Since we launched in 2005 – a social media firm at a time when the term “social media” had yet to be coined – we’ve evolved constantly. No big surprise: this is a field that’s changing rapidly too.
Last month, we told you we were refocusing on capacity-building: helping other organizations, agencies and individuals to make the most of social media. We expected that would mean we’d support our clients through trainings and Concept Jam strategy workshops, while reaching a larger audience through blogging, cartooning and other media.
But no sooner had we decided to head in this new direction than Alex was approached about a position at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Emily Carr had received a major grant from NSERC to fund a new applied research on digital media, and they wanted someone with both an academic background in tech research, and real-world experience in the tech sector. For Alex, it was a perfect convergence of many of her passions… and the result is she’s the new Director of the Centre for Moving Interaction. (You can read her blog post about it here.)
Alex’s position at Emily Carr will bring a fresh dimension to her work as a tech capacity-builder, but Social Signal remains the hub for both of our efforts. I’ll be leading Social Signal and managing our day-to-day operations, client services and sales; Alex will partner with me to deliver Concept Jam workshops, group trainings and to provide advice on other projects as needed. Morgan will continue to support both of our work, working at Social Signal as our Operations Manager and as the new Partner Liaison at Emily Carr.
On projects that require additional expertise or more hands on deck, we’ll continue to draw on our great network of colleagues and partners. Whether it’s Natasha’s technical prowess and project management chops, Aaron’s Drupal prowess and community animation skills, or Channing’s social media strategy insight and sharp eye for entrepreneurial opportunities for organizations, we like to know we can turn to the extended Social Signal family for a wide range of skills and expertise when the demand arises. (On that note, I’ve recently started working with David Eaves on our second engagement together. And between his grasp of negotiation strategy and keen understanding of organizational dynamics, he lends a whole new facet to what we can offer clients.)
We’re excited about this new structure, which focuses on assembling the best team for each specific project, as an extension of the trajectory we’ve been on for the past four years.When we first moved from doing all our development work in-house, to partnering with great developers like Affinity Bridge, Work at Play and Agentic, we discovered that we got better results – and the bandwidth to take on a broader range of projects – by selecting the best development team for each specific projects. Now we’ll have the flexibility to build the perfect all-around team as well.
Most crucially, this new structure gives Alex and me the flexibility to focus on the work we’re most passionate about: the teaching, brainstorming, training, inspiring and creating. Growing and running a company is its own full-time job, and as Social Signal has grown, that part of the job has become bigger and bigger. Instead, both Alex and I want to be working with our clients, their stakeholders, and the fascinating ideas, insights and discoveries that social media can offer. It’s been a great four years for Social Signal… and they’re just the beginning.
