By Melanie Hodgman

When my daughter was born four years ago my husband was working part time, in school full time and hustling to line up a job in his new career post graduation. His parental leave consisted of four days, which came at the expense of skipping classes. After that he continued his rigorous schedule while also embracing the new role of being a father. This left me home alone with a newborn for my entire maternity leave. I struggled to adapt to motherhood and the lack of support, even though I knew my husband would rather be home bonding with his first child.

By contrast, when I gave birth to twin boys a little over a year ago, we had squirreled away savings for a year so my husband could take three months of job-protected but unpaid leave to focus 100% on our family. As crazy and overwhelming as those early months with three children under the age of 3 were, we both look back on that time as an amazing experience we were in together. We learned how to parent our expanded family together and were on equal footing regarding domestic chores, parenting, exhaustion, and bonding with our babies.

Sharing parental leave with my husband after the twins’ birth, compared to my solo maternity leave was night and day (literally and figuratively!). But many new parents in the U.S. don’t have the opportunity to take paid parental leave at all. Unlike 173 other developed nations, the U.S does not have a nationwide paid maternity or parental leave policy. Without paid maternity leave or affordable childcare many women leave the workforce after having kids, which contributes to a growing gender pay gap.

As the federal government continues to lag behind the rest of the world, states have begun to take matters into their own hands. In January 2020, Washington state will become sixth in the nation to require employers to provide paid family and medical leave to virtually all employees in the state. This broad sweeping policy provides parents—not just mothers—with 12 weeks of partially paid leave after the birth of a child or when welcoming a new child into the home.

Applauding the state of Washington, we revisited our own parental leave policy to see where 2A stood in comparison. When we turned the lens inward, we realized we could do better. Our old policy aligned with companies of similar size but it still took a traditional approach by offering primary parents more paid time off than secondary parents.

Recognizing the importance of paid time off for all parents, 2A’s updated parental leave policy offers 12 weeks of paid time off for all parents welcoming a new child into their family. This policy reflects 2A’s value of workplace inclusion by offering more financial support to fathers and secondary parents. Equal leave means birth mothers have greater choice to return to the workforce while their spouse or partner stays home.

We know that gender equality in the workplace will take a series of small steps. So here’s one more to get us all moving in that direction.

By Katy Nally

You know the story: a classically nerdy guy grows up tinkering with computers, teaches himself how to code, heads to college, drops out to launch his startup, and poof, becomes a millionaire. It sounds familiar because it’s the origin story of tech legends like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg. And increasingly (finally!) there’s a parallel plot shaping up for women developers, just look at Melanie Perkins from Canva and Lucy Guo from Scale.

The DIY nature of coding—plus the potential for a lasting legacy—has lured many into the field of computer science. As our economy shifts to weight technology jobs more heavily, the once-nerdy hobby and self-taught education now hold the promise of a secure, lucrative career for people on the developer track. In fact, more than half of today’s developers don’t have a degree in computer science or a related field.

This idea of self-empowerment was central to a new initiative from the Windows Developer Marketing team at Microsoft. Meet the Dev Collective, a learning portal for developers to grow their coding skills across Microsoft platforms. 2A’s mix of developers, designers, and PM consultants built the Dev Collective site from the ground up to help all skill levels boost their coding acumen. Here are some highlights:

• Extensive content: The Dev Collective connects developers to Microsoft tutorials to learn everything from Azure Blob Storage to working with Javascript.
• Curated learning: Developers have the option to nibble away at a variety of courses—maybe they want to brush up on C# or better understand Azure Databricks—or they can bite off a whole learning path that includes each course they need to master a new skill.
• Personalized experience: Skill level badges on courses assist with navigating the catalog, while progress tracking and bookmarks help developers pick up where they left off.
• Mobile-ready: The truth is, learning happens everywhere. That 15-minute bus ride every morning or that coffee break at 2 are opportunities to brush up on old skills and learn the latest techniques. That’s why we made sure Dev Collective travels well and is accessible in all formats.

We’re proud to help democratize coding with this learning management system, because who knows where the next unicorn will come from?  

By Annie Wegrich

You’re up at 5 a.m. to practice. You lace your skates just right, run drills, and learn to pass with precision. It’s game day, and your whole team is ready. The last thing you want to do is let down your fans by showing up without a hockey puck and casually eating a hotdog as you skate to center ice. That’s not professional.

It’s the same with websites. If you drive your users to a messy site that’s hard to navigate, slow to load, or, just plain boring, you might as well be facing off without a hockey stick.

2A is here to help. Our website development team plays every position from design to deployment. We recently designed and built a new website for The Sports Institute at the UW Medicine. Their previous website didn’t reflect their newly updated branding, nor did it evangelize their mission, initiatives, and research. Meanwhile, The Sports Institute database was bursting at the scripts, causing pages to load slowly. The user experience wasn’t set up to surface new content and innovative posts were lost among the pixels. The 2A team of consultants, developers, and designers grabbed our gloves and helped The Sports Institute build a game-winning internet presence (and, we got pretty good at sports metaphors).

Here are a few of the plays we made to give The Sports Institute a website that scored big and met their goals:

• Built a custom CMS that can support frequent updates
• Designed an intuitive navigation structure to guide audiences to their desired content
• Balanced photography and original iconography to keep visitors enchanted
• Prioritized headlines and copy to increase conversion and improve SEO

The result? An inviting and purposeful website that responds at slapshot speed.

Is your website in the penalty box? We’re that coach who will turn it around—can’t you see the winner montage?  

By Kelly Schermer

“Be of maximum service to the people around you, approach everything openly, and try to learn all that you can from each experience and challenge.” Shawn Murphy’s personal tagline has helped him get to where he is today—location- and vocation-wise. While the phrase may seem more like a curriculum than a jaunty description, Shawn every bit measures up to it.

Be of maximum service to the people around you

In his current position as an embedded consultant, Shawn wears a lot of hats to support his team at Microsoft. He administers the budget and performs ongoing updates and maintenance to the on-ramp content for OneDrive, SharePoint, Yammer, Stream, and Teams. He’s also responsible for driving attendance to the SharePoint conference by overseeing demand generation through multiple channels. Shawn’s commitment to service and his willingness to pitch in and help out makes him a valued team member. 

Approach everything openly

Shawn’s willingness to try new things has helped shape a lot of his big decisions and it’s paid off in spades. During college, his diverse interests motivated him to earn degrees in both English and business. After graduating from the University of Detroit-Mercy near his hometown in Michigan, he came to Seattle to explore and hasn’t left. Shawn found a niche for himself in marketing technology, where his dual degrees make him a hot commodity. From startup to corporate, Detroit to Seattle, English to business, Shawn’s willingness to approach opportunities openly has yielded rich and varied experiences. 

Try to learn all that you can from each experience and challenge

Back in the 90s, Shawn worked as the marketing manager for a forward-thinking app store (well before the proliferation of mobile devices) where he built and managed a team of 15 employees. In that role, he oversaw every aspect of product development and marketing. While the app store was too early for its time, none of the experience was lost on Shawn—it was a major stepping stone that helped round out his career in tech marketing. From there he went to Microsoft, working as a vendor and full-time employee. From the dotcom fizzle to the Microsoft flourish, Shawn believes every role provides an opportunity for him to learn. Today, he draws from those experiences to help clients at 2A.

Everyone at 2A shares a personal tagline when they first start working. From “Bazinga!” to “Treat others as you would treat yourself,” we’ve heard some beauts, but Shawn’s was the first one we’ve ever Googled. Turns out, it’s a Shawn original. Impressed? So are we. Next time you need an all-around all star for your project, give us a call. We’ve got the best by way of Detroit!

By Annie Wegrich

Every spring, my husband and I invite a growing number of friends to celebrate Passover at our table (which sits six, not 18—get comfy). Most friends have never attended a Passover Seder before. They haven’t dipped parsley in salt water or combined sticky sweet charoset with bitter maror. The Passover meal goes on for hours, and the process from matzo balls to macaroons is a lot of cooking for two.

So it’s a good thing I’ve been playing the role of executive chef for the past few weeks on a flavorful and complex project. Cogeco Peer 1, a global provider of essential B2B technical solutions, participated in three SXSW events last month, with the goal of educating tech leaders and avid gamers about their brand. The company wanted to power up their SXSW 2019 exhibition presence with messaging and designs.

Cogeco Peer 1 worked with 2A to plan, shop for, and boil a four-star SXSW feast. The smorgasbord kicked off with booth designs to grab attention and an event landing page to entice. The main dish consisted of social posts to drive followers to the Cogeco Peer 1 event booths and giveaways to delight serious gamers. Cogeco Peer 1 was looking to give conference attendees a taste of how they could power their potential with technology, and 2A had the menu ready.

Except, unlike Passover, I had a team of marketing chefs to pull off this feast. 2A designers, storytellers and consultants all joined me in the kitchen. Our storytellers concepted a theme that made stomachs rumble. Our design gurus whisked up 4-star booth backdrops, banners, and event boards. Our consulting team made sure dishes complimented each other, and everything arrived on time. The 2A team achieved full-scale event management, and I affirmed that with the creativity and wit of our team, nothing is off the table.

Headed to a conference? That’s on our menu.

By Katy Nally

Defeathering a chicken isn’t the only valuable skill Jesi Chrisman brings to the table. Growing up on a 5-acre farm not only left her with a love of homesteading, it also gave way to fundamental qualities that make her a dynamite project manager. With chickens to feed, pigs to wrangle and horses to check on, Jesi learned quickly how to be a caretaker, and how to stay organized and flexible to overcome unexpected challenges.

From ostrich care to customer care

Her pet ostrich was one of the first things she learned to take care of. Little did she know that 6-foot bird would help her develop patience and attentiveness—skills perfectly suited for a string of customer service roles later in life. Before joining 2A, Jesi worked as a lead assistant at a dentist office, helping to deliver the utmost care for patients and efficiently run the back office. As a project manager at 2A, she supports Microsoft partners who develop accessories for Surface.

Ready to tackle new challenges

Jesi is always game to tackle new challenges to further her team. She’s on point when you need her, ready to get your flock flying together. Once she even chased down an escaped ostrich that managed to jump its fence. If she can corner an ostrich that’s capable of running 43 miles per hour, and successfully get the giant bird back through a gate… well, not much is harder than that. As a project manager, Jesi’s willingness to take on more responsibility is what transformed her first short-term position at Microsoft into a long-term role, advancing her entire team to provide better support to partners.

A rise ‘n shine timekeeper

If only Old McDonald had a coordination master like Jesi on his team, he wouldn’t waste his time finding one animal at a time—he’d have an animal inventory at his fingertips! Jesi knows how to keep teams organized and operating efficiently. To support her Microsoft team she works across departments, ferreting out events that spotlight Surface and tapping into her customer service skills to showcase the right partners.

Jesi might consider herself an ole farm girl, but when it comes to project management, she has some nifty tricks up her sleeve.

By Katy Nally

I ignored a lot of advice in college. My dad was the first one to try to steer me away from journalism—he nearly had a heart attack when I shared my “highly impractical” degree plan. Then there were my professors. Many of them had climbed the ranks at print publications and were still wounded by the slashed budgets and staff cuts occurring at outlets large and small. They weren’t shy about portending the demise of newspapers during lectures, and I thought I detected a little smugness in the “writing for web” classes.

So chalk it up to stubbornness, or naivety, but I stuck with journalism and surprised even myself when I landed a job at a small newspaper after college. It wasn’t until I ran into my favorite professor outside the state legislature building in Hartford that I started to think about other career options. Instead of telling me I was doing great and boosting my fragile 22-year-old ego, he told me, “Get out while you still can!” That time it sunk in. Maybe it was the genuine concern in his voice, but I started thinking about where—other than print publications—my journalism degree could take me.

Turns out marketing makes a great home for would-be journalists. Here’s what we bring to the table:

Structured, newsworthy stories

First and foremost, journalists can write. It’s drilled into us. We have to produce loads of accurate copy on deadline, and we rely on a proven formula that works and aligns with marketing. A lead goes at the top to hook the reader, then an explanatory body breaks down the message in clear, concise points. Journalists know how to keep your marketing consistent, on-message, and compelling.

New facts and emotion

Journalists are diggers. We’re trained to ask an annoying level of questions to uncover the truth! In marketing, this skill comes in handy when you want to validate a proof point with data, or beef up a campaign with first-hand testimonials. Journalists live for sifting through pages of documentation, or cold calling sources to learn the skinny. We have a knack for interviewing subjects to draw out click-bait-worthy quotes and uncover the emotional ties that give a story its relevance.

Less spin, more ground

Authenticity is the holy grail for brands. It’s how marketers want to sound, and it’s how consumers want to perceive companies. But many marketers fall into the spin trap, where they’ve piled on so many great things about one product that their pitch couldn’t possibly be genuine. That’s where journalists can help. Firstly, we have an inherent aversion to spin. And secondly, we’re conditioned to remove ourselves from the story and consider it from other people’s perspectives—in this case, the customer. We use that lesson in empathy to uncover new ways of framing the benefits of your product in a way that’s genuine, and makes you look muy authentico.

While newspapers may be falling out of fashion, journalists will find a soft landing in marketing. And we’re here at 2A when you’re ready for a fresh take.

By Katy Nally

What’s the worst that can happen? That six-word ethos has propelled Erin McCaul across careers, countries, and cliffsides until it landed her here at 2A as our consultant for web projects. As you might have gathered, Erin isn’t afraid of much. Like her sci-fi role model, Sarah Connor, she terminates challenges with her ability to see problems from all sides and turn up creative solutions.

The left side of the road

Just after college, Erin found herself on the other side of the Pacific, teaching English to a classroom of students in Japan. She didn’t speak Japanese, she didn’t know anyone in the rural town of Kunisaki and she had never driven on the left side of the road before. But none of that stopped her. She broke her students out of their shells, made friends with her neighbors, and developed an affinity for her egg-shaped car. She even successfully set up a wireless router relying only a manual in Japanese and her intuition.

The limitless grey areas

But she couldn’t stay away from the Pacific Northwest for long. See, Erin likes the grey areas in life (Seattle included) because they give her room to roam. She doesn’t like to be boxed in when it comes to problem solving because she enjoys exercising her curiosity and trying unexpected solutions. And Seattle’s tech industry was just the place for her grey-area approach to flourish. First at the SEO software company Moz, and now at 2A, Erin has unblocked developers to construct marketing assets and deploy them across channels. When problems arise, Erin gets a twinkle in her eye and calmly tells her crew, “this is just our chance to get creative.”

The granite way forward

While solutions to marketing challenges might be murky, the path forward looks crystal clear compared to the obscured, craggy route up a 15-pitch climb in Squamish, BC. That’s Erin’s happy place, and where you’ll find her on the weekends—with chalky hands atop giant granite boulders. With an outdoorsy spirit rooted in a what’s-the-worst-that-could-happen attitude, Erin crushes climbs, then tops it off with some trail running. And lucky for our clients, that boundless energy extends to their projects as well.

Need someone to think outside the box to solve your marketing challenges? Erin’s happy to wade through the muddy grey areas and dig up solutions. 

By Kelly Schermer

Some digital marketing campaigns today make me feel like a downright curmudgeon. Before I attended the Digital Marketing Summit in Seattle, I assumed that was because a) I am, or b) I’m not the target audience. The summit provided perspective on where big shifts in digital marketing have taken us all—marketers and consumers alike—and helped to dispel a few myths that have made the digital marketing waters murky. The biggest revelation for me was that good digital marketing should come from good marketing, but not all of it does, and that can make the marketer in all of us feel like a grump.

Major platforms are not channels

Digital marketing arose from the creation of new channels that we rely on today to reach consumers.  Platforms that originally established themselves as free, democratic aggregators and distributors of information across web and mobile channels (such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and the App Store) are becoming markedly less democratic and (surprise!) more fee-biased.

Rand Fishkin talked about how Google strips content from sites to create a no-click search experience that keeps customers on its page instead of linking out to yours. He shared research on how Facebook and YouTube similarly discourage people from sharing URLs in order to keep eyeballs on their sites.  

Brands can still create value through these platforms, however it’s important to understand what they offer versus what we want them to offer, how to play within the rules of their ever-changing algorithms, and—above all else—how to use these platforms to complement the marketing strategy for the channel and not vice versa. 

Entertainment is not marketing

Everyone agrees that content is still key to engagement. However, the iPhone and social media make it increasingly harder to know the difference between gratuitous entertainment and entertaining marketing. For example, you could argue that capturing Lady Gaga’s performance of “Bad Romance” in front of a business and spreading it on social media promotes awareness of the business. You could also argue that investing that same time and money into creating a “bad romance” campaign to support your value prop will lead to higher quality customers. 

Both arguments have merit. The call ultimately comes down to your brand, your business, and your customers. As marketers, it’s important we challenge ourselves to not get caught in the media sparkle and evaluate each campaign for how the content can contribute to the brand and business overall.

Digital marketing is not magic pixie dust

In my favorite session of the summit, April Dunford spoke about how to position complex products in a crowded market. As promised, her message was Obviously Awesome: frame your product by focusing on its most valuable attributes. Her shorthand, like her presentation style, was colorful and direct:  

• Your solution + The right market context = Effective but boring
  • Ex) We make popsicles for kids who like popsicles.
• Your solution + The right market context + Trend = Effective and SPICY!
  • Ex) We make popsicles for kids who like popsicles and deliver them poolside when kids call from the popsicle hotline.
• Your solution + Trend = Confusing
  • Ex) We make popsicles and there’s a poolside hotline.
• Market context + Trend = ?
  • Ex) For kids who like popsicles, there’s a poolside hotline.

April made the point that good digital marketing must be grounded in smart marketing as part of a larger strategy. 

In the throes of digital evolution, we need to invest in activities that are built on facts not myths. When in doubt, continue to put quality brand work at the heart of everything and build a digital strategy around the elements you can fully own—it’s a surefire way to win over the staunch marketing curmudgeons.

Ready to move your business forward in our digital world without compromising your voice, your brand, or your ownership? So are we.

By Katy Nally

Once upon a time, Katherine cracked open a book. She was smitten. The more she read, the more she appreciated books and their ability to transport the reader. That enthusiasm grew over the years, until books and reading slowly sowed their way into her identity. By the time she moved to Seattle she had liquidated her possessions—except for her book collection. It was the one thing she couldn’t part with. Today she pays tribute to her first love by working with the Microsoft book store, writing spellbinding copy to hook readers, and promoting a happily ever after for all.

Never an idle protagonist, Katherine has taken charge of the narrative of her career. Facing a professional turning point, she decided to get her Project Management Professional certification to open new career opportunities. And she’s not stopping there. Next up is her PMI-Agile Certified Practitioner exam. All that know-how has bolstered her love of thinking strategically and building processes to achieve a goal. As a project manager at 2A, Katherine supports the Microsoft book store, leveraging her penchant for strategy to help drive the team’s marketing campaigns.

The Microsoft book store feeds her need for books—Katherine thrives amongst her fellow bibliophiles and enjoys getting an inside look at the publishing industry. She’s right at home curating and publishing lists of favorite reads, and writing snappy copy to make her lineups pop. Before joining 2A, Katherine worked as a copywriter at Zulily. Her way with words comes in handy for the Books Merchandising team, which publishes her copy on the books storefront and across various marketing channels. Her keen sense of project management, plus her writing skills keep her team highly efficient and running smoothly.

Katherine has always been dedicated to helping people live happily ever after by building a more peaceful world. In addition to her history and international studies majors, Katherine also earned a peace studies minor. Her education sparked a stint in AmeriCorps, working for the International Rescue Committee. These days she’s a member of both the Seattle-Perugia Sister City Association and Seattle-Isfahan Sister City Advocacy, which promote an inclusive and diverse city. When she sees a cause that deserves advocacy, Katherine doesn’t hold back. She’s already converted a few friends to the sustainable blockchain Burstcoin, after learning about its green solution to reduce energy waste in coin mining.

Project manager, writer and advocate all rolled into one. Let’s see how she can build your story.