Meg Pickard

My name is Meg Pickard. I describe myself as a creative geek, which covers both my personal and professional passions - and they seem to overlap more and more as time goes on.

I’m interested in people and communities both on and offline, as well as social uses of technology and web applications. This is probably related to my background in Social Anthropology: In the mid-1990s, as part of my studies, I conducted ethnographic research into cultural identity and customs with communities first in highland Bolivia and then subsequently on the internet. Despite departing academia for the bright lights of the Internet industry well over a decade ago, that strong interest in cultures, communities, communication and computing has stayed with me, and in many ways has influenced much of what I’ve done since.

I’ve been working in New Media for over a dozen years, mainly in creative roles for media companies you’ve probably heard of. I’ve worked and consulted with small startups and big corporations, global brands and charities. My main areas of expertise and interest are social media, consumer experience and product strategy, but I’ve also had years of experience of creating content as well as commercial solutions and strategies.

As a creative technologist and product owner, I’m completely comfortable with things like agile development methods (including XP) and rapid prototyping or R&D, as well as innovation programmes. I’ve also managed teams of people including developers, editors, project managers and strategists.

I currently work at guardian.co.uk where I’m Head of Social Media Development, responsible for working with journalists, technologists and users to develop and manage new social web strategies and experiences for The Guardian.