Trina Chiasson

Web Nerd. Creative thinker and doer.

What I do

  • I write code

  • I collect numbers

  • I design stuff

My specialty is tying the pieces together.

Data design, digital storytelling, programming juggling notation calculators in Ruby—you name it. I thrive on geeky creative projects. I blend media and technology to make some really cool stuff.

How I spend my time

  • I'm madly in love with my work. Right now, I'm building a company that helps web publishers make interactive infographics.

  • I run, bike, juggle fire, go on adventures, grow plants, make music, start projects, enjoy craft beer, and play a mean game of spades.

  • I'm addicted to public libraries and my kindle. These days, I spend most of my study time on programming and creative stuff.

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Where I've lived

  • Maine woods

    I grew up in a house that my parents built, surrounded by maple trees and moose.

  • The White Mountains

    I graduated from an outdoor education high school in the boonies.

  • San Francisco

    Still a wee teenager, I followed my west coast dreams by living and working in California.

  • New York City

    I worked and lived in Manhattan, and saved up some cash before heading out to college.

  • Portlandia

    I studied economics at Lewis & Clark, where I went running in the forest every day.

  • The original Portland

    I finished my BA with high honors and rode my bike across the country.

  • Washington, DC

    After college, I worked at a nonprofit and became a bike mechanic.

  • The Big Island

    After leading bicycle tours in Hawai'i, I moved into the jungle and built tropical breeze huts.

  • Chicago

    I moved to the city on a whim and fell in love. I worked on the internet and wrote lots of code.

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  • 1999
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  • 2010
  • 2011
  • 2012
  • 2013

Stuff I've done

    • I STARTED A STARTUP

      InfoActive is a web app that I built with some awesome people. We play with data.

      INFOACTIVE

      Our web platform makes it super simple to drop live data into interactive infographics that look great on any device.

      SXSW

      InfoActive won Best Bootstrap Company in the 2013 Interactive Accelerator. This is our real-time, interactive datavis measuring the least consumed candy colors at SXSW.

      ACCELERATED

      This is me on Demo Day, graduating from Founder Fuel. Now we're incubating with Cossette, Canada's largest marketing agency.

    • GEEKY STUFF

      I like to play with computers and write code. Here's some of the stuff I've done that should trigger a giant nerd-alert.

      MOJO CHALLENGE

      I went to Berlin to hack on this project, on behalf of a Knight/Mozilla News Innovation fellowship program.

      8TH LIGHT

      I learned Ruby on Rails and agile theory through a full-time apprenticeship at 8th Light. Among other things, I built a "siteswap" juggling notation calculator.

      MMC

      I worked with my awesome colleague to launch Media Make Change, where I was the executive director. We ran charitable campaigns and spoke at the Allied Media Conference.

    • WEB CONSULTING

      I was a nonprofit web consultant, where I worked for myself and helped to improve one small corner of the world.

      DOCS PLUS

      I coordinated web strategies and organized the analytics and reporting for Docs+, a social issue documentary series on NDTV in India.

      WORKSHOPS

      I led a media training for Chicago Fair Trade's youth program. I've also led online media workshops for YBHC, ChicagoCOUNTS, i.c. stars, et al.

      #REVHUNGER

      I organized a national team of youth content producers (a.k.a. "Hunger Fighters") and led an online media training in Washington, DC.

    • LINK TV

      I used to run online programs for YouthNoise, the engagement arm of Link Media. Then I worked with my colleague to coordinate Mobilize.org's acquisition of YouthNoise.

      YOUTHNOISE

      YouthNoise empowered young people to take action for social causes. I led media trainings, web content teams, and national online campaigns.

      PLAY CITY

      Play City was a Nike-sponsored campaign to use sports for social change. This pic shows NYC teens celebrating their victory in the Step It Up dance contest.

      WHITEPAPER

      My team worked with researchers to produce a Knight Foundation-supported report on how youth engage with the news.

    • ADVENTURES

      I've built tropical breeze huts, had a song recorded by Janet Jackson's producers, and grown urban watermelons, among other cool stuff.

      BIKE TRIP

      I once rode my bike 4,000+ miles across the country to raise money for the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, where I served on the board of directors.

      JUGGLING

      I used to teach physics to third-graders through juggling. I coded a siteswap calculator, organized vaudeville shows, and I've been known to toss flames.

      ADRENALINE

      Yep, I've jumped out of a plane 18 times. I also kayak over waterfalls, snowboard the glades, and climb giant icicles. I love every second of it.

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