When I’m working with new PlattFormers from other departments and cross training them on exactly what it is we do in Media, I find it’s often hard to cram all that we do into a brief 45-minute session. Going over the intricacies of our reporting procedures alone could realistically cover an hour.

Someone once presented me with a nice analogy that I use to briefly sum up what it is Media does in the grand scheme of things. If PlattForm is a restaurant, then we in Media are the chefs. It makes sense when you think about it. (Don’t think too hard. Then it might cease to make any type of sense.) Sales functions as the maître d’, welcoming clients to our fine establishment. Client Services are the wait staff. It’s their job to ensure that the client receives the best meal they can. It’s Media’s job to work with Video Production and Print, which provide us the finest ingredients to cook up hearty media schedules that Client Services can deliver to the client.

Every chef knows that there’s a wide variety of customers, so we have to keep stirring the sauce. Changing out ingredients to preserve the freshest, most beneficial servings is always our goal. We need to make sure Video Production and Print know how well one of their ingredients works. If Video Production has a great spicy meatball of a television spot on their hands, then we’ll want to make sure we get more quality ingredients like that out to the clients.

Our job is very important in supporting Client Services. If the soufflé is burnt, the wait staff feels the consequences. So there’s a heavy duty placed upon the chefs of Media to ensure we never burn the soufflé.

Of course, I don’t want to forget Interactive in this whole mix. They’re a whole different breed of chefs. I think they use microwaves. At least it’s something high-tech like that.

Ultimately the metaphor can get stretched and you have to look at the reality. PlattForm is simply one delectable educational solution. The educational sector can be fast-paced, and ever-changing, but like we say in the Media department, “If you can’t stand the heat, get outta the kitchen.”