_As the Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Organic’s Toronto office, David Feldt is responsible for managing all Canadian client relationships and business development efforts, focusing on the Financial Services, Automotive, and Communications sectors in both the U.S. and Canada._
_Most recently, David was VP, Managing Director at Blast Radius Toronto where he was responsible for new business development, client management, revenue growth, profitability, employee and customer satisfaction for Eastern Canada and the Central Region in the U.S._
_Prior to that, he was SVP, Global Practice Leader of Wunderman New York, leading a global team responsible for interactive marketing for IBM across eight countries._
*One Degree: Congratulations on the new gig! How have the first few days gone?*
Thanks Ken! In a word, exhilarating! What an auspicious week to join “Organic”:http://www.organic.com/ – just when the market is really taking notice. First, “Forrester Research”:http://www.forrester.com/ named Organic as “a leader in both transaction-led and image-led website design”:http://www.organic.com/about/news_detail.jsp?629. Then, an article in the Wall Street Journal highlighting our innovative work on “The Mudds”:http://www.wearethemudds.com campaign for the Jeep Commander, some of which was created right here in Organic’s Toronto office.
Of course, I’ve a lot of time during my first week meeting with teams, particularly Dave Stubbs and Dave Sylvester, the creative force in the office, to get up to speed on the wonderful work that Organic is generating for both Canadian and U.S. clients. Everything that I’m learning validates my decision to join the agency.
*One Degree: Organic has had a very low profile in Canada over the last few years despite the large Toronto office and the great successes in the States. Do you see yourself growing Organic’s visibility and client base in Canada?*
Category: Five Questions
“Daniel H. Pink”:http://www.danpink.com is the author of A Whole New Mind, the groundbreaking guide to surviving, thriving, and finding meaning in an outsourced, automated, upside down world. Dan’s first book, Free Agent Nation, about the growing ranks of people who work for themselves, was a Washington Post non-fiction bestseller and business bestseller in the U.S. and Canada.
He is a Contributing Editor at Wired. His articles on business and technology have also appeared in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and other publications.
Dan will be the lunchtime keynote at this year’s Digital Marketing Conference where he will be joined “In Conversation” by Tim Doyle, editor-in-chief of canada.com.
*One Degree: Is the Internet a cause or a result of our move from left- to right-brained thinking?*
It’s a little of both. My argument is that the scales are tilting — away from the left-brain, logical, linear, rule-based abilities and toward the more right-brain qualities of artistry, empathy, and big picture thinking. The left brain stuff is necessary, but no longer sufficient. And the right brain stuff is the point of differentiation.
The Internet comes in as a cause in two ways. First, it allows companies in the advanced economies to connect for free with people overseas doing routine, left-brain work for a very little cost. Second, the Internet and certain kinds of software allow us to automate many routine, left-brain tasks such as accounting, financial analysis, and even certain kinds of legal work.
*One Degree: Blogs and feeds and search and social software seem to be working together to amplify the web into a sort of “hive mind”. Do you foresee another kind of thinking that will follow your metaphorical left and right brain approaches?*
_Jon Lax, co-founder of user experience consultancy “Teehan + Lax”:http://www.teehanlax.com has been working in digital media since 1994. He started at Shift Magazine where he helped develop the first ad supported site in Canada._
_Jon was Creative Director at Modem Media Canada from 1998 to 2002. During that time he worked for many Fortune 500 clients, helping them develop applications, marketing initiatives and strategies in the digital channel. Jon has worked with clients like Coca-Cola, Indigo Books, Scotiabank, General Motors, Kraft Canada, Wendy’s, and Maritime Life._
*One Degree: How’s business?*
Very good. We are very busy and adding staff. We’ve gone through a lot of growth this year. Our biggest problem is determining how large we can be and still maintain quality. We never envisioned this company being much larger than 15 people and we are getting close to that number.
We are doing about 60% of our work for US companies right now. We have found US clients liking our “best-in-breed/boutique” approach more than Canadian clients, but that is balancing out.
*One Degree: Have you found that clients needs have changed since you started the firm in 2002?*