The Lab. A media arts company.

Rob Eberhardt is the lead web developer for thelab. His career has taken him on a long journey from slingin’ shakes at fast food joints to selling early personal computers, teaching people how to use those machines, developing software for himself and even a short decade stint in the music business. Here at thelab he is responsible for the architecture and development of all interactive digital projects. He also happens to be a pretty fun guy to be around and his viral video insight is massively mind expanding. Read on - that is if you’re not scared to have your virtual world reconfigured.

Where are you from?
I was born in Ecuador (my parents were teaching school there),  and grew up in La Jolla, CA. I moved to New York in 1990.

What was your first job?
My first job was the lunch shift at Wendy’s, cooking fries and making milkshakes for stressed out engineers across the street from General Dynamics in San Diego. After seeing my first paycheck, I found my second job, which was at a small family-owned computer store in San Diego. I sold Apple and Atari computers and taught training classes to happy new computer owners.

How did you get started in the tech world? What was the first thing you remember sparking your interest in the profession?
A friend of mine from school told me about something called the Third West Coast Computer Faire happening in L.A. (November 1978). His Dad agreed to give us a ride up there. I felt in my bones that my life was going to involve these new machines somehow, so I bought a couple of programming books and started learning to write code in my head and bugging my Dad to buy me a computer from Radio Shack.

How long have you been with thelab?
I joined thelab in February of 2009.

You spent ten years working in the Music Industry? Any favorite moments from that part of your career? Did you party on a boat with Diddy while eating caviar and drinking Cristal or anything like that?
You know the boat that T-Pain was on with Andy Samberg? I was on a boat very similar to that one. I believe deli sandwiches were served, and we got drunk and sang the Star Spangled Banner floating next to the Statue of Liberty. But seriously, one of my favorite moments from that part of my life was riding in an elevator with Robert Plant. That dude is sexy.

What are some of your favorite brands - the kinds of brands you have loyalty for?
I highly recommend Carhartt t-shirts. They fit well and last a long time. Also Bob’s Red Mill Blueberry Granola. Yum.

Having been in the tech business for so long, what was your response to the loss of Steve Jobs?
At first I was surprised by how deeply I felt the loss of someone I had not known personally. But I’ve spent almost 10,000 days (32 years * 300 days/yr - rough estimate) with my hands on some kind of an Apple product; I think that creates a powerful connection to everyone who designed and developed those products, especially him.  The Crazy Ones (Unaired).

What do you see as some of the most important technological innovations of your lifetime so far and why?
iPad – It’s surprising to me how much it has changed my daily routine. It really is a new interaction category, different from traditional desktop and laptop computing, different from mobile.

Internet – In the 80’s, I ran a BBS (look it up kids). If you told me that 20 years later most of the world would be connected and utterly dependent on the evolution of that technology, I would not have believed it. But here we are. Twitter, YouTube, Facebook—huge structural changes are taking place on a global scale, facilitated by these technologies.

What are some of your go to blogs, magazines or types of books?
Blogs: Daringfireball.net, Ars Technica, Asymco.com
Magazines: Atomix Mag (gaming), Tap! (iPad stuff), Wired
Books I’m currently reading: Diamonds are Forever, Stasiland, Random Acts of Senseless Violence
Podcasts: The Talk Show, Hypercritical, Build and Analyze, Filmspotting

Feel free to download an OPML file of my Google Reader.

Any favorite Viral Vids of 2011?
Murmuration, Countdown, Irene NYC, Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday’ (TI-99/4A/C128/2600 Cover Version)

Now that 2011 is coming to a close, do you have any New Year’s resolutions?
Clean and organize my home office so that I can mess it up again building a robot or something.

You can tweet Rob @robeberhardt or check him on Google +. Be prepared though, some of these posts are frighteningly awesome.

Craig Paull is an integrated producer for thelab. He works on cross platform media initiatives of all kinds, from broadcast and print to interactive and beyond. He came to us by way of Martha Stewart Living and before that was a producer for a variety of theatrical, television and art gallery projects. Because of his extensive experience Craig breathes a fresh and creative perspective into every project he is involved in. Plus he has an awesome organic garden and brings fresh veggies for the office all the time. What more can you ask for in a producer?

What led you on the path to becoming a producer?
I had a very convoluted path, starting my career as a Certified Public Accountant, but always knowing I wanted to be in the entertainment business, after witnessing my uncle directing a car commercial while I was still in college.  After working as an auditor at ABC-TV and Paramount, I made the transition into production while taking film making classes at NYU.

What are some of the most interesting productions you’ve ever been a part of?
I have done many interesting projects, working with independent filmmakers, such as Todd Haynes, Tom Kalin and Isaac Julien. I produced a feature film, “Postcards from America” shown at Sundance, Toronto, New York, Berlin Film festivals among others. I also oversaw production on “The Question of Equality,” a four part series on Gay & Lesbian Civil Rights, plus did some music videos for classical musicians and corporate videos.

What about your most proud career achievement?
When I started at Martha Stewart Living all photography for the company was being shot on film. During my ten years there I oversaw the transition from film into digital photography, making sure that quality was not sacrificed for the new media platform.

What are some brands you are consistently loyal to and couldn’t live without?
Lacoste Brand Shirts, Oxo Good Grips, ANYTHING Mac (not the cosmetics). New fan of Cole Haan Shoes.

What are some of your go-to website, blogs, magazines, books or papers?
I am a news junkie and often find myself at news websites and blogs.  I also love design magazines like Dwell.

What’s your favorite creative outlet?
Cooking these days seems to be all I have time for outside of work.

What’s your favorite thing to cook?
I am a fan of the big green egg, a ceramic smoker/grill.  Love anything that I can make on the smoker, from plank smoked wild salmon, to slow cooked ribs.

Even as a kid Craig always hung out with the “it” crowd. That’s Craig on the left next to his childhood friend Calla Urbanski. It’s her birthday party. She went on to be an Olympic pair figure skater.

What was the most interesting job you ever had?
Aside from thelab, my favorite freelance jobs, were as an editor. I used to edit on ¾” off-line editing systems and used the AVID when it was Mac based. Editing music videos as well working on “Pets or Meat: the Return to Flynt,” Michael Moore’s update of “Roger & Me.”

What are you reading right now?
A Visit from the Goon Squad.

You were once involved in the NYC nightlife scene. What was your role?
I have done everything from door man, bouncer (in a lesbian bar), bar tender, go-go dancer. 

Any favorite moments?
My favorite moment when I was working the door at a lesbian club and got confused for a butch lesbian, by a real butch lesbian…

For the record we think Craig is looking very lumberjack-manly these days.

Here are some of Craig’s producer credits.