“I don’t know how he is able to track and distill the ever-changing voice of any particular market into relevant and actionable insights. I just know that it’s priceless ... You can’t help but like a guy who makes you better at what you do.”
“Hugh Weber is a modern-day networking phenom. ”
“Hugh Weber is a “real artist” of the connection economy & “a catalyst for a region wide explosion in creativity and possibility.””
“Hugh Weber “proselytizes daily on the power of creative collisions.””
“The world has too few people like Hugh— people who can not only generate an impressive array of creative options, but can also do it with grace and insight. It’s a pleasure to work with Hugh, over and over.”
“Hugh has the very unique ability to discover and articulate the hidden diamonds in a business. His creative insights and actionable ideas help leaders move forward with clarity and confidence.”
Hugh Weber is a researcher, network theorist, storyteller, community organizer, design advocate, and small town kid.
Hugh is CCO of The Great Discontent (TGD), a media company and thriving community committed to celebrating the untold stories of today’s artists, makers and risk-takers. Focusing on beginnings, creativity, and risk, TGD provides a memorable look into the lives of creatives via long-form interviews short features, film-based projects, podcasts, and events.
Hugh serves as the CEO and Creative Counsel for The Institute of Possibility (IOP), a community design studio with clients and partners ranging from Fortune 50 to mom-and-pop bait & tackle shops. Leveraging collective insights, untold stories, and the power of ROI (relationships of influence), IOP designs meaningful connections for organizations and communities with people living, working and thriving within them.
IOP has provided thought leadership and general management for award-winning online and social media campaigns, as well as research, story discovery and strategic management for marketing in niches including colleges and universities, biofuels, technology, health care, tourism, fatherhood, community development and churches.
As Creative Counsel, he provides executive level advice to Chief Executive, Marketing, and Design Officers, as well as other emerging Creative Professionals as they work to design thriving creative careers while navigating client challenges, collaborative complexities and uncertain futures.
Between 2009 and 2017, Hugh founded and led OTA, a for-purpose organization focused on sparking transformation through creative connections and collisions in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota. OTA convened 11 large-scale events, hosted over 150 national thought leaders, commissioned 35 micro-documentaries and a full-length feature, and invested approximately $2 million in the creatives who call the region home.
In 2008, Hugh started DudetoDad.com as a genuine cry for help from an ordinary dude who wanted to be an extraordinary dad. Dude to Dad grew to include a social network of 85,000 fathers and two books, an Amazon Parenting #1 & #2 Bestseller.
Hugh was designated by Ford Motor Company as a “heavy hitter” in social media storytelling and honored as their “social activism” challenge winner in 2009. He has partnered with Microsoft, Nintendo, Carnival Cruise Lines, Nokia, and Ford and has been quoted and referenced by the Washington Post, Inc. Magazine, Glamour Magazine, New Zealand National Radio, Chicago Tribune, Pregnancy Magazine, the Associated Press, Philadelphia Inquirer, Wisconsin Public Radio and the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.
Weber currently serves on the National Board and Executive Committee for AIGA, the oldest and largest professional organization for design. He was recently named one of GDUSA’s “People To Watch who embody the spirit of the creative community.”
Hugh lives in the OTA states with his beautiful, intelligent and extremely patient wife, Amy; his daughter, Emerson; and his son, Finn.