Jerry Paffendorf

Jerry is an American mutt from the forested farmlands of New Jersey who's lived around the country in Portland, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Detroit, where he moved in 2009 and started building what's evolved into Regrid. Jerry dropped out of high school, got turned on by Ray Kurzweil's "The Age of Spiritual Machines" while in art school, and earned a Master of Science in Studies of the Future from the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Working at the Acceleration Studies Foundation for two years, Jerry gained a deep view on how each generation of technology builds the next with increasing speed. Jerry gravitated towards the virtual worlds industry where he pioneered many projects and experiments within the Second Life user-created 3D world, and researched convergences between maps, virtual reality, and social networks. Jerry earned a purple heart in Silicon Valley after co-founding a venture capital-funded company you've never heard of, an experience which made him even more passionate about putting the world online outside of what's currently trendy in the Bay Area. Detroit has become an endless education and influence for thinking about how information systems can help improve the function of cities, the agency of residents, and the use of physical space.