Will Chase is a human Swiss Army knife with ADD, on Adderall. His career started with 15 years of software development project management (Berkeley Systems, Postlinear Entertainment, Brodia, Virgin Mobile) and it all went sideways from there.
After attending Burning Man in 2001, he pivoted to a career dedicated to supporting the arts through communications, curation, and production management. He enjoyed six years as operations manager for the Burning Man ARTery, eight years as Burning Man's webmaster, and eight years as Minister of Propaganda, where he was responsible for all of Burning Man Project's public-facing written communications.
Simultaneously, through his company Will Chase Arts & Communications, he spent 17 years curating artwork for major events (Treasure Island Music Festival, Symbiosis Gathering, Oregon Eclipse, The Crucible, Sea of Dreams NYE, Edwardian Ball, ArtsFest). He co-founded The Finch Mob arts collective, where he shepherded the creation of the Panhandle Bandshell stage/art installation. As president of the nonprofit We Are From Dust, he and his team mount exhibitions of participatory art in public spaces around the world (including the virtual world of BRCvr).
He co-founded Fireside Storytelling, a San Francisco-based monthly live storytelling event which enjoyed an eight-year run, and was company manager for Everyday Theatre, producing the West Coast Beat Boxing Championships, MIXTAPE beatboxing showcases, The Bright River and more.
After leaving Burning Man Project in 2016, Will became director of community and content for Maker Faire/MAKE Magazine, then head of communications for creative agency Obscura Digital, and finally director of operations and communications for experiential design agency dotdotdash. He currently consults on art, communications and business strategy for a variety of creative clients, and lives very happily in Portland with his wife, two kids and a ridiculously cute dog.
