The BIG Team - BIG Media

Rob Driscoll: Founder and President

Rob Driscoll has been working in the media world since graduating from the University of Calgary in 1990.

In three decades as an entrepreneur and journalist, Rob has sold more than $20 million in advertising while earning a reputation as a prolific writer with a creative edge.

Rob has set his team’s advertising sales forecast at the same revenue total for each of the next 10 years – $0. BIG Media will present high-calibre editorial content without the distraction or influence of advertising.

Rob’s responsibilities with BIG Media include recruiting a core team of high achievers and executing this business plan by constructing a robust platform that is easy to access and use in app form, on the web, and on various social media channels.

Rob’s insistence on generating thought-provoking content and sparking constructive debate while discouraging personal attacks and public shaming has encouraged formerly silent business leaders to join the conversation.

As a marketing strategist, Rob has enjoyed helping businesses grow through well-crafted marketing messages that reach a massive audience of business decision makers.

Rob may not be very modest (sometimes he even writes about himself in third person), but at least he is a decent writer who works hard to be a good parent, entrepreneur and pal.

When he is not working, Rob likes to compete in beach volleyball, often with one of his children as playing partner.

Until August of 2006, Rob was a member of the prestigious Under 40 Club.

Laurie Weston: Co-Founder, Scientific Strategist and Interpretation Specialist

Laurie didn’t know it when she was a little girl, but she is passionate about data – to be more specific, revealing meaning from data. This passion started out as a fascination for science and “outer space”. She eventually found herself studying math, physics, and astronomy at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, migrating to geophysics when interesting jobs in the oil and gas industry appeared on her radar.

During her 34-year (and counting) career in oil and gas exploration, Laurie has seen the industry and related scientific methods and motivation evolve steadily, both as an active participant in this evolution and as an observer. Now, she runs Sound QI Solutions Ltd., the geophysical software and consulting company that she founded in 2007. She has accepted numerous awards for her contributions and speaks at events and conferences around the world. In 2016, she was the Canadian Society for Exploration Geophysicists (CSEG) Distinguished Lecturer, presenting her work at more than 30 industry and academic venues across Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.

Laurie’s involvement in BIG Media arose from her passion for data, logic, and informed decision making. “The world is connected in so many ways these days, let’s use that connection to make it a better place.”

Lee Hunt: Contributor/Scientist/Novelist

Having had the last rights read to him and dying of an influenza related viral pneumonia, 25-year-old geophysicist Lee Hunt experienced several near-death dreams. The power of communication and the need to both understand and be understood was at the heart of each. He had already found that nothing was more important than being able to cross the distance between people.

He survived and went on to become a celebrated geophysicist, being part of several highly successful oil and gas companies, winning numerous awards for technical achievements and serving as the 7^th CSEG Distinguished Lecturer. Any triumphs that Lee had as a geophysicist came from combining that lesson about communication with the hard truths of business, mathematics, and physics. He enthusiastically adopted quantitative methods for everything he could get his hands on in geosciences, experimenting with data analytics and decision analysis before the names became so immensely popularized.

But the dream of understanding and being understood never left his mind.

After 28 years as a geophysicist, Lee left the industry to write and attempt to communicate by metaphor rather than data. His works include The Dynamicist Trilogy and the soon to be released novels, Last Worst Hopes and Bed of Rose and Thorns.

Lee’s interests are eclectic. He is also an Ironman Triathlete, hiker, traveller, and an enthusiastic sport rock climber. However, data, data analysis, and communication remain on Lee’s radar. He has recently returned to industrial work by acting as Subsurface Advisor to Carbon Alpha, a carbon capture and sequestration company.

Kevin Burron: Counsel and Strategist

Kevin’s rare double career as a scientist (structural engineering) and lawyer (commercial litigator) present another key advantage for BIG Media. After being recruited to be partner at the largest law firm in the world (Dentons), Kevin recently stepped away to sail under his own flag (Burron Law) and work with BIG Media. His expertise in contract law and litigation will keep BIG Media above board in crucial business matters, while his deep understanding of science and the legal system will bolster BIG’s editorial content.