John Maeda is feverishly working on his iPhone while waiting for a sandwich to go at Café Choklad on North Main Street, which is filled with RISD students and people from nearby offices and courts. His sandwich arrives and as he starts for the door, he spots four RISD freshmen having lunch and stops to see how things are going.

They all talk at once, saying that things are going great, but then start mentioning a few technological glitches and scheduling problems that they have encountered. Maeda quickly asks a couple of technical questions, offers various solutions and suggestions and, with everyone pleased, he heads out the door. “He’s so f**kin’ cool!” exclaims one of the kids, and in four words he has truly captured RISD’s 16th President.

“It’s a safe bet to say that he’s interacted with more students in three months than Ruth (Simmons) has in seven years,” observed a prominent East Sider at the recent Gala Opening of the Chace Wing of the Museum. While perhaps overstated, there is a sense of “all Maeda, all the time” when it comes to interacting with the student body.

Whether it’s holding open running groups, dining in the cafeteria or even helping students and parents during move-in clad in a yellow “Move In” t-shirt, Maeda is all about face-time. He moves easily around the campus and the city without an entourage and as he is captivated, he captivates.

His hiring was, in his own words, an “innovative choice” for RISD and it doesn’t get much more innovative than the idea of a school president actually spending time getting to know the student body. At Maeda’s September 12th Inauguration, Provost Jessie Shefrin spoke of her first impression of John Maeda. She arrived at his office for a meeting and found him chatting on the phone to a student who was expressing concerns over his financial aid package.

Maeda listened carefully to the student’s story and replied, “I am not sure what I can do to help with your financial aid package, but I do have $2,000 worth of books I just unpacked in my office. Be here in 15 minutes and they’re yours to sell.” Sure enough, 15 minutes later, the ecstatic student pulled up in his pick-up truck and together they loaded his truck with the books. Shefrin was in awe, and yet for Maeda, it was simply a quick solution to both of their problems. He preferred his office be a “bit of a blank slate,” a canvas on which to build, with no room for clutter. The student needed cash. Problem solved, as simple as that.

Maeda breezes into the President’s Office wearing a paper-thin, loose white rain coat that covers his black pants and trademark black t-shirt. A youthful 42, he doesn’t look a whole lot older than many of his students. He also looks like he walked right out of an Apple commercial-appropriate given his love of all things technological. With more energy than the Energizer Bunny, he exudes a high-speed aura that’s infectious.

With his background in computer science, it is Maeda’s belief that technology has given each student a tool for leadership. He smiles when he recalls one student’s positive response to his decision to organize the RISD Class of 2011 into a FaceBook page. For all of technology’s evils, it has given everyone the chance to be heard, to make a statement. He wants his students to know that he is listening.

Maeda’s office is like a minimalist design studio, with one wall sporting a combination of faxes and memos; the longest wall is blank, and the bookshelves are filled with varied books in several languages, sneakers that he designed for Reebok, a mechanical dog and other assorted objects.

His glass-top desk sits on a sleek metal frame, and there is little available space. A 30” Apple monitor, keyboard, a host of varied objects and assorted files and memos fill the space. It is at this desk (or from his iPhone when he’s traveling) that Maeda writes his blog, Our (and Your) RISD, a tool, he claims, will open the lines of communication between faculty, students and, of course, the President.

He believes that colleges, when working at their best, are defined by the open communication of ideas and he is so confident in this idea that he has instituted “Anonymous Tuesdays,” where readers can let their comments and concerns flow without fear of the repercussions. Given all of the traveling that he will be doing, jetting around the world on various fundraising campaigns and speaking engagements, the blog also solves the problem of “Where is my president?”

Some think that the blog is just a publicity stunt, but Maeda insists that his role as president, or “Chief Sharing Officer” as he thinks of it, demands a certain level of communication and honesty. It goes back to the question he asked during his inauguration speech, “Where are WE starting? Where is here?” That is what he is trying to figure out, with his blog, his student interactions, his general curiosity.

His blog is the ultimate form of office hours with the president and, if all things go as planned, it will help students realize that by having a voice, having a say in their school, they are becoming part of something bigger. This empowerment is something that Maeda thinks has been missing. He is well aware that he will not be able to fix every problem that is thrown his way, but by getting to know the entire RISD system, he feels he can make the very best decisions

However, Maeda is not the only one blogging. As something of a pop-culture president, his arrival is attracting attention everywhere from Esquire magazine to the hipster blog circuit. And, for those of us who might not be aware of what a blog is, it is now the fastest growing, most popular way to communicate individual ideas over the web. Even President Simmons joked at Maeda’s inauguration that before Maeda, she had never read a blog. After reading his, she found she quite liked it, despite, she pointed out, the propensity towards spelling and grammatical errors.

Maeda has asked that large video screens be placed all around the campus. The community drives the content. Anyone can contribute. Call it RISD’s new Social Experiment. So far, the students seem fascinated and engaged by the initiative, though many faculty members admit they’re still “waiting to see.”

Interestingly enough, Maeda’s only previous visit to Providence prior to his job interview was to run in the CVS 5K. He had no idea of RISD’s vastness and he keeps stumbling upon buildings, “Oh, this belongs to RISD too?” Coming from a city like Boston, he has been pleasantly surprised to find that everything is so close and accessible in Providence. Right across from his office is the Mayor and the US Senator, with many other community leaders also quite near his doorstep. He is also learning to appreciate the culinary delights that abound in Providence, specifically raving about his Al Forno experiences!