To recap: when you first contacted Nike about your customised shoes, what happened?
They rejected my request to have the word "sweatshop" added to my shoes. They said that the word sweatshop was "inappropriate slang" although it is clear that they were really worried about something else. I was clearly making a reference to their labour abuses, but they never directly addressed this issue. This resulted in a humorous e-mail exchange where Nike looked foolish using corporate-speak instead of addressing the issue directly.

When you sent the e-mail of your correspondence with Nike to your friends, what happened next?
I thought that the e-mail exchange was humorous, so I sent it to a few close friends. Within weeks, I was getting e-mail from people around the world who had read a forwarded version of my original message. Within months, the story began to be covered by the mass media.

How many responses did you get?
Since the e-mail has been in circulation, over 3,500 people have written to me. I never expected this kind of response when I sent the message to a few of my close friends.

Do you feel that the response has made you a cause celebre?
Sometimes I am uncomfortable with the way people on the Left have responded to the e-mails. They are too quick to treat me like a hero and all too often they forget the humour of the e-mails, instead focusing narrowly on ideology. I think that the Left needs to laugh more. I get uncomfortable when I meet people who are too invested in an ideological perspective. I like people who laugh, people who are open to new perspectives, and people who are not sure that they have everything figured out.

Were you setting out to achieve an aim?
My goal was to provoke a reaction. I was interested in seeing how Nike would respond to a request to use their services to point out a problem with their company. But I never thought this little experiment would have such a large impact and broad reach.

Did you succeed?
Mostly I have learned from the experience. I have a better understanding of how social and technical networks overlap. I have a greater appreciation for the democratic potential of the Internet -- which seems to persist even after corporations have attempted to buy key on-line properties. At Eyebeam in New York, I am teaching courses on these topics to MFA students. I am trying to share what I learned with artists, activists, and designers.

Have you heard anything from Nike since the Well Connected programme was made?
The only time I have heard from Nike is on the NBC Today Show where I was a guest with Nike executive Vada Manager. I never guessed that the only place I would be able to talk to Nike was on national television! I also was on a New York City radio show where I talked to Mr. Manager and was able to ask him questions directly.

(Nike have offered a response.)

Has anyone written to you with a similar story? If so, could you tell us about it?
There are many stories of people who have started e-mail forwards or web sites that become popular through word of mouth. In fact, the mass media often finds stories that began circulating on the Internet. The Internet has become a great way to filter information to find stories. Activist groups like RTMark have had success with political projects that use the Internet to spread a political message to larger groups of people.

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