Speaker 3 - Brian Forth

Unfortunately I didn't make it to class for this speaker, and judging by my classmates blog posts I definitely missed a good one. From what I've gathered in the readings, Brian has a very unique outlook on how to go about running his business. He is the founder and CEO of a web design company named SiteCrafting, who's vision statement is posted on their website as "Thriving employees, organizations, and communities creating impact through technology". He seems to have found his calling in web design while teaching elementary school students, deciding there was a market for a web design business after being approached by parents and friends now and then to help design them websites. Web design wasn't nearly as easy back then as it is now, and plenty of people were looking for somebody that had the expertise required to do it. Brian's business grew through word of mouth, and still does to this day as he's skipped marketing altogether and relied on the product to sell itself. That's not the only thing setting SiteCrafting apart from other companies, even the building is unique in that every employee shares a common area free of dividers and walls. The work environment is set up in a way that allows every one of over 30 employees direct access to all of their coworkers at any given time. Brian seems to think this has a big impact on the teamwork, efficiency, and creativity of the team as a whole, and I find his approach fascinating. If anything seems to have stood out the most to my classmates from this talk, it would have to be the emphasis on creating a healthy work culture, and focusing on delivering the best quality product possible. You can tell these are two things Brian Forth takes very seriously. SiteCrafting seems like a company that anybody would be proud to have in their town, Tacoma is lucky to have them!

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