Ken will soon have to observe “low overhead” warnings due to the number of hats he has accrued over his 25-year creative career. Graduating with a BFA degree from the University of Missouri, Ken jumped into the job market the same year Apple launched its first Macintosh, and the two have been inseparable since. Just as constant change is an Apple trademark, evolution is a critical part of Ken’s design and advertising agenda.

Strategy and idea-driven, Ken embraces the hybrid attitude that is integral to the job description for a contemporary Creative Director. CDs can no longer simply bank on experience to lead their teams, but must understand and engage in all of the new disciplines (and acronyms) out there: interactive and mobile marketing, lead generation, social media, dynamic content creation, PPC, SEO and multimedia navigation. But it doesn’t hurt to have a rich and award-winning career in traditional media print, POS, broadcast, out-of-home and shopper marketing (i.e. if you have seen it, Ken has likely done it.)

War and Peace may be a quicker read than Ken’s client roster, but his work ranges from alcohol to zip-locks, with a good number of big players in the mix: Anheuser-Busch, Busch Entertainment (including SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove), Coca-Cola, Verizon Wireless, LA Gear, Nike, Reebok, Kellogg’s, Monsanto, Solutia, SSM Healthcare, Nestle-Purina and Wendy’s (because, oh yes, you DO want fries with that.)

A writer, brand messaging expert, and content director for 18 years, Mary Ann spends most of her days crafting conversations on behalf of intangible services rather than tangible goods. In other words: more people and services, fewer shoes and Skittles. (Not that there’s anything wrong with shoes or Skittles, mind you.)

About ten years ago, Mary Ann began to orient more closely to financial and healthcare clients, including local organizations such as SSM Healthcare and St. Louis Children’s Hospital, with work running the gamut from brand platforms to award-winning websites, TV, direct mail, print and more.

Benjamin Franklin is a graphic designer with over 15 years experience. A native of Nottinghamshire, England, he studied in the UK and began his career with one of London’s leading design studios. His career has since been divided between London and St. Louis.

Ben has worked at some of St. Louis’ top design studios, winning numerous awards throughout the years and has been featured in many design publications.

He has an immense passion for the craft of graphic design, an occupation he dreamed of doing since the age of thirteen.

He resides in Rock Hill, Missouri, with his American wife Lydia, and their two children Oscar, who was born in the UK, and Alana who was born in the US.

Ben is truly a yank and limey, especially as he has one of America’s most famous names!

As founder and Chief Creative of bigwidesky, Eliot has helped create vision, build brands and craft cultural conversations for Macy’s, Monsanto, Sigma-Aldrich, the Saint Louis Science Center, Alberici, Mary Engelbreit and many others.

Frustrated by calcified communications theory, bigwidesky is modeling a new communications culture in which people simply talk with people. While amazing new tools have made a new communications culture possible, what is truly remarkable is that the new tools actually encourage and require a more authentic, more organic and more human exchange.

With 12 years in marketing and 17 years creating content for the internet, Eliot helps organizations sidestep the “conventional” wisdom that hides the real value of these new tools.

Eliot is a sort of incidental visionary who has the ability and flat-out obstinacy to coax transient ideas into form as dimensional entities. Additionally, he casts bigwidesky project teams and manages and directs our creative efforts. An award-winning Web and print designer, Eliot possesses an indefatigable interest in constantly evolving technology tools, techniques and processes.

If there’s any truth to the power of a first impression, then this sentence is a wasted opportunity. I should’ve put a zinger right up front. From the very first word, this introduction should’ve melted your face until it dripped down your shirt and gummed up your keyboard. But what did I put instead, limply leading the way? The word “if”.

IF!

Even in caps it’s the weakest of conjunctions!

It’s just that, practically speaking, in a few short blurbs I’m supposed to have you convinced that I’m a promising cross-discipline creative asset. And I’ve already blown my first impression and this subsequent opportunity to overcompensate. A better copywriter would’ve composed this paragraph entirely of adjectives and a better designer would have put this thing on a yellow background.

At this point, it probably doesn’t matter that I’ve obliterated the expectations of my colleagues and clients—you’ve probably stopped reading and I don’t blame you. You’ll never know that whether I’m acting as a creative lead, strategist, art director, or copywriter, I concoct novelty through experience. You’ll never read about how I tackle comunication challenges with media-conscious skill and passion. Even if you had made it this far, you would have seen the glaring typo in the previous sentence and removed me from all consideration. You see? I’ve done this to myself!

When I resubmit to you this introduction under a different name, I’ll relate my successful history at nimble marketing boutiques. I’ll point out my increasing levels of responsibility and breadth of exposure. I’ll make a compelling case for the mutual benefit of our partnership. I’ll suggest you visit my portfolio at www.babyimsorry.com. And I definitely won’t start with “if”.

I’m sorry,

Matthew D. Jensen
Unapologetic Creative

Michael Kilfoy is a marketer, designer, visual strategist, illustrator and photographer. He is a creative director and principal at Studio X, a marketing and design firm.

He has extensive experience in branding and has done some of St. Louis’ best-known logos, including ones for the old Busch Stadium, the Rams 10th Anniversary, the Pujols Family Foundation. Much of his work can be seen on www.studiox.us.

In 2005 he authored and designed ‘St. Louis Seen & Unseen’ a contemporary visual portrait of an amazing place: St. Louis, which won a gold medal IPPY for the best non-fiction book in the midwest. A preview of SLS+U can be seen at www.stlouisseenandunseen.com.

As a User Research and Interaction Designer Consultant these past two years I have worked in a variety of industries. My past work includes gathering user requirements, conceptual design, writing design requirements, and persona development.

It is my goal to create innovative, new, and usable interfaces for the people the need to use them.

Inquisitive explorer and jack of many trades keen on storytelling, improvement, simplicity, design, and cooking. And serial commas.

Brian is a marketing professional with a strong technology background. Working with predominantly IT companies (or IT departments of marketing companies) for a large portion of his career, Brian has enjoyed the advantages of marketing tactics delivered and measured through technology. He’s also been blessed to work with some strong creatives who “get it” and together they’ve been able to fuse technology and compelling creative to reach audiences and measure what happens.

Brian enjoys speaking on subjects such as one to one marketing, guerrilla marketing and effective email marketing. In these presentations he hopes to reach others to inspire them to do something that stands out from the crowd, something different, something creative and something measurable. Brian believes that something as “fluffy” as marketing can and should have ROI.

Before colleges and universities began to hand out web dev degrees by the thousands, Chris Worley was perfecting his skills as a 3-D designer, Flash developer, animator, video game designer, new media producer and all-around digital guru.

Real-world experience of Chris’s breadth and depth is invaluable: if Chris doesn’t have the tool to do something, he just builds it. That kind of digital carpentry capability is rare, and results in executions that are not just beautiful and elegant, but are also solid, reliable and functional.

Chris has logged over 15 years of hands-on creation time serving award winning digital projects for organizations including Alberici Constructors, Royal Bank of Canada, Express Scripts, Anheuser Busch, Bacardi, and more.

Born and raised in Kirkwood, Chris completed the web design program at the prestigious art and design university Savannah College of Art and Design and graduated from Full Sail University, where he was a digital media instructor for five years.