Pop Culture Updates
Pop Art is growing: in Q2, we added three new employees to the Pop Art team, deepening our skill set and giving us greater bandwidth to serve our growing customer list. We are excited to be working on projects for new customers, including Ball Janik and One Economy Corporation. We also continue to work on numerous projects for existing customers as well, including Freightliner Trucks, Leatherman, Carrier Air Conditioning and the Young Presidents Organization. All in all, it has been a great quarter - here are some highlights...
- Industry Events:
- Scott Orth, SEP and DEM Product Manager, attended an SEP Seminar in Seattle on June 18 - Scott stays on top of cutting edge developments in online marketing and is a true expert in search engine positioning strategies; using this knowledge, Scott helps Pop Art clients to attract new customers and drive sales, essential to e-commerce businesses.
- Toto Vo, Director of IT, and Tom Paul, Executive Director of Operations, attended a Microsoft / Synergy event on June 22 - this was an exciting seminar about the Solomon software that unifies MS Project Professional Server and Accounting processes for project-driven companies. The software offers a robust tool set which includes project dashboard, automated invoice creation, and multiple levels of project variance tracking.
- 2004 Pop Art staff retreat: held April 23 and 24 at the Resort at the Mountain in Welches, Oregon, the retreat allowed us to examine our core processes and roles, showing us where we are strong and where we need to make improvements. Several brainstorming sessions resulted in great ideas we are integrating into our company processes.
- Tom Forest, Project Manager Team Lead, attended an Edward Tufte seminar (Presenting Data and Information) on June 24 - Edward Tufte is Professor Emeritus at Yale University, where he taught courses in statistical evidence, information design, and interface design. His work informs visual presentations of any type, but is particularly relevant to Pop Art because of its application to web design and information architecture.
- New Clients:
- Ball Janik - selected Pop Art to provide web design and development services. Ball Janik is a mid-sized law firm based in Portland, Oregon, with offices in Bend, Oregon, and Washington, D.C. Ball Janik is "committed to taking a practical, business-oriented approach to counseling clients, resolving their legal problems, and helping them achieve their strategic objectives."
- One Economy Corporation - selected Pop Art to create an educational Flash component for Beehive.org. One Economy Corporation is a national non-profit organization whose goal is bring access and technology to connect low-income people to information and tools they can use to build assets and improve their lives.
- responDESIGN - chose Pop Art's web design and development services for their recently launched product Yourself!Fitness. responDESIGN is a development company that creates new and innovative gaming products that entertain and improve your day to day life.
- Barnabey's Hotel - selected Pop Art to assist with re-branding this Manhattan Beach Hotel, including identity and logo design, print collateral and web site design and development.
- Site Launches:
- Global Learning - a literacy-based educational products and services, aimed to help improve student learning, achievement, and attitudes toward school.
- Shaw for Mayor - 2005 NYC mayoral candidate.
- Yourself Fitness - a recently launched fitness gaming product featuring a virtual personal trainer.
- Hotel Andra - Pop Art provided re-branding and web services for this recently remodeled Seattle Boutique Hotel.
- Aspen Companies - a private portfolio lender and investor.
- Carrier Corporation - Pop Art provided web production services to the world's largest manufacturer of air conditioning, heating and refrigeration equipment for commercial, residential and transportation applications.
- Leatherman Tool Group - Pop Art launched the redesigned pocket survival tool manufacturer's web site.
- ScrubMed - a manufacturer and e-tailer of fashionable health care apparel.
- New Team Members and Promotions:
- Scott Orth, Hired as Product Manager: Search Engine Positioning and Direct Email Marketing: Scott brings to Pop Art 10 years of management experience and an entrepreneurial spirit. As the owner of DigitalCellutions.com, his search engine positioning experience aided him in increasing his online sales from $1,000 a month to an average of $22,000 a month. Scott holds a Bachelors of Science in Management & Information Systems from George Fox University.
- Steve Rahe, Hired as Director of Business Development: Steve joins the Pop Art Account Management team with over 15 years of sales and high-tech experience. With his most recent experiences as Sales Director for @Once, a direct marketing agency that provided opt-in email campaign services, and an Account Executive at WebMetrics.com, a web based market research firm, he is an ideal representative to market Pop Art's e-business solutions. Steve earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from University of Illinois.
- Holly Rasmussen, Hired as Senior Software Engineer: With over 7 years experience in the technology sector, Holly brings a wealth of knowledge to Pop Art's Software Engineering team. She has held Software Engineer positions at Unicru, and SunGard Treasury Systems, and instructed CGI and DHTML courses at Pacific Northwest College of Art. Holly has a Bachelors of Arts in Liberal Arts from the University of Oregon, and a Masters in Computer Science from Portland State University.
- Tom Forest, Promoted to Project Manager Team Lead: Tom has extensive business experience and with his deep technical skills was the natural choice to be named the Team Lead for the Project Management Department. In this role, Tom will work to constantly improve the level of quality provided to Pop Art's customers and provide ongoing support and training to the Pop Art Project Managers. Tom has a B.S. in Management from M.I.T.'s Sloan School of Management.
- Tom Paul, Promoted to Executive Director of Operations: As a senior member of the team with nearly four years at Pop Art, Tom has contributed to various Pop Art project successes in his role as project manager, and has managed financial and operational aspects for the last two years as Pop Art's Operations Manager. Tom was the obvious choice to join Pop Art's leadership team as Executive Director of Operations. His deep knowledge of Pop Art's project management processes and varied experiences within the organization allow him to contribute in unique ways to the Pop Art's strategic direction and continued growth. Tom holds a Bachelor of Arts in Arts and Letters from Portland State University.
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