Stephen Collins is a thinker and doer in social media and user experience. He’s recognised internationally as an innovator, community builder and engaging public speaker.
Having worked for many years in the Australian public sector and consulting industries, Stephen founded acidlabs in late 2006 to help bring his philosophy of a more open, collaborative and hyperconnected world to his clients.
It appears to have worked.
Stephen now works with a range of organisations in the public and private sectors helping them change old corporate culture into a new model - one where people, where conversation, collaboration and community are at the heart of everything they do.
He is a user experience designer with expertise in a range of user experience disciplines and clients with major projects in government, startups and private companies.
Stephen also helps clients understand the cultural and technical world of social networking and collaboration - Twitter, Facebook, blogging, wikis and the work changes that come along with them. The power of these tools to help organisations and individuals spread and retain knowledge, engage employees, stakeholders, customers and communities and market their products in a new way often reboots their world view.
Stephen is the #2 Australian marketing blogger ranked by The Population - a leading digital strategy agency - and B&T magazine. He is also ranked in Advertising Age’s Ad Age Power 150.
He is a member of Social Media Today and Social Media Club, industry bodies focused on mentoring expertise, increasing business literacy, advocacy and best practices in social media and social networking in a business context.
He is a contributor to ABC Unleashed, the Australian national public broadcaster’s opinion blog and has also been published in Social Computing Magazine and has been interviewed several times for articles on ZDNet Australia.
Stephen is a life member of Electronic Frontiers Australia and an Electronic Frontier Foundation member. He is an active organiser and contributor to the BarCamp movement. In 2008, Stephen is a contributing author to the second edition of The Age of Conversation. He is also a member of the Web Industry Professionals Association, Australian Web Industry Association and Information Architecture Institute.
He is a frequent speaker and interview subject for media, conferences and seminars in Australia and internationally.
Stephen’s views are regularly sought in the media. Recent articles featuring Stephen include:
- Think Tank: The online economic dividend, NETT Magazine, 19 March 2009 where Stephen was interviewed alongside Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Stephen Conroy and other industry and policy experts
- The Scoop, Australian Financial Review/MIS Australia podcast, July 2008, discussing social media and networking value in business
- Social networking comes of age, sort of, Australian Financial Review/MIS Australia, 23 June 2008 discussing social computing, collaboration and business
- Enterprise 2.0 - What is it good for?, Australian CIO Magazine, May 2008 discussing business collaboration culture and technology
In real life, you could describe him as “husband, Dad, web worker, lapsed triathlete, rugby nut and Brumbies supporter.”
You can contact Stephen or see what he’s up to in the following additional ways on several social networks: