Work

The final project I worked on with my time at RED Interactive, and a project I was very proud of. The CNN Challenge (no longer alive – RIP) was a flash-based, video rich interactive game that dealt with real-time news stories/topics administered via a custom Django/Python CMS. This was the first project at RED that utilized a team of hardcore back-end development, rich media, high-end flash front & back-end development, as well as several green-screen shots that occurred at various Turner Broadcast locations across the US.

I inherited the project and did everything I can to work with a team and motivate them to continue to push the edge and come up with the best creative and technical achievements possible. It was a huge success for CNN and the first interactive experience between their audience and favorite CNN personalities.

You select the host you want to lead you through a three round trivia game based on current news events. Depending on how well or not-so-well you do, the host will provide you alternate messages to either motivate or encourage you to do better. After three rounds you are given a final score which you can then review against folks in the network.

It was a challenging project, but a very satisfying project, the people we worked with at Turner/CNN where incredible & provided a ton of support. Custom ads were sold by the media team (which you are served in between each round via interstitials).

The flagship digital component to the “Know Your Own Strength” work for Gold’s Gym was about more than pure muscle — though it does speak to that. It examines the inner strength that can be found in anyone. The strength that enables people to achieve their goals — whatever they may be. The app was to be a daily/weekly companion to Gold’s Gym members all over the world – to help them achieve their goals, learn about classes, and exchange challenges and achievements socially.

The process was intense – this was one of the most difficult projects I ever worked on because of a bad decision I made early on — I selected the wrong partner. The client (Gold’s) suggested a small mobile app developer with zero reputation in the industry based out of the Bay Area. I had a conversation with them & really liked the folks (and still like them as people, just not professionals). Although my mind told me otherwise – to go with the safer (more expensive, but tested & tried) vendor partner, I selected them.

Long story short – though they developed 1-2 award winning apps, the team that was a part of that success was no longer there & the team I had working on my application was comprised of freelancers who had no stake in the project. I forced myself on them when i wasn’t recieving the results I expected and flew out to San Francisco & insisted on sitting side-by-side with their crew for a week to finalize phase 1 of the project.

We pulled it off & launched it & quickly fired them (much to their happiness) and hired a different partner out of NY to clean up, optimize and publish phases 2 & 3 of the app (which i did not produce).

Overall I am very happy with the product that was developed - creatively it is very well done & easy to navigate through & understand the flow. It connected to their back-end web services to bring back class schedules, gym information and other important pieces of information.

I also learned a lot – do your research – ask questions, make sure the team at a vendor partner who may have worked on a flagship product is the same team (full time, on staff, not freelance) that will work on your project.

The first major site I produced when I joined C-K, I was proud and excited to be on the Porsche account as Lead Digital Producer. The idea was simple – help try & erase the ingrained myths about Porsche vehicles with consumers who were on the fence about buying or moving on to another vehicle.

McKinney.com is a true labor of love, a project that almost had a life of its own. The team we put together was perfect in every sense – it was an absolute goal of mine to make sure that the site, its assets and creative/technology, are all done in house.