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July 7, 2020
 is the co-founder and CEO of , an experiential design studio specializing in creative technology, and Founding Executive Director of , a nonprofit organization striving to create a community center for public engagement. Bach was coined as “An entrepreneur with an eye on the future’s future” by Denver’s Westword magazine in 2018. He continues this future thinking in his recent playbook publication, “The Essential Design Guide for Engaging Your Audience During COVID-19.” Bach also produces original artwork, pushing the boundaries of technology and media in the process.
This post is based on a discussion with Bach in July 2020. Bach steered our conversation through his insight of learning how to be water. From ice to a cloud to a river— to be fluid—to let go of a fixed outcome, and go for the ride.
Where does it all begin?
Despite making art since a child, Ethan Bach questioned whether art was a career choice and enrolled to study in conservation for undergraduate studies. During the program, Bach made a video project, which he found problematic as he saw technology to be the antithesis of conservation. However, he also saw video as an opportunity to express transgender issues and switched his major to focus on video production. Bach attended The Evergreen State College during which he produced the ninth annual International Lesbian Gay Film Festival in Olympia, Washington while gaining a BA in Media Production. After graduating in 1996, he purchased a custom computer and became self-taught in hacking, design applications, and hardware optimization, and started his first business in multimedia production. Bach held various jobs in social work while continuing to develop his artistic and technology skills. In 2008, Bach completed his MFA in Electronic Arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His masters research included interactive programming and design, eye tracking, live facial tracking, and producing a documentary.
How do you view inclusivity and approach equity in your community engaged work?
Bach has been involved in social work since his undergraduate studies. He has worked with underrepresented groups— ex-gang members, people with disabilities, sex workers, and drug addicts. With the pending market crash in 2008, Bach moved to Santa Fe after his MFA, where he became involved in the Santa Fe Complex and worked with the Department of Cultural Affairs managing their social media. Bach identified the Santa Fe business community as an exclusively white male space and there weren’t conversations and dialogue about including people of color. Bach acknowledges that he wasn’t vocal about identity issues at that time and feels he didn’t do a fair job at inclusion in this period. Bach shares that it is difficult to find people of color in art and technology in Denver as it is an expensive field to enter, requires prohibitive technology resources, and has barriers of math and engineering which are less accessible. Through the programs of Denver Arts + Technology Advancement (DATA), the nonprofit he founded, he hopes this barrier can start to be broken down.
How do you get feedback from the community about how Denver Arts + Technology Advancement (DATA) creates social change?
Through creative collaboration, Bach and his team work with communities and have panels at events and during projects. People ask questions and form dialogues in a public forum at panels. While surveys are a possibility in the future, it is through discourse that Bach sees feedback being most beneficial and serving the community. He shared that it is more important to focus on what the community wants, rather than how the project is performing, keeping a future-oriented approach. However, it’s also important to mediate these conversations and make suggestions towards including critical subjects, such as Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM). Bach encourages the incorporation of STEM into conversations as communities may not know how to access these fields, and through the immersive dome projects of DATA, youth from diverse backgrounds can participate. While it would be beneficial to include adults in this conversation, Bach says there is a lack of funds for adult programs as the power is currently held by a select few who don’t want to be challenged. Nonetheless, the youth are the future who will reclaim this power.
Can you describe an unexpected experience or incident you encountered in your community engaged work? How did you respond?
Bach started a for-profit (Alt Ethos) and a nonprofit (DATA) on the same day. The registration of both initiatives led to processing delays and questioning of Bach’s unconventional business approach. Alt Ethos was started with a collaboration of co-owners which started open-ended and also rocky. Early on, Bach had to re-iterate a new structure of the business and drew up an operating agreement with lawyers due to the destructive behavior of a team member. Bach suggests that the millennial ideal of collaborative and democratic models didn’t work for Alt Ethos. Through these mistakes early on, and the amount of responsibility Bach already had, he decided to divide the creative collaboration on projects between a team of contractors, and make the business decisions by himself. This model has led to the successful creative growth of Alt Ethos.
COVID-19 has completely changed business. While many Alt Ethos projects have been lost (which greatly affects DATA), virtual clients are picking up, and Bach is responding with a new business model on virtual experiences. The technology and skills of the team were already in place for this transition. Alt Ethos has developed the free book, , and has an email newsletter presenting relevant virtual events hosted by Alt Ethos.