
jbrewer@smith.edu | johannbrewer.com | @deadroxy







Led large-scale participatory research project with 36 members of the station's newsroom, conducting most extensive ethnographic study of WBUR's audience to date. Produced 160-page Opportunity Report book presenting results of study. Developed and deployed interactive email podcast that received a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Innovation.
Performed an ethnographic study of organizational data gathering practices and presented analytics audit report detailing findings. Drafted and led operations upgrade process with senior management to incorporate measurement and feedback cycles into daily workflow. Designed, developed and deployed internal analytics dashboard to unify key station metrics in one shared interface.



Designed, developed and deployed frestyl, a live music discovery and promotion service. Launched in Rome in 2010, frestyl became the most comprehensive web service for concert discovery in Italy. After joining Startupbootcamp in 2012 and an investment from Deutsche Telekom's incubator hub:raum in 2013, frestyl relaunched in Berlin as a mobile application and was featured as Best New App in iTunes Germany.
Responsible for recruiting and managing a team of 10+ developers, designers, marketers, salespeople and operations personnel. Negotiated strategic partnerships with music industry leaders like Eventim, Universal Music and Kompakt. Acted as Chief Technical Officer responsible for product architecture as well as Chief Financial Officer responsible for fiscal planning and management. Frequent speaker, panelist and moderator at major conferences including SxSW, Reeperbahn Festival, Berlin Music Week, Trigger at Peace & Love, Social Media Week, etc.








Jul 9
Accepted talk at Broadcast Bodies: Gender and Sexuality in Video Game Live Streaming Panel, Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) Conference (Online & Kraków, Poland)
Jun 3
Accepted talk at Broadcast Bodies: Gender and Sexuality in Video Game Live Streaming Panel, Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) Conference (Tampere, Finland) Cancelled due to COVID-19
May 23
Accepted talk at Queerness and Games (QGCon) Conference (Montréal, Canada) Cancelled due to COVID-19
Mar 16
Accepted talk at Esports Summit, Game Developers (GDC) Conference (San Francisco, CA) Cancelled due to COVID-19
May 18
Accepted talk at Media in Transition (MiT) Conference, Massachusetts Institute of Technology SLIDES
Sep 23
Accepted talk at Social Media Week, ImmobilienScout24 (Berlin, Germany)
May 9
Accepted talk at Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) Conference, Austin Convention Center (Austin, TX)
Mar 23
Accepted talk at codemotion Conference, Facoltà di Ingegneria di Roma Tre (Rome, Italy) VIDEO
Feb 13
Accepted talk at PhD Defense, University of California, Irvine
May 2
Accepted talk at Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) Conference, San Jose Convention Center (San Jose, CA)
Feb 16
Accepted talk at Tangible and Embedded Interaction (TEI) Conference, Sheraton Convention Center Hotel (Baton Rouge, LA)
Jan 17
Accepted talk at Advancement to Candidacy, University of California, Irvine
Apr 15
Accepted talk at The Social and Cultural Aspects of Science and Technology Conference, Calit2, University of California, Irvine
Apr 23
Panelist at PAX East Conference, Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (Boston, MA)
Jan 21
Invited talk at Computer Science Department, Smith College (Online)
Jun 18
Panelist at UCI Esports Webinar (Online)
Feb 26
Invited talk at College Esports Expo (CEX) Conference, Boston Park Plaza Hotel (Boston, MA)
Feb 26
Invited talk at College Esports Expo (CEX) Conference, Boston Park Plaza Hotel (Boston, MA)
Feb 24
Invited talk at Computer Science Department, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Worcester, MA)
Jun 14
Invited talk at LUDUS Oasis Conference, Game Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mar 20
Invited talk at Art+Design Department, Northeastern University (Boston, MA) SLIDES
Apr 26
Invited talk at Board of Overseers Dinner & Meeting, WBUR (Boston, MA)
May 6
Panelist at Startupbootcamp Mentor Training, Rainmaking Loft (Berlin, Germany)
Apr 16
Invited talk at Tech for Non-Tech CEOs & Co-Founders, Rainmaking Loft (Berlin, Germany)
Apr 16
Panelist at Tech for Non-Tech CEOs & Co-Founders, Rainmaking Loft (Berlin, Germany)
Apr 10
Panelist at Apple In-Store Event, Apple Store (Berlin, Germany) VIDEO
Mar 26
Panelist at BVMI Kulturkonferenz, Kalkscheune (Berlin, Germany)
Jan 28
Panelist at digItaly, hub:raum (Berlin, Germany)
Nov 28
Panel moderator at App Promotion Summit, Hotel Adlon Kempinski (Berlin, Germany) VIDEO
Nov 28
Panelist at App Promotion Summit, Hotel Adlon Kempinski (Berlin, Germany) VIDEO
Sep 26
Invited talk at MLOVE Mobile x Music, Reeperbahn Festival (Hamburg, Germany)
Sep 6
Invited talk at Berlin Music Week WORD!, Postbahnhof (Berlin, Germany)
Sep 6
Panelist at Berlin Music Week WORD!, Postbahnhof (Berlin, Germany)
Aug 20
Panel moderator at Berlin Geekeettes Mentorship Program, Google (Berlin, Germany)
Jul 13
Invited talk at Geek Girl Meetup, Supermarkt (Berlin, Germany)
Jul 5
Panelist at Startupbootcamp Selection Days, Rainmaking Loft (Berlin, Germany)
Jun 12
Invited talk at Berlin Geekettes She++ Screening, Google + The Factory (Berlin, Germany)
May 11
Invited talk at COLAM: Columbia University Business and Law School Alumni Association, H10 Berlin Ku’damm (Berlin, Germany)
May 10
Panel moderator at codemotion Conference, Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft (Berlin, Germany) REPO
Mar 12
Nov 27
Invited talk at Startupbootcamp Demo Day, Umspannwerk Kreuzberg (Berlin, Germany) VIDEO
May 21
Invited talk at Italian Business & Investment Initiative, Gansevoort Park Avenue Hotel (New York, NY)
Jul 1
Panelist at Trigger Creative, Peace & Love Festival (Borlänge, Sweden)
May 27
Invited talk at Programmers in Padua, Caffè Ti Amo (Padua, Italy) VIDEO
Feb 18
Invited talk at Girl Geek Dinners Roma, Lanificio 159 (Rome, Italy)
May 12
Invited talk at Media and Design Laboratory (LDM) Seminar, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
May 21
Invited talk at lab:USE Seminar, Universidade da Madeira (Funchal, Portugal)
Mar 18
Invited talk at AT&T Labs Research (Florham Park, NJ)
Mar 11
Panelist at South By Southwest (SXSW) Interactive, Austin Convention Center (Austin, TX) AUDIO
Sep 27
Invited talk at People and Practices Research Seminar, Intel Research (Hillsboro, OR)
May 12
Invited talk at People and Practices Research Seminar, Intel Research (Hillsboro, OR)
Apr 1
Invited talk at Image and Video Computation Seminar, Computer Science Department, Boston University
Dec 1
Invited talk at Artificial Intelligence Seminar, Computer Science Department, Boston University
Dec 1
Invited talk at Video-Based Human-Computer Interfaces Seminar, Computer Science Department, Boston University
Apr 25
Guest educator at Training Workshop, UCI Esports (Online)
Mar 24
Guest educator at Electronic Arts
Jan 20
Guest educator at Madden Pro Player Workshop, Electronic Arts (Online)
Jan 14
Dec 14
Guest educator at Competitive Gaming Staff Workshop, Electronic Arts (Online)
Nov 11
Guest educator at Games and Online Harassment Hotline
Oct 29
Guest educator at AnyKey's Twitch Channel VIDEO
Oct 27
Guest educator at AnyKey's Twitch Channel VIDEO
Jun 2
Event organizer at Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) Conference (Tampere, Finland) Cancelled due to COVID-19
Dec 8
Guest educator at Museum of Science (Boston, MA)
Nov 14
Jun 27
Event organizer at Neta Snook (Sherborn, MA)
Feb 22
Jan 10
Guest educator at ACLU Massachusetts (Boston, MA)
Jul 12
Event organizer at Public Radio BizLab, WBUR (Boston, MA)
Oct 10
May 25
Mar 23
Dec 20
Event organizer at Department of Architecture and Urban Planning Seminar, University of Sassari (Alghero, Italy)
Dec 1
Oct 14
Jun 27
Event organizer at House of Yes (Brooklyn, NY) VIDEO
Jun 26
Event organizer at Northside Festival, Public Assembly (Brooklyn, NY) VIDEO
Jun 23
Event organizer at Fat Baby (New York, NY)
Apr 22
Feb 23
Nov 23
Oct 4
Jul 19
Event organizer at BaràBook (Rome, Italy)
Sep 21
Event organizer at Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp), COEX (Seoul, South Korea)
Jul 21
Event organizer at CMU Portugal Madeira Summer Academy in HCI, Madeira Tecnopolo (Funchal, Portugal)
Oct 26
Event organizer at Waag Society (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Sep 16
Event organizer at Calit2, University of California, Irvine
Jul 27
Event organizer at Bartlett School of Architecture (London, UK)
Apr 23
Event organizer at Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) Conference, Palais des Congrès (Montreal, Canada)
Feb 27
Exhibition at PAX East Conference, Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (Boston, MA)
Sep 7
Exhibition at Lange Nacht der Startups, Hauptstadtrepräsentanz der Deutschen Telekom (Berlin, Germany)
May 10
Exhibition at codemotion Conference, Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft (Berlin, Germany)
May 10
Exhibition at codemotion Conference, Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft (Berlin, Germany)
Oct 12
Demonstration at Web 2.0 Expo NY Startup Showcase, Sheraton NY Hotel & Towers (New York, NY)
Jun 10
Jun 4
Jun 20
May 30
Poster presentation at People and Practices Research Open House, Intel Research (Hillsboro, OR)
Sep 19
Poster presentation at Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp), Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa (Orange County, CA)
Nov 1
Sep 21
Demonstration at European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (ECSCW), Maison de la Mutualité (Paris, France)
Jul 31
Jun 3
Demonstration at Institute for Software Research Forum, Calit2, University of California, Irvine
Sep 8
Poster presentation at Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp), East Midlands Conference Centre (Nottingham, UK)
Apr 23
Poster presentation at Science and Technology Day, Graduate Computer Research Laboratory, Boston University
Apr 17
Poster presentation at Industry Affiliates Program Research Day, Graduate Computer Research Laboratory, Boston University
Jun 6
Awarded at European Geekettes Demo Day, Google (Berlin, Germany)
Mar 1
Awarded at Berlin Geekettes Hackathon, Telekom Innovation Laboratories (Berlin, Germany)
Oct 31
Aug 10
Awarded at Startupbootcamp Selection Days, Umspannwerk Kreuzberg (Berlin, Germany)
Feb 5
Jul 29
Interviewed at Forum, KQED (San Francisco, CA) AUDIO
Sep 5
Mar 24
Interviewed at codemotion Conference, Facoltà di Ingegneria di Roma Tre (Rome, Italy) VIDEO
Jul 1
Interviewed at Trigger Creative, Peace & Love Festival (Borlänge, Sweden)
Natural Languages: English, Italian, and Latin.
Programming Languages: Ruby on Rails, HTML, CSS, Sass, JavaScript, CoffeeScript, jQuery, JSON, XML, AJAX, C, C++, Objective-C, Java, Swift, Python, MySQL, SQLite, MongoDB, Redis, R, PHP, Fortran, Fortran 95, Flash, OpenGL, Matlab, Gnuplot, Lex, Yacc, MIPS, BACI, DICOM, nesC, TinyOS, Processing, Arduino, Scratch, and BASIC.
Frameworks & Tools: Agile, Scrum, Kanban, Git, GitHub, OBS, Illustrator, Photoshop, Lightroom, MacOS, Windows, Linux, LaTex, Keynote, Pages, Numbers, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Google Suite, XCode, VSCode, Eclipse, TextMate, and Postman.
Industry Expertise: Full stack web development, mobile development, UX design, graphic design, media production, product management, business model analysis, organizational ethnography, data visualization, data science, near field communication, and hardware fabrication.
Academic Expertise: Human-computer interaction (HCI), ubiquitous computing (UbiComp), computer supported cooperative work (CSCW), media studies, game studies, and science & technology studies (STS).