---
title: Ready State Blog. An investigative marketing agency. Strategy, design, content. | Curt Hopkins, Managing Editor
description: "Curt Hopkins has written about punks in Berlin, gypsies in Granada, and nerds in Nairobi for Newsweek, Reuters, the Los Angeles Times, Salon.com, the San Francisco Chronicle, New Times, and others.\n\nHe was the founding director of the Committee to Protect Bloggers, the first nonprofit dedicated to the liberty and safety of bloggers worldwide.\n\nCurt was the social-media manager for InterActive Corp's InstantAction gaming platform and an early hire at Ask.com, where he took responsibility for tanking its stock.\n\nHis poems, essays, and plays have been respectively published and performed in a variety of publications and venues throughout the United States."
---
[](https://www.readystatements.com/)
- [About Ready State](http://readystate.com/about)
# The blog of [Ready State](http://readystate.com/), a creative agency
## Curt Hopkins, Managing Editor
Curt Hopkins has written about punks in Berlin, gypsies in Granada, and nerds in Nairobi for *Newsweek*, Reuters, the *Los Angeles Times*, Salon.com, the *San Francisco Chronicle*, *New Times*, and others. He was the founding director of the Committee to Protect Bloggers, the first nonprofit dedicated to the liberty and safety of bloggers worldwide. Curt was the social-media manager for InterActive Corp's InstantAction gaming platform and an early hire at Ask.com, where he took responsibility for tanking its stock. His poems, essays, and plays have been respectively published and performed in a variety of publications and venues throughout the United States.
### Recent Posts
# [Bootstrapping the data on COVID-19](https://www.readystatements.com/bootstrapping-the-data-on-covid-19)
How a group of epidemiologists, public policy wonks, and Silicon Valley designers created a tool to visualize state-level COVID-19 projections in their spare time.
[](https://www.readystatements.com/bootstrapping-the-data-on-covid-19)
By [Curt Hopkins, Managing Editor](https://www.readystatements.com/author/curt-hopkins-managing-editor) | Apr 6, 2020
[Read More](https://www.readystatements.com/bootstrapping-the-data-on-covid-19)
# [Our HQ is now an LGBTQ Historic Landmark](https://www.readystatements.com/our-hq-is-now-an-lgbt-historic-site)
524 Union Street, the home of Ready State, was recognized by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors as having extraordinary value to LGBTQ+ history in the city. As of June 18, it has officially become the city’s fourth LGBTQ Historic Landmark and the nation’s first to focus on a restaurant.
[](https://www.readystatements.com/our-hq-is-now-an-lgbt-historic-site)
By [Curt Hopkins, Managing Editor](https://www.readystatements.com/author/curt-hopkins-managing-editor) | Jun 19, 2019
[Read More](https://www.readystatements.com/our-hq-is-now-an-lgbt-historic-site)
# [The Sounds of Chinatown](https://www.readystatements.com/the-sounds-of-chinatown)
On recent walks through Chinatown, we captured the sounds of the neighborhood through which we walk to work—and in which we grab lunch and happy hour drinks.
[](https://www.readystatements.com/the-sounds-of-chinatown)
By [Curt Hopkins, Managing Editor](https://www.readystatements.com/author/curt-hopkins-managing-editor) | May 16, 2017
[Read More](https://www.readystatements.com/the-sounds-of-chinatown)
# [The sounds of North Beach](https://www.readystatements.com/the-sounds-of-north-beach)
The identity of where you live is in large part how it looks, feels, and smells. It's also in how it sounds, many of which we tune out. Here's what our North Beach neighborhood sounds like, from tai chi in the morning to the clubs at night.
[](https://www.readystatements.com/the-sounds-of-north-beach)
By [Curt Hopkins, Managing Editor](https://www.readystatements.com/author/curt-hopkins-managing-editor) | Jan 12, 2017
[Read More](https://www.readystatements.com/the-sounds-of-north-beach)
# [How to live in Herb Caen’s San Francisco](https://www.readystatements.com/how-to-live-in-herb-caens-san-francisco)
The late San Francisco Chronicle culture columnist, who made “three dot” journalism famous while articulating the city's unique qualities, loved North Beach and knew how to experience it.
[](https://www.readystatements.com/how-to-live-in-herb-caens-san-francisco)
By [Curt Hopkins, Managing Editor](https://www.readystatements.com/author/curt-hopkins-managing-editor) | Sep 29, 2016
[Read More](https://www.readystatements.com/how-to-live-in-herb-caens-san-francisco)
# [Beyond the greeting card: A visual interview](https://www.readystatements.com/beyond-the-greeting-card-a-visual-interview)
Ready State Design Director Jodi Wing’s toolbox includes a CAT scanner and a 3D printer. We decided to go low-tech to showcase her most persistent tool: freehand drawing.
[](https://www.readystatements.com/beyond-the-greeting-card-a-visual-interview)
By [Curt Hopkins, Managing Editor](https://www.readystatements.com/author/curt-hopkins-managing-editor) | Sep 1, 2016
[Read More](https://www.readystatements.com/beyond-the-greeting-card-a-visual-interview)
# [Advertise your failures](https://www.readystatements.com/advertise-your-failures)
Customers will engage with relatable stories about the road to success. By acknowledging and recounting them, you can deepen the loyalty of existing ones.
[](https://www.readystatements.com/advertise-your-failures)
By [Curt Hopkins, Managing Editor](https://www.readystatements.com/author/curt-hopkins-managing-editor) | Aug 18, 2016
[Read More](https://www.readystatements.com/advertise-your-failures)
# [A trail of words: Literary life in North Beach](https://www.readystatements.com/literary-life-in-north-beach)
The Beats and beyond. From Trieste to Vesuvio, The Godfather to The Dharma Bums, Coppola to Kerouac, take a poetic tour of Ready State’s San Francisco neighborhood.
[](https://www.readystatements.com/literary-life-in-north-beach)
By [Curt Hopkins, Managing Editor](https://www.readystatements.com/author/curt-hopkins-managing-editor) | May 12, 2016
[Read More](https://www.readystatements.com/literary-life-in-north-beach)
[All posts](https://www.readystatements.com/all)
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