PlattForm People

It might be easy, on first impression, to underestimate Laura Anderson.

Far too often in the workplace, pretty, petite women are not taken seriously, and Ms. Anderson is both of these things. But if you were to consider her as anything less than a force to be reckoned in the world of graphic design, then you would be mistaken. After all, in only three and a half years, she has gone from being a designer on the Print team, to being a senior, to being the Creative Director. And she doesn’t believe in taking a back seat on this crazy ride of life.

“Be aggressive,” she says about the keys to success. “You can accomplish anything you want. You just have to figure out how to get there. Set goals and make sure you accomplish them. You can’t sit around and wait for great things to come to you. You have to go after them.”

Anderson has taken her position as a director in stride in just two short months, developing ways of dealing with the obstacles that crop up daily.

“The biggest challenge is balancing my workload and being a manager at the same time,” she says. “I have to be organized or I wouldn’t make it. Every morning when I come in, I make a list of things I have to get done for the day. As other tasks arise, I add them to the list, and I start knocking them out one at a time.”

Talented and sharp-witted, Anderson juggles a team of fun, creative-minded individuals, which is one of the best parts of her job, according to her.

“They create an indescribable work environment that makes it enjoyable to come to work every day.”

And the other best part of her job? Designing, of course. She loves the challenge and reward of getting to design something different every day.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, creativity is a driving force in Anderson’s life, and for her, it extends beyond the Adobe Creative Suite. Outside of PlattForm, she likes to cook, paint, decorate and design – anything that allows her to continue to create. But when asked what she would garner worldwide fame for, her creations and designs were surprisingly absent from her answer.

“Possibly stalking Brad Pitt,” she admits. “I’ve had a minor obsession with him ever since Legends of the Fall came out.”

Can’t blame you, Laura. He was pretty hot in that movie.

The reason why John Priess identifies with American Idol judge Simon Cowell boils down to one shared quality: honesty.

And along with this comes a straight-forwardness, a lets-not-beat-around-the-bush method of approach to the workplace. The five-year veteran of PlattForm Advertising has been taking the proverbial bull by the horns since he started as a Videographer, eventually moving his way up to Producer, Associate Director and finally his current position as Director of Video Production. And in case you’re still in doubt, his advice for success is as follows:

“If you’re not passionate about what you do, don’t bother.”

If that’s not honest, I don’t know what is. Priess is definitely passionate about what he does and says his favorite part of his job is “working with and challenging a great team of creative talent.” And Priess and his team have their work cut out for them – it’s not easy being video geniuses a minimum of 40+ hours a week.

“We try to keep our creative fresh and innovative,” says Priess. “I continue to challenge the team to take risks and go the extra mile as often as we can.”

But what about the man behind the position? What does Mr. John Priess do when he’s not leading his team to new creative heights? Well, then he’s living by his own motto: “Take time to enjoy the simple things.” For him, this includes watching sports (mainly hockey) and going to his girls’ sporting events. He says he doesn’t have time for much else. Hey, supporting your daughters and supporting your favorite grinders (yes, I looked up hockey slang) sound like full-time hobbies to me.

And personally, I hope Priess someday gets his wish of becoming famous worldwide for banning reality television shows. I think we could all do without Farmer Wants a Wife 2 or Rock of Love 3.

Of course, he might get an honest earful from Simon Cowell for putting American Idol out of business.

There aren’t many people who can boast Mike McHugh’s accomplishment: nine positions within nine years, consistently stepping up the corporate ladder. And you thought you were upwardly mobile! From his start as a Media Analyst back in 1999, he was promoted to Media Buyer. Then he traded into Client Services as an Account Executive and consecutively moved up to Senior Account Executive, Director of New Business Development, Director of Client Services, Director of both Client Services and New Business Development (still with me?), Vice President of Interactive Marketing, and finally Chief Interactive Officer.

McHugh’s a funny guy, the kind of guy who likes watching and playing sports and says his motto for life is, “More beer please.” It’s all very laidback, and it could be deceiving. But when you start talking to him about work, about challenges, about success, then it’s not at all hard to see how he got to his position as CIO in well under 10 years. It’s about drive and focus.

“The biggest thing is to just invest yourself into what you want to accomplish,” McHugh says. “Too many people say they want something but don’t commit themselves to it, and then wonder about why they aren’t successful when it’s their own lack of investment. If you want to grow and be successful in whatever you do, you have to make your actions match your words and really become a part of that thing.”

Which is exactly what he does – and may be why he identified a little bit with Tony Soprano from The Sopranos. Not that anyone over in Interactive is going to be sleepin’ with the fishes (at least not as far as we know), but when the pressure is on and the questions are flying in from every angle, McHugh turns that all into strength and deals with it. Just like Tony.

“We run into challenges every day from direction or the other,” says McHugh. “Sometimes it is partners we work with, systems we have, client concerns or any number of things. It is all about identifying the core problem, deciding on if it is anything we can do anything about, and then what is the best thing to do to overcome or work around the issue.”

A balanced, focused outlook, all the more important to have as the interactive sector of the advertising industry grows exponentially in importance. McHugh keeps PlattForm in the interactive game, coming up with new ways to drive revenue and grow leads and be dynamic in a fast-moving industry.

And at the end of the day, he slows it down and kicks back with a beer.

You won’t find this phrase in any sort of a dictionary. Not Webster’s, not Scrabble, not Urban. But at PlattForm, it’s full of meaning.

Usually, when someone hears the phrase “Search4 Administrator” it evokes a response falling somewhere between a “huh?” and an unenthusiastic head scratch. Sure, it’s communicated in what appears to be the English language. And all of the parts seem to denote meaning, but what about the sum?

Let’s break it down. “Search4” refers to several of the web sites PlattForm uses to provide helpful information to people searching for schools (or, our clients). So essentially, Search4 helps prospective students find our clients and everyone is happy. Right?

Wrong! Without a team of top-notch Search4 Administrators overseeing everything, both clients and potential students would be dismally dissatisfied. They’re so important because they keep everything in order so schools and students can find each other. Let’s take a look at our team of Search4 Administrators:

Nina Tiller and Erin Bovee: These two ladies are our Billing Specialists. Nina works closely with Client Services to compile monthly billing, prepares reconciliation reports and sends daily reports out to the masses. Simply put, she crunches numbers and makes sure that clients are billed correctly.

And whenever PlattForm thinks we’ve created a student/school match-made-in-heaven on a Search4 site, but a school disagrees, Erin is our go-to girl. She researches causes for invalid leads and finds solutions. In short, she makes sure clients are only charged for quality services.

Aaron Sporn and Michael Vickery: These fellows make up our Search4 Admin team. Anytime something needs to change on to their contact form on a web site, Aaron and Michael take care of business. They set up new clients, handle a slew of updates and do a whole lot of research.

Will Buntin: Will is a one-man Quality Assurance machine. Will double checks each and every change made to a Search4 site. That means he does a ton of research and works closely with Client Services to ensure that the highest standards are met.

Mary Admire: As Director of Search4 Admin, she casts a vision and has the know-how to bring it all together in real life. Several Search4 Administrators refereed to Mary as a tireless advocate for her team.

So, all in all, the Search4 Administration team is comprised of 6 people who are responsible for making sure clients are happy with Search4 web sites. And that means more people are able to change their lives through higher education because they’re able to find their perfect school using our Search4 site as a resource.

It’s a good thing they’re good at what they do.

“Does anyone want half of a sandwich? It’s really yummy!” These are actual words that rang out across PlattForm’s intercom system. They came as no surprise to the people who work here. It’s pretty common for the agency’s VP of Client Services, Joy Booth, to offer snacks over the loudspeakers.

That’s because Joy is constantly reaching out to people, whether she’s touting tasty burritos, mentoring an account executive or advising a long-time client. She’s in the business of building relationships – something Joy says she loves.

Joy began working at PlattForm about 9 ½ years ago as a Media Analyst. She quickly found that her strength lay in building solid relationships with stations and media representatives.

Since then, Joy has provided a wide spectrum of services to PlattForm. But, whether she was acting as Assistant to the CEO or as Chief Marketing Officer, she has always veered toward her talent: fostering solid relationships.

As VP of Client Services, Joy isn’t just responsible for the relationships she has with PlattForm account executives and coordinators. She also works to promote excellent communication between her team members and oversees the relationships they build with clients.

“Hands down – what I love about my job is developing people’s strengths and watching them grow. It’s what gets me excited,” says Booth. “It’s what makes me love coming to work.”

Joy also strives to maintain the high level of service provided by the Client Service department. That’s why every member of her department, including Booth, participates regularly in coaching sessions.

“We have a close-knit, warm environment despite our size,” says Booth. PlattForm totes the largest employee base in terms of Kansas City agencies.

If asked, PlattFormers will tell you the thing that sets the agency apart is the fun, creative environment. And, most PlattFormers will also tell you that Joy Booth has a lot to do with creating that environment.