I think it’s fair to say that if there is opportunity for beer at a conference, you’ll find James Whatley there. Not that he’s all about the party, but he is all about meeting people, talking to them about what they love and getting into debates over mobile technology. All of this makes him perfect for his position at 1000heads, the word of mouth marketing agency.

Sarah: What do you do for a j-o-b?

James: I am Marketing Director at the world's largest, full-service word of mouth marketing agency, 1000heads.

Sarah: How much of your building groups and communities efforts do you
credit for getting you more work?

James: Both personally and professionally? Almost 100%! I've been working in the industry now for five years and everything that I've achieved would not have been possible without the network that I've built around me. 

From a 1000heads perspective, we help manage some of the largest brand-led communities in the world. The positive word of mouth we engender from not only the community members but also from our clients continual appraisal and support massively supports our ongoing new business efforts. 

Sarah: What is the best part of what you do?

James: I get to make people happy. Last year in particular we had some amazing successes with campaigns such as Aussie Angels, Nokia Nav and Tron: Legacy all gifting huge smiles across vastly different community groups & members (while also, conveniently enough smashing our targets from our clients).

Sarah: How do you stay on top of trends and keep coming up with new ideas?

James: That's two questions! ;) Staying on top of things, obviously Twitter is of huge benefit however - my most powerful tool for keep track of the latest and greatest pieces of creative is actually Google Reader. I subscribe to around 5-600 blogs and image feeds, I also follow around 150-200 other Google Reader users who share some of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I can't recommend it enough. In regards to creativity; it can come fromanywhere. But where it will definitely not come from is my desk; getting up on my feet and outside of the office is a start. Some of my best ideas have come on the Tube (london's underground train system). That's actually where I do most of my blogging too.

Sarah: How do you manage your time during the week?

James: I live and die by my calendar. If it's not in there, then I don't do it. Even to the point of sending myself a meeting request for 'Do emails' for an hour each day; it helps. Admittedly it's not 100% fail proof as often - in this line of work - you have to drop things in emergencies and deal with what's important. It's not easy and to be honest, I doubt I've cracked it yet - however, if booking myself out for 3hrs at 7pm for 'go home and do nothing' keeps me sane, then I'll keep doing it :)

Sarah: Is there any part of your job that people would be surprised to
learn really isn't fun?

James: Traveling. It can be the *most* fun, of course it can. However, too much and you start to feel spun out and tired - Llke not enough butter spread over too much bread. Missing loved ones and yearning for your own bed after three days/weeks/months on the road? That's not fun. 

Sarah: If you were just starting out in the world of marketing now,
what would you do? Education or real world experience?

James: Both. Even if you're not starting out now, still try for both. Knowing what you don't know can sometimes be the most useful tool in your day to day working life. Be aware of weaknesses and, where necessary, fix them. 

I'm fairly sure that I will never know *everything* there is to know about Marketing, so I work hard, learn from others and, whenever possible, take formal training too. When an acquaintance remarked that he did not know why I was taking a scholarship ["Why do you need that?"] - I knew for sure that I had to do it. My response - "If ever I get to the point when I feel like there's nothing left to learn, shoot me dead - for I will be done."

If you’d like to follow Whatley on his marketing adventures, you can check him out on Twitter, on his blog, or over at the 1000 Heads blog.

I started following Grant on Twitter a few years ago as he always posts great photos of things in my hometown, Calgary. He's pretty smart about some other stuff too! He kindly took a few minutes out of his busy SXSW schedule to answer a few questions.

Sarah: You finished up at Veer two years ago, what's been keeping you busy?

Grant: Since leaving Veer (two years ago at the end of January), I've been in semi-retirement. I say "semi" because I could never be entirely retired, at least in the traditional sense. I've been enjoying spending the bulk of my time with my family (my daughters are now in grade 10 and first year university) and finally getting around to ticking a multitude of items off the household to do list.

Sarah: Ah, but not entirely retired, what's keeping you work-busy then?

Grant: I've been offering my interface and design expertise to developers and other creative folks requiring UI and UX reviews for the software and web products. But that's certainly not a full time role.

Sarah: Part time jobs are where it's at. What do you do to keep your creative side going?

Grant: In terms of keeping the right side of my brain stimulated, photography has been a daily pursuit for me. I was locked up in a non-competition agreement from my previous employer up until this past November. That prevented me from exploring the sordid world of microstock and the like. I'm beginning to look into some commercial opportunities relating to stock photography, but I'm not anticipating making another career out of it. It's been nearly 25 years since I graduated from ACA(D) and shot professionally. It's an intriguing prospect, but I'm more cynical about the industry these days.

Sarah: You also continue to write about Typography, correct?

Grant: Write and design. I currently contribute to Typedia on a regular basis and have been working with very good friends of mine at Ligature, Loop & Stem. I enjoy writing, but it's exhausting. Words don't flow out of my head naturally. It takes immense concentration for me to wrestle thoughts and words into a form I'm happy with. I also have trouble stopping the editing and tweaking process. I've probably gone over this very paragraph seven times already. One of things I really enjoy is writing and designing type specimens to illustrate the various weights and distinctive features of a family of typefaces. It's the perfect combination of creative writing, aesthetic finesse, and balanced design.

Sarah: You manage three sites and a mailing list dedicated to the Apple Newton, why so much love for it?

Grant: I suppose some part of me loves the Newton because it was always a misunderstood, oddball product for Apple. Yes, it was an extremely advanced product that showed promise ... but still an oddball, and poorly executed from a marketing and consumer point of view. It's unfortunate that the platform wasn't allowed to continue under Steve Job's second watch at Apple, because I believe that it was just starting to gain traction in specific vertical markets such as education and healthcare. The main reason the Newton still holds my attention is the cleanliness and thoughtfulness of the user experience and the invisibility of the data structure. Data and information is just there whenever and wherever you need it. And the interface has a beautiful, minimalist presence about it. I truly appreciate all sorts of obsolete technology, not just the Newton. But the Newton is a very small chunk of computing history that not enough people are aware of.

Sarah: What is your favorite project that you've worked on?

Grant: There have been dozens of smaller projects that I've had a hand in over the years ... many were extremely enjoyable to work on. However, if I had to pick a single project it would be the integration of community and social technologies into the Veer.com site a few years ago. A small group of designers and programmers were split into their own group, outside of the existing creative and development departments. We were charged with deciding on a development platform (Ruby on Rails), designing a workable community model, and then executing the entire project. All while being cognizant of how the new functionality and design had to mesh with Veer's existing branding, voice, and legacy technologies. The team I worked with was the best and the satisfaction of seeing that project go live was immeasurable.

Sarah: You have two daughters, are they looking to follow in your creative/entrepreneurial footsteps?

Grant: That's hard to gauge, as they surprise me almost every day. Both of them are certainly creative, artistic, and have a wicked sense of humour. I think those attributes could take them just about anywhere. Personally, I don't think of myself as an entrepreneur. I just happen to be able to figure out how to help really good ideas along.

Thanks for sharing Grant! If you'd like to know more about Grant, you can follow him on Twitter, check out his photo stream, or read some of his Typedia articles.

Photo by: Naz Hamid