One Hundred Fifty Percent

Q: Introduce us to yourself and your company.
Hello! I’m Erinn Farrell, and my role here at space150 is as the Lead Project Manager – essentially I have the privilege to not only be involved on Client specific projects, but I’m also part of an amazing group of people who are committed to success across all of our clients and improving the role of Project Management in relation to our clients and internally.

The project management team is just one of many cogs that makes our company, space150, so successful. space150 is the first hybrid agency to join the best practices from art and design to science and technology, thus combining ad agency creativity with software company adaptability.

We maintain this harmonic blend of design and technology in order to create meaningful digital relationships. space150 utilizes a multidisciplinary team of strategic, creative, technology, usability, and media professionals who will collaborate to create user experiences that are consistent with your brand position and business objectives. Check us out at: www.space150.com

Q: Interactive Producers come from all walks of life, they are a hybrid of talents, tell us about your background and how you got interested in digital production?
Prior to joining space150, I worked as a consultant for Accenture Consulting with Oracle Systems and Best Buy. During my tenure, I had the opportunity to lead the testing and development effort on various large-scale retail product launches, including call center, item and warehouse management, and point of sale solutions. In addition to myself, other members of the space150 PM team have come from traditional advertising, photography production, and technical development.

Q: How do you stay on top of emerging technologies and keep your team informed and motivated?
At space150 we are blessed to have so many disciplines and team members that keeping up with technologies is so easy because a ton of information comes to us! Our teams are eager to learn & experiment, so if an opportunity arises we are sure to do some investigation and then work with our teammates to determine how to utilize the technology or process.

Q: What does your ideal client/project look like?
Our most successful relationships have been with Clients who are interested in partnering to determine not only how a website looks & performs, but also what the business needs are & what solutions are most intriguing while being appropriate, and who are most committed to keeping an open mind!

Q: How do you educate your clients and set realistic expectations for a project?
The more communication up front the better! We are sure to include an explanation of our process, time lines, milestones, etc. in our initial conversations with all Clients and work to create documentation that supports our process while conforms to the Clients needs as well.

Q: What was the best project you have ever worked on?
Honestly, I have had the opportunity to work on so many great projects it’s hard to choose! I did however truly enjoy the rebuild of www.starz.com – this project included everything thing from strategy, design, requirement definition, and a ton of development – the entire project was about a year in length but it was a blast all the way through!

Q: How many projects are you comfortable producing at one given time?
It obviously depends on size and scope, but I’ve found that the number of projects matters less than the number of clients. I try and assign around 5 Clients per Project Manager – allowing them enough projects per Client to really understand not only the Project deliverables & but the larger Client goals as well.

Q: What does your dream production team look like?
I already have it; my dream team is space150!

Q: How do you ensure that your client's best interests are met?
Communication with the client and internally; a high level of visibility for all members involved, and frequent check-ins/meetings/reviews to be sure the client & space150 relationship grows along with the project.

Q: What is your vision of what the next phase of our industry is going to look like?
I think the next big challenge is going to be how do we do more with less. Monetarily with the economic client, but also physically with size of mobile devices – the challenge will be how to remain as creative, as cutting edge, as agile, as opportunistic with less space, money, and often time.

Q: Please share a snippet of wisdom that you would like to impart on our readers.
You need to let the team determine the leader you are going to be, not vice versa. The most successful teams and relationships I have built are those informed by the people around me. By being open & understanding of personalities, working styles, and pressures I’ve been able to adapt my leadership style to what is most necessary for that particular Client/Project/Team.

Also, you need to know that success is different for every situation – so be prepared to define what success means and what you can do to ensure it happens.