Why I'm excited to be a vendor

I’m excited.

I joined Sony DADC New Media Solutions a few months ago after a decade-long tenure in a large, brilliant, complex machine of a company. My time in my previous company was wonderful, and I’ve described it in the past as personality-defining. It was (and still is) my family, and I believe in the company values wholeheartedly. Some have said that my new role as a vendor, which concentrates on partnering with businesses to simplify and future-proof their operations needs, is a bit of an abrupt change from my last role, which concentrated on distributing content and building exciting initiatives that brought that content to where the audience actually is. I disagree. Here’s why:  

In every role I’ve held in my professional career, the common thread has been a fascination with the audience; what they respond to, what they have to say, what they say they watch vs. what they really watch (let’s be honest; way more of us watch KimK than care to admit it), what they choose to spend their time consuming, and – perhaps most importantly – how they are watching. And throughout it all, I have been both an avid fangirl of the digital video audience, and proudly counted as one of its members.

I’ve loved seeing the landscape of digital video evolve over the years. Seeing new ways of bringing content to people on their terms, on their schedule, has been a visually scrumptious kaleidoscopic spiral of experimentation with platforms, rights types, and bold content creation. I’ve seen the industry take risks, learn from their failures, and cherish their successes. And I've lived those stories, too.

Those of you who have met me know that I often describe the digital video audience as birds on the wing; collectively swooshing in one direction until a small subset suddenly choose a different direction with seemingly no warning or clear purpose. Our world changes. All. The. Time. A content owner, a distributor, a vendor, or a platform never know when the rug is going to be pulled from under their feet. That sounds alarmist, but it’s not intended that way. It’s exciting. There’s a real beauty to be found in that potential for gravity to suddenly shift on you.

I used to say, when interviewing potential candidates for roles in my team, that one of the first companies to whom I distributed video was MySpace. Yup. Remember when that was a thing? When everyone was chasing after that trend and how to harness that audience? It’s fascinating to think a platform that prominent, with that much brand awareness, isn’t part of the landscape in the same way today. But it’s telling. My story to the candidates was designed to inspire a sense of excitement about being nimble, about being ready for that rug to be pulled and embracing that change. Because change is not a chore, it’s an opportunity to learn.

The industry in which we work is complex, multi-layered, and constantly changing. The role I have now is entirely focused on helping companies to be nimble, to make what was complicated yesterday become simple today so they can think about how they are preparing for tomorrow. I’m focused on finding business partners who want to innovate, collaborate, and embrace what’s next together. It’s an evolution from the roles I’ve embraced before, and I’m pretty excited to be here.

Are you?