Get to Know… John!

What is your role at Vovia?

I’m an Account Manager at Vovia and I work with clients to help them develop online marketing strategies to build their businesses. I work very closely with our internal team of Digital Marketing Specialists to ensure campaigns are running smoothly and meeting our clients’ business goals. Basically, I help clients make awesome things happen online.

What’s the best part of your job?

Two words… the people. Vovia is a diverse collection of unique, talented, and genuinely fun people!  We all work awfully hard but have A LOT of fun doing it. I’ve learned so much in the brief time I’ve been here; all thanks to the great people I share the office with.

Oh yeah… did I mention “beer-o-clock Fridays”? That’s pretty cool too.

Why did you decide to work in the digital industry?

In addition to my past digital marketing experience, I’ve gathered a lot of familiarity with traditional mediums of adverting. That being said, digital marketing and advertising has always fascinated me. Technology is ever-changing and perpetually altering the way consumers are using and being informed about products and services. It’s exciting to discover how businesses are shifting their marketing mixes from traditional to digital mediums and even more exciting to be a part of it.

What else is cool about digital? The closet geek in me says “the numbers”. Being a self-proclaimed spreadsheet and formula buff I value digital’s ability to gather and analyze data much more readily (and accurately, I might add) than that afforded by more traditional mediums. It helps marketers make more informed business decisions and often identifies new opportunities that may not have surfaced as a result of traditional advertising.

We hear that you grew up in the sticks. Is this true?

It is, in fact, true. I was raised in a rural Manitoban community about 60 km north of Winnipeg. And yes, to answer your next question, it WAS cold. But like every other warm-blooded Manitoban we bundled up in the winter and made the best of it.

I have fond memories of growing up in “the sticks” – learning to drive at the age of 10 in a barren field, building forts in the woods, dirt-bike riding and jumping my BMX off of anything I could stack up high enough to get hurt – awesome.

We’ve been told you have a bit of a wild side. Care to elaborate?

Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it a “wild side”, but to compliment the inner geek that I referred to earlier I definitely have been known to shake things up from time to time. A few things I enjoy most:

• Getting out for a long ride on my motorcycle to feel the wind in my face
• Paddling out through crashing ocean waves to enjoy those few precious moments of blissful surf
• Clambering to the front of an enthusiastic crowd of concert-goers to revel in the wailing sounds of an electric guitar
• Peacocking on stage amidst a savage mob of karaoke enthusiasts

Okay, the last one may be the product of a young man’s dream to become an internationally-successful rock superstar. Alas for me, that ship has sailed; however, an Account Manager for a progressive digital marketing agency is pretty cool too.