The pulse of Alexander Interactive

At Ai we pride ourselves on having cross-functional skill sets. Our front end developers know how to design, our project managers study up on back end development and our Office Coordinator knows how to rap.

That’s right; our ridiculously awesome office coordinator Alex (aka A-Mike, aka my fellow Tar Heel) knows how to rap. To remind the office about our weekly refrigerator purge, she laid down some rhymes to advise the crew to name and date their foodstuffs.

You can check out her sick skills in her Hamster Time performance of “Straight Outta Flatiron” (to the tune of NWA’s “Straight Outta Compton”) below. You can see the full lyrics after the break.

With the New Year almost two weeks behind us, the time when resolutions often fade and reality sets in is quickly approaching. Without accountability and the support of others, it can be tough to stay on track.

Enter the 2012 Ai Paleo Challenge.

How did this challenge come about?

Over the course of the past few months, Ai has accumulated a contingent of employees who all do Crossfit, a strength and conditioning program that promotes “constantly varied, high-intensity, functional movement.”  Crossfitters believe and have proven that a Paleo lifestyle fuels athletes to have the best performance during workouts as possible.

But Crossfit is much more than just a fitness regime; it’s a community. And no better way to stick to your New Year’s resolutions than by having the people in your community hold you accountable.

What is Paleo?

Paleo is a way of eating; it’s a lifestyle, not a short-term diet. The name Paleo comes from the word “Paleolithic”, and it’s often referred to as the caveman diet.   The concept is to eat like our ancestors ate, omitting major everyday foods like sugar, wheat, rice, corn, and dairy. The goal is to consume locally grown produce, and animals that eat and are raised naturally.

Put simply: You focus on what you can eat – meat, fish, nuts, seeds, fruit, and vegetables, keeping starch and sugar intake to a minimum. Consumption should be kept to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.

What are the Ai Paleo Challenge Rules?

Duration: The challenge will last for five weeks. From Monday, January 9 until Friday, February 10 all participants’ meals must be Paleo (some people doing “moo”-Paleo in which some dairy is allowed).

Cooking: Every week each participant cooks a Paleo lunch for their fellow challengers per a  cooking calendar agreed upon before the competition.

Scoring:  Different types of Paleo cheats are worth different amounts of points. The person with the lowest amount of points at the end of the challenge wins.

Note: The following drinks are allowed – 1 glass of red wine, 1 shot tequila or vodka, and unlimited coffee (as long as it only has milk in it) each day.

Blogging: All meals must be posted and labeled to a Tumblr blog daily (honor system in full effect). Snacks do not need to be included, but honesty regarding cheat snacks is expected.

Prize: At the end of the challenge, the group will go out to a big hearty meal – one big cheat meal . The winner will be treated to their food and drinks.

But in the end, as cliché as it sounds, we all win. And even though everyone reacts to eating Paleo differently, knowing that we were able to eat clean and stay away from processed foods for over a month is a victory in itself.

Who is competing?

Five Ai employees are competing, each of whom belongs to a Crossfit affiliate and is familiar with eating Paleo.

Follow us as we venture on our primal journey over the next month. Keep your fingers crossed for the benefit of our other coworkers and clients that we don’t take things too far (i.e. walking around the office barefoot, growing out our hair and/or starting to resemble apes more than humans).

May the best cave(wo)man win!

During an interview I gave to Alison Enright of Internet Retailer magazine about designing across an increasing variety of devices, and the topic of the current excitement in the web design community came up. It got me thinking about why exactly everyone is so jazzed about what’s going on in the web right now.

While the storm of talk about responsive web design and new technologies are definitely factors in creating a high level of buzz with design oriented techno-nerds like me, I found myself realizing that these things are just a small piece of what makes the future of web so exciting.

We are again at a point where designers and developers are equipped with both new devices and the technologies necessary to create truly exciting content for them. Five years ago today, Steve Jobs unveiled the very first iPhone. Since then we’ve seen smartphones (then tablets) go from newfangled to prolific.

Right now we are creating new patterns and trends that will shape and form the way the web is used for ages to come. The internet is evolving it right now, and we have the power to make it whatever we want. It’s a good time to be in the web industry.

Be a leader.  Always be prepared.  Communicate.  Stay disciplined.

These concepts have been a part of my life since I was 10 years old, when I first stepped out onto the volleyball court.  At that age coaches must simplify the game and stick to the basics, no matter the sport; a fifth grader can’t handle much more.  Almost two decades later, with four years of Division I volleyball under my belt, and a half a decade into my project management career, I can’t help but look back and realize the same rules still apply.

Be a Leader

There’s no question that the project manager (PM) is looked upon to provide direction and has the capacity to influence members of the team in the same way a sports team captain would.  In both instances, you’re a decision maker, have to be quick on your feet and always have the end goal in mind.  You lead by putting the team first, the passion you exude becomes contagious, and you know how to get the best out of others.  Enthusiasm, confidence and the ability to help facilitate points of clarity in times of uncertainty are vital both on the court and in the office.  You must have patience, understand and embrace the process and make team members understand the value behind everything the team does as a whole.

Always be Prepared

Ask any collegiate volleyball coach or player why he or she is successful and some portion of accomplishment will likely be attributed to preparation.  Before every volleyball match in college we reviewed game tape of our opponents and ourselves.  We’d write down and submit notes on what we saw, practiced daily, studied our tendencies and consistently worked on our mechanics to see what worked and what didn’t before the next match.  Different combinations of actions led to different results; the ones that worked were recorded and repeated, and the ones that didn’t were adjusted until they became the former.

Years later (not to say that I’m no longer active – enter: Crossfit) I’ve replaced my daily collision with a wood gym floor with a daily coffee, a keyboard and a process I follow that is always evolving based on the same concepts above.  Every client, project, and project team is different.  What worked for one client or project may not work for the next, but setting aside time to review lessons learned from previous engagements prior to starting a new project is a valuable exercise that is often overlooked.  Documenting wins and losses upon completion and referencing back to them is critical for future success, and no PM, coach, or player can argue that.

Communicate

On the volleyball court communication is fundamental. Whether it’s calling out hitters on the opponent’s side, non-verbally sharing play signals with teammates, or even engaging in self-talk to get you through to the next point, no one should ever have to guess what your next move is. The same holds true for me now.

As the PM of a project team you’re on the hook to ensure both the internal and external teams always know the upcoming key activities and who is responsible for what.  Proactively sharing information without being asked helps guarantee success, and paying attention to your audience when communicating facilitates the information transfer.

Stay Disciplined

Being a collegiate athlete demands sacrifice and therefore balance.  You’re juggling daily practice, traveling, classes, schoolwork and social time.  You must have the discipline to get things done within a given timeframe without sacrificing quality, and holding yourself and your teammates accountable.  Being a PM demands the same attention to detail and self-control. Between tracking multiple work streams, attending meetings, producing your own deliverables, and helping the team stay motivated you’re forced to constantly prioritize and hold yourself and the team accountable.

Being part of a team with a common goal is where I thrive.  By surrounding myself with people who are smart and driven will only help me grow, both on the court and in the office.  While many non-athletes are successful PMs, having the background in sport has helped develop my leadership and communication skills while teaching me to always be prepared and keep myself disciplined.  And I must admit high fiving coworkers and clients can go a long way too.

I wanted to kick off the New Year by sharing two special anniversaries here at the joint.

We have two more people joining the 5-Year ‘Wood Anniversary’ club this week (2011 ‘Wood’ club inductees include Tom-Tom, Anna, Jess, Katie). Congratulations to Mikey “Boom Boom” LeDoux and Easy E (aka Ed).

My, how they grow up so fast.

And a hearty congratulations to the other fine and beautiful inductees from this past year. We are so glad you are here. You are a vital part of our family. Things just wouldn’t be the same without you.

Nothing but love and gratitude.

The proud 2012/2011 Wood inductees

Upon return from our holiday break, Mr. Ledoux was delighted to see that his desk has been decorated with photos of him through the years.

The man with the master plan turned the big 1-0 last month. Folks at Ai get a day off on their birthday, but the Mayor passes on that perk. Sure, he could have kicked it at home and watched Boy Meets World on TGIF, but he has a company to serve and protect. A true security professional never puts down his guard.

Join us in song to commemorate our loyal, precious piglet. Happy birthday little man!

(Make sure you listen to his emotional birthday speech)

We love the holiday season at Ai. Every December our office is filled with Christmas lights, menorahs, gifts and delectable holiday treats. This year we even turned one of our conference rooms into a Maccabee cave.

Another year-end tradition we have is our annual holiday site. The theme this year was finding joy everywhere. You can check out the site here:

Members of the team went around the city, and everywhere they went they found “joy” in one form or another. Whether it was in a gift from a friend or written on the outside of a grande soy triple pump peppermint iced macchiato (no whip)(extra sprinkles), we found joy everywhere. And boy did it make us want to dance (or do something approximating dancing).

Last week David Ow, Director of Project Management, took the PM team out to our annual holiday dinner, a time to get out of the office and change the scenery for a few hours while reminiscing on the past year.  And while we definitely spoke about things other than project plans, budget updates and weekly status reports, it was hard not to reflect on what we’ve learned since the same time last year.

Although the PM team at Ai is comprised of people with diverse backgrounds and experience, as a team, we can all say we’ve learned to keep the following top of mind –

• Be fact-based.
• Espouse numbers as a means of supporting your position but remember that the numbers aren’t your position (in and of themselves). That is, critical analysis of what numbers, metrics, etc. are telling you is equally if not more important than the numbers themselves.
• Provide options and implications to those options in order to (a.) make a decision and/or (b.) help facilitate the making of a decision.
• Planning has to be realistic.  You can’t succeed if it can’t be accomplished.
• Champion “reasonable” and “realistic”, but remember it’s your job to figure out creative approaches to getting to the finish line.
• Think like it’s all on your shoulders, but remember that it’s not.
• You are a facilitator; a guide; a remover of obstacles; a creative problem solver; a generalist who people will come to for all of the answers – even if you’re not the right person… but you are not The Boss.
• You’re responsible for bringing the right people in at the right time and setting them up to do what they do best.
• Be flexible / nimble.  Even the best-laid plans go awry.  Even the most proven processes will go off-the-rails for a variety of reasons.  The true test of your mettle as a PM will be how you respond, react, and adjust in a timely manner.
• Celebrate success. Since projects are finite, they will have an end…no matter how far off that might seem at present.

Cheers to my fellow PM team members, and to our fearless team captain, David, who continues to guide us to the finish line time and time again.

Happy Holidays!

During the month of November everyone awaits their Thanksgiving tradition. Whether it’s Turkey mid-day or takeout at dinner time, it is a time to be with loved ones, reflect and give thanks. This month we also decided to give back.  And Ai showed up. BIG.

Although usually camera shy, I gladly posed in front of what seems like a delivery for a mid-sized NYC bodega. However it is 564 food items donated by Ai-ers during our Thanksgiving food drive benefitting Urban Pathways (UP). With me are Jennifer Leao, committed staff member of UP, and Ora Timbers, a formerly homeless New Yorker who lived at Ivan Shapiro House – one of the residences Urban Pathways supports. Ora is now in her own apartment in the UP scatter site program with a permanent part time job in UP’s development department. Food drives free up budget dollars, allow for increased critical services and help Urban Pathways have more success stories like Ora’s.

The Ai food drive was scheduled to run from November 8^th to 28^th.  As our 1^st food drive, I was prepared to accept 150 cans as a success. It was a satisfying surprise that we more than tripled our goal.

We got off to a very slow start with no can contributions the first days. Once the race got going, the Front-End Engineers took an early lead.

The last week the competition got tough.

On November 22^nd, the Management Team + IT pulled ahead. They continued with a solid pace, courtesy of a genius strategy (i.e. boxes of food delivered from Amazon). At the last moment, the Front-End engineers won back their victory as half of the team trekked to a nearby grocery store returning with over a 100 cans in one trip.

The winning Front-End Engineers are below in all of their glory. Congratulations to them on a big win and to everyone who participated for having a positive impact on the lives of homeless this winter. We tip our proverbial hat to you!

Cyber Monday 2011 was the single biggest day of online shopping.  Ever.  And, some of our earlier predictions of sales continuing to hold strong beyond Monday have held true: the newly dubbed “Cyber Week” saw online retailers rake in $6 billion, according to comScore.  This is up 15% from the same period in 2010.

Consumers expect deals, sales, and discounts all week long.  In fact, they will expect them up until the very last day that they can get free shipping and guaranteed delivery before December 24th.  The implication for the savvy marketer is that one must no longer just focus on readying promotions for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but instead on a strategy that continues to keep a site top of mind throughout the entire holiday shopping season.

Will 2012 bring Cyber Month?