The Innovation Forge Podcast

In this episode of Belonging, David Dysart sits down with Ashley Kern, Chief Strategy Officer at Meet Your Class, to explore why community and connection are becoming some of the most powerful forces in enrollment. Ashley shares how her journey from data science consulting to student engagement strategy changed the way she thinks about enrollment—not just as a funnel, but as a deeply human process...

The streetlight at the end of the block blinks off just as I step into the first pale stretch of morning. My hands stay in my pockets for the first few steps, then come out once the air stops biting. A sprinkler clicks somewhere out of sight. A crow lifts from a power line and heads across the street without sound. My pace is slower than usual, steady enough that I can hear my own breathing settle...

Step into the grove. Lanterns sway in the evening breeze. The Slate Wizard is at work, bending data and rules into elegant, enchanted solutions. On Deck with the Slate Wizard is a twelve-track bardcore woodsy folk journey through the arcane arts of CRM craft. From the first welcome at the Grove Gate to the final quiet of twilight, each song is a spell, ritual, or charm told through lute, fiddle, h...

The air feels softer this morning. A row of porch lights is still on against the gray, warm circles that have not caught up to the daylight yet. My feet land evenly. I can hear a sprinkler ticking two houses over and the thin buzz of insects near the hedge at the corner. There is no hurry in the street yet. It feels like the hour before a place fully remembers itself. You’re joining me on The Embe...

A siren starts somewhere behind me, rises fast, then fades as it moves across another street. I do not turn to look. A recycling bin is tipped over at the curb halfway down the block, cardboard pressed dark from the damp. My left shoulder is carrying more tension than the right. I drop it once, then again. The sidewalk is dry except for one narrow strip of shade that still holds last night’s cool....

A patch of sunlight reaches across the sidewalk between two trees and catches my hands for a few seconds as I pass through it. A bird lands on the wire overhead and stays still long enough that I notice its balance before I notice its shape. Someone down the block closes a car door and the sound hangs in the air longer than it should. My steps are even this morning, almost soft. I find myself surp...

The street is busier this morning. Cars stack at the light, then clear all at once. I wait at the corner and watch the crossing signal count down in silent numbers. A train horn carries from farther off than it sounds. My pace has been easy until now, then I feel the small pull to hurry even though there is nowhere urgent to be. The air is warmer today, and I notice it first at the back of my neck...

🎙️ An Evening with the Mentallurgist A concept album from The Innovation ForgePour a drink, loosen the tie, and join us at the piano bar for a late-night confessional from higher ed’s most enigmatic artisan. An Evening with the Mentallurgist blends jazz, spoken word, and storytelling in a twelve-track odyssey through the long career of a data alchemist turned reluctant executive. From wide-eyed an...

The wind shifts halfway down the block and catches the side of my face instead of the front. I pull my collar once, then let it be. A cyclist moves past me, steady, then disappears behind a row of parked cars. My stride stays even. I notice how much of balance is just small adjustments you stop thinking about once they become part of the motion. A porch flag snaps once and falls still. You’re join...

My legs feel heavy for the first few minutes, then they just loosen. The same stretch of sidewalk I walk all the time has a new crack near the curb, small but easy to spot once I look down. A bus sighs to a stop at the corner and takes off again before I get there. The morning air is warmer than it has been the last few days, and the back of my neck catches the heat first. You’re joining me on The...

A driver sets a box on a porch as I pass, then steps back, looks at the house number, and nudges the package a few inches away from the wet patch near the door. The air smells like damp mulch and coffee. My pace is even this morning. I can hear the fabric of my sleeve brush against my side with each step. A lawn sprinkler ticks in short bursts from a yard across the street. You’re joining me on Th...

📀 Slayte Pop Datum Hunters: DAWN OF THE GOLD HONMUNE (Act III)The final dawn rises. In Act Three of the Slayte Pop Datum Hunters Trilogy, the forge awakens, the truth is revealed, and the fate of the institution hangs on one fragile student story. With the Honmune cracked and fading, Slayte discovers that its true power never lived in metrics, polish, or consultant perfection. It lived in care, h...

I pass the elementary school on my route and the blacktop is still marked with old chalk lines from some game I did not see. Half circles. Numbers. Arrows. The colors are faded, but the pattern is still clear enough to follow. A sprinkler has hit one corner and blurred part of it into the pavement. My steps slow for a moment while I look at it. The air smells like wet grass and concrete warming up...

The street is quieter than usual. No buses yet. No lawn crews. Just my footsteps and the sound of a sprinkler ticking from a yard half a block away. My breathing is louder in the still air. I pass a coffee shop with the chairs still flipped upside down on the tables inside. The front lights are on. No one is in there yet. I feel that odd mix of calm and restlessness that shows up when a place is r...

The street is quieter than usual. No buses yet. No lawn crews. Just my footsteps and the sound of a sprinkler ticking from a yard half a block away. My breathing is louder in the still air. I pass a coffee shop with the chairs still flipped upside down on the tables inside. The front lights are on. No one is in there yet. I feel that odd mix of calm and restlessness that shows up when a place is r...

The sun is low enough to make me squint when I turn east. I angle my eyes down and watch the sidewalk instead. A runner reaches the corner ahead of me, stops, checks the signal, then changes pace the second the light turns. I hear a newspaper hit a driveway two houses over. My shoulders feel loose this morning, but my hands keep opening and closing like they still expect work. The air is cool and...

The saga continues. In Act Two of the Slayte Pop Datum Hunters trilogy, the world beneath the Innovation Forge fractures. The Honmune, the living algorithm that balances student and institutional well-being, shudders, dims, and finally collapses. As its spark fades, the Enrollment Court seizes the moment, ascending with a synthetic golden illusion of perfection. Metric Noir, led by Vexen, rises in...

There is a raised seam in the sidewalk I forget about every few mornings. Today my toe catches it. Not enough to make me stumble hard, just enough to jolt my chest and tighten my shoulders. I correct my stride and keep moving. A dog barks once from behind a fence. Then he stops. My breathing evens out by the next driveway. The street is quiet again. You’re joining me on The Ember Walk, where curio...

My shoes whisper on wet asphalt this morning. A flyer is taped to a light pole at the corner, one edge already loose and lifting in the wind. I pass it, then look back for a second. My jaw is tight. I open it once and keep going. A bus door opens across the street and closes again with a flat hiss. You’re joining me on The Ember Walk, where curiosity meets motion. I’m David Dysart. Together we’ll...

The morning is colder than I expected. My fingers stay stiff for the first block, then loosen as my arms swing. A porch light is still on two houses down. A trash truck backs up somewhere behind me but I heard the beep before I saw it. I cross at the corner and glance at a house frame on the lot beside me, studs exposed, windows not in yet. The street smells like damp wood. You’re joining me on Th...

Slayte Pop Datum Hunters hit their debut with their first full narrative album, Rise of the Honmune, the opening act of a three-part saga inside The Innovation Forge. When the legendary Honmune begins to flicker, the five members of Slayte step into a pressure zone they never trained for. Pulse, Query, Grace, Torch, and Echo must protect the student stories that feed the Honmune’s light. Every cho...

The air feels sharper this morning. My breath comes out a little quicker than usual, and I slow my pace without thinking about it. A car rolls through a stop sign too fast, then brakes late. I feel that small jolt in my chest, the kind that comes when something pushes harder than it should. I keep walking, steadying my steps until the rhythm returns. You’re joining me on The Ember Walk, where curi...

My steps feel uneven at first this morning. There is a slight slope I don’t usually notice, and it pulls at my stride just enough to make me adjust. I slow down without thinking, then correct my footing. Nothing is wrong with my legs. The ground just changed. Once I notice it, everything settles. You’re joining me on The Ember Walk, where curiosity meets motion. I’m David Dysart. Together we’ll ta...

My stride evens out as the street opens ahead of me. Light touches the tops of buildings. You’re joining me on The Ember Walk, where curiosity meets motion. I’m David Dysart. Together we’ll take a few minutes to step through one idea that shapes the craft of enrollment. You are shaping experience. Every message. Every pause. Every decision. Whether you mean to or not. Today, choose one response to...

A group of coworkers walks past laughing. The sound lifts my mood for a moment. You’re joining me on The Ember Walk, where curiosity meets motion. I’m David Dysart. Together we’ll take a few minutes to step through one idea that shapes the craft of enrollment. Response reveals culture. How your team reacts to hesitation, confusion, or failure tells everyone what you value. Do you rush? Do you blam...