yewknee
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An internet waystation.

it me - michael eades

👋 Hi, I'm Michael Eades; a long time Internet dweller, design dabbler, dangerously amateur developer, online social experimenter and frequent curator.

Currently working as VP of Product at Smarter Apps. I also keep the lights on at a boutique record label called yk records, a podcast network called We Own This Town and a t-shirt shop called Nashville Galaxy. Previously, I built things for Vimeo OTT, VHX, KNI and Spongebath Records.

This site is an archive of ephemera I find entertaining; tweets, videos, random links, galleries of images.

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find me elsewhere

 

contact

Reach out via threads or good ole email if you have anything to discuss. I do my best to reply in a timely manner.

for the record: "yewknee" is a nonsensical word with no literal meaning but a unsurprisingly nerdy etymology. It is pronounced, "yoo • knee."

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ongoing projects

yk Records →
started in 2009 as a conduit for music that friends had no plans on releasing. now it's a full fledged boutique label focused on releasing quality music from a variety of styles. you know, like a label does. Here's a sampler on Soundcloud and a different one on Spotify. Options.

We Own This Town →
Originally a Nashville area music blog, this site has grown into a full blown podcast network as of 2018. It's an attempt to bring together creative folks about a variety of interesting topics.

I host this show all about Nashville local music outside the expectations of the city. I'm biased but all the shows are good.

Nashville Galaxy →
An online t-shirt shop featuring beloved and defunct Nashville area businesses. Very niche audience on this one but I tend to think niche is good.

some noteworthy other things

Chris Gaines: The Podcast →
published along with co-host Ashley Spurgeon; a limited series podcast that takes an absurdly researched deep dive into the time that Garth Brooks took on a fictional personality named Chris Gaines.

Garth Brooks Chris Gaines Countdown →
to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of the time Garth Brooks took on the fictional personality Chris Gaines and appeared on Saturday Night Live in character, I GIF'ed the entire episode. It's a lot of GIFs; please use them.

Whiskerino →
a social network built around communal beard growing for four months. yes, it was as weird as it sounds but equally fascinating and enjoyable.

Moustache May →
an offshoot of the beard growing contest mentioned above. equal amounts of oddball fun but only a month long.

Summer Mix Series →
before all music was streaming everywhere, Internet music fans would swap zip files of music. it was truly a strange and wonderful time.

• • • — • —
Eleven years ago I had the good fortune to be hired by VHX; a startup that pivoted from being a video sharing platform to being a video distribution platform. Casey Pugh and Jamie Wilkinson built a team of eight people to develop the ways and means of getting video directly from the creator to the audience without needing a middleman to make the sale.

In 2016, Vimeo acquired VHX and rebranded it to Vimeo OTT. I've been with that same product for eleven years and today is my last day.

It is bittersweet! I have a new job opportunity working with ex-VHX'er Kathleen Barrett; the now CEO of Mosaic and my new boss. I could not be more excited for what I will be working on with her and the team at Mosaic. More on that later.

Despite my excitement for the new thing, I have a lot of loyalty to the VHX product. It isn't perfect software by any means but it is a pretty incredible piece of work. It powers Criterion Channel, World of Wonder, Dropout and loads of other services that you likely know. And some you don't know but should.

I learned an absolute mountain of things working at VHX / Vimeo. I started as a designer, I morphed into client services, I grew into Head of Client Solutions, I pivoted to Product Manager and am leaving as Head of Product, Vimeo OTT. Not too shabby for eleven years.

I am thankful for everyone I got to work with. I've made a load of great friends in my time there and hope to keep in touch with each and every one of them.

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