AJ Karim’s Ramblings

Gorilla Marketing

// February 25th, 2010 // No Comments » // Project Management

http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/electronic-arts-marketing-of-dantes-inferno.html

Project Responsibilities

// July 20th, 2009 // No Comments » // Project Management

Account Manager/Director gets with you (Producer/Project Manager) to get you acclamationed with a new project that just came through the company doors. New business has done their part, promises have been made, now the transition begins. You get the 30,000 foot view of the project (i.e. New product – immersive experience, you have 4 weeks and here is your team, good luck)… Now what? Doing your research comes first, learning everything you can about the project so that you are able to answer the questions you need when you conduct the initial kick-off with the team.

But there comes a point where as a producer you need understand the dynamics of the project, the team’s individual responsibilities, all inline with orchastrating a finalized and cohesive product. This product should meet the client’s expectations and most importantly not go over budget and stay on the timeline as much as possible.

A partnership needs to be established with the Creative Lead/Art Director and the Producer – I think once you have that in place, a project is on course to be produced properly. The next steps for the producer is to make sure that the vision the CD has in mind number one can be accomplished by the technical developers within the timeline set based on the budget. If you can bridge the gaps and keep everything in line you have successfully done your job. As the producer you really need to be able to answer any creative or technical question that team members internally may have at any given time during the life cycle of the project. On the flip-side, the producer should also answer any question the client or account manager may have about the project. Staying knowledgeable without micro-managing the project and project team is a fine art and balance that may take some time and experience to master, but also understanding the dynamics that make up the different teams you may be working with can affect that.

Good luck….

The Beginning & End Of a Project

// May 5th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Project Management

Sitting here at work looking through a couple projects I have… Its incredible how beautiful things start out with projects… The client loves you (based on your portfolio or how you sell yourself), the internal team is motivated and owns the project… The account manager feels good because based on your (“your” being the producer or project manager) schedule we should come in under budget and it will be a profitable project that can be showcase cause the creatives are going to do something nobody has ever seen before…

So the project kicks off, and requirements change… you still want to be a good partner, so you give, you bend… Then more changes come, the creative team gets frustrated, the developers have already built a core that needs tweaking that pisses them off… The account manager doesnt want to go back to the client to ask for more $ or time… I think any PM has gone through this… and it happens, its how you handle it, how you deal with all parties involved, that really can make or break a project.

I have worked places where producers just say yes, kill their internal resources since timelines don’t change, come in under budget, but the client loved working with them. Well… of course they did, you gave them everything they asked for… I am not saying you shouldn’t do everything you can to keep the client happy, and you can’t be that rigid where you are just saying “no” to everything… but somethings got to give. It helps when from the top down you are given the trust to manage the client relation and build and manage the internal team. If that is missing, and the producer is used as a scapegoat or punching bag (which I have also unfortunatly witnessed), then no one is happy.

So I don’t know where I was going with this.. just random thoughts about a specific topic… I guess a successful producer/project manager should not be judged on how a project or projects start, but rather how all elements related to that project end. Where the business goals met? Is the client, for the most part, happy with what was delivered? Is the internal team proud of the work they did, not burnt out too badly, and excited to work with you on another project? You will never have all three perfect, but if you can honestly say that all three are moderately in check, then you can consider it a successful project.

Good luck producers/project managers out there… A thankless job sometimes, that in this day & age is much needed with big and small projects a like.