On occasion, I’m called upon to cover for one of my fellow employees while they’re out. Since everyone here at DDA is ultra conscientious, I never have to worry about being put in a bad position. Everything is handled as well it could be before their leaving and there is always a comprehensive outline of ongoing projects. However, subbing for anyone can sometimes be a challenge, since the primary goal is making sure there are no bumps in the road for our clients.

While taking on someone else’s responsibilities  definitely adds to my work load and can make things a little more hectic than usual, I enjoy it. It gives me an opportunity to experience someone else’s job and almost always makes me that much more appreciative of that person. Here at DDA we all have our own things going on. Yes there are tons of multimedia projects like eLearning platforms with virtual medical simulations and website design and development with integrated video production, but everyone of us has our own specialties. Even those of us in the same department take on different roles.

From afar, no one would ever be able to pick out the intricacies of a person’s job or realize the judgment calls and quick actions that need to happen day to day and can usually be done instantaneously and effortlessly by that particular person, but once you actually take on someone else’s role you begin to understand the difficulties involved and realize how special and talented that person really is.

I like to think I never take any of my coworkers for granted, but stepping into another person’s shoes and doing what they’re doing, no matter what end of the interactive and traditional marketing and advertising services they’re on, really makes me value their presence here even more. Because everything always looks easier from the outside looking in.

One cool thing about DDA is the access I have to experienced professionals in nearly all creative and technical fields — programming, graphic design, copywriting, video production, website design and development, search engine marketing (SEM), animation, and on and on.

Yes I am a writer, yes I’d consider myself very creative, and yes I’ve worked for a full-service interactive and traditional marketing and advertising company for the past three years, but I am not a designer, I am not very good with a camera, and I’m not about to start giving anyone IT support. With DDA, I don’t need to be any of these things. I can happily coordinate projects involving several different departments, conceptualize complex eLearning platforms with virtual medical simulations, and plot out a new website, and know that my fabulous coworkers will back me up each step of the way.

The reason we’re able to dream so big at DDA is because we have the people who can do the work. We never have to stop and say “Wait, how are we going to do this?” Even if it’s something we’ve never done before, we figure it out and do it well. That’s just the way it is at DDA.

One of the glitches of working for a full-service, interactive and traditional marketing and advertising company that’s focused on innovation is it’s never ending. As a company, we are continuously growing — new divisions, websites, technologies , and on and on– and there’s never any shortage of requests for any number of medical or corporate marketing services. What this means as a writer, project coordinator, and general new business representative is that I have to keep on top of our evolution at all times and ensure that how the general public is perceiving us is up-to-date and accurate.

We happen to be at a point in our evolution where there are a lot of changes going on, and I’ve been generally overseeing a lot of these updates, along with the other writers and department heads. For one, we now have the Universal Portfolio, which is a pretty amazing feat, let me tell you. Nowhere else will get such a comprehensive picture of what DDA has to offer (and had to offer; it’s as much a historical record as it is an A to Z portfolio). Connected to all that is the fact that we’re the Original Universal Developer and, of course,  all of the Flash conversion/iPad and iPhone friendly development going on over at AppleSavvy.

But, much like those late-night infomercials, that’s not all.  Our comprehensive eLearning development services have really grown tremendously in the last couple of years, including the creation of virtual medical simulations, the first such simulations we’re aware of anywhere. Then there’s the projects we’re completing almost daily, from video production and animation to website design and development and search engine marketing (SEM), and making sure those are added to our existing portfolios, along with all the other routine maintenance things we need do to.

So you see, there’s a lot going on here, and if I was going to be honest, I’d admit some days it can be exhausting. But I keep on moving forward, because you can’t work for a company focused on innovation without always looking to the future.