA, STEP Inside Design Magazine, The Toledo Ad Club, the e-Healthcare Leadership Awards and the Communication Union of Norway. Gene believes any successful new media program begins with the understanding that the user is in control. That regardless of the end product, message or method of delivery, people expect a one-on-one relationship with a brand and companies now have unique opportunities to place customers in the driver's seat.Spoke is located in Toledo (OH). To contact us, please visit www.spokehq.com.In 2011, Gene co-founded Seed Coworking in Downtown Toledo’s historic Saint Clair Village. Since then, Seed has become the go-to place for designers, developers and independent contractors seeking a collaborative and community-driven professional work environment that eschews the restrictive atmosphere of a typical office.Seeing the need for a regional networking organization for entrepreneurs, Gene co-founded StartUp Toledo in 2010. The organization has evolved to become a premier monthly celebration of Toledo’s startup community; innovators, entrepreneurs and creatives who are driving the new economic engine of the Toledo Region.Gene is a 1990 Bowling Green State University School of Art graduate. He lives with his family in Perrysburg, Ohio where he volunteers for a range of non-profits.Specialties: Web & Emerging Media Strategy, Online Development, Digital Platform Management, Online Branding