Media Team

No matter where Pam is, she’s always going above and beyond. At home she’s raising chickens, growing her own fruits and vegetables, baking, sewing, building, doing all she can to reduce her, well, heck, most everybody’s carbon footprints. And still she stays totally devoted and deeply involved in her husband’s and three kid’s lives. Going above and beyond with mind boggling energy and loads of humor. At work she’s equally focused. As a masterful strategist, media buyer and shrewd negotiator, with the most time and experience of any buyer at SMI, she won’t rest until she’s taken each client’s campaigns above and beyond their greatest expectations.

If this was the Old West, Josh’d be the sheriff who hitches up his belt, walks through the swinging doors, and with a glance silences a raucous barroom and sends men scurrying for cover. Yup. As a Senior Media Buyer, packing twenty years Media Buying and negotiating experience in his holster, he’s the guy you call when there’s a “No” to deal with. Client wants a lower price on his media buy but the stations say No? Send Josh in. If there’s a better price to be had, Josh’ll get it. And Josh is a brilliant strategist. He knows exactly where a client’s spot needs to be to get the biggest bang for the buck. In other words, Josh loves to win. At work, on a golf course or in fantasy sports. Luckily he has a fantastic sense of humor and can poke fun at himself. At home he has a wonderful wife who works as a Neurology Nurse Practitioner and a daughter he adores. But when he’s at work, if you’re our client, you can rest assured that when a “No” rides into town, Josh can take care of it.

You’ve heard people say it. You’ve said it. You’ve looked in a mirror, shrugged and said, “Well, everybody makes mistakes.” Hate to break it to you, but not everybody does. Matt Perkins has never made a mistake. At least, not in twelve years as Traffic Director at SMI. Okay, maybe it’s an office myth, passed down for generations, but we’ve seen no reason to doubt its veracity. Matt quality checks ads, gets them to their assigned stations around the country, makes sure the correct ad is playing when it’s supposed to play and insures our clients get the good results they pay for. But never making a mistake tends to put a little pressure on a guy. Matt releases that pressure by running lots of miles with his wife, searching out the best restaurants, watching (and discussing) countless movies, playing video games, staying passionately involved in his kid’s lives, even fulfilling the duties of an elected member of the school board. Ask anyone in the office and they’ll tell you Matt’s the warmest, most caring guy you’d ever hope to meet. With a fantastic sense of humor. No mistake about that.

Think of him as a kind of horse whisperer for media reps. A few words in their ears (we have no idea what he actually says) and the price for our client’s ads on national network and satellite radio drops precipitously. And the spots find themselves in the A-one, prime, most strategic and effective slots available. Jared is happy, our clients are overjoyed and the media reps somehow feel they’ve come out better than anyone. Yes, with Jared the force is strong. And what a force he is outside the office. A super-involved Dad, coacher of kids, lover of sports, player of hockey, champion husband to his college sweetheart and holder of the Wittiest Man Alive Award, ten years running. Wherever Jared goes, laughter is sure to follow. And he keeps our clients laughing too…all the way to the bank.

Je ne sais quoi. Robin’s got it. And it’s not just because she studied in Paris and is fluent in French. Robin’s stellar fashion sense turns heads in any room. But don’t let her stilettos fool you. This girl is ruthless on the basketball court. Her competitiveness doesn’t just win games, it wins clients the best rates. As a National Media Buyer for SMI, Robin is a shrewd negotiator when buying local media. She analyzes results with her keen eye for detail, delivering ROIs consistently above and beyond expectations. So why not add a little je ne sais quoi to your campaign? With Robin’s help, your results will never look better.

In the days when most people thought a podcast was a botanical term for a fibrous bulb a plant ejected in the spring, Lisa knew better. It’s broadcast podcast, baby. She knew what it was and that it’d soon be where it’s at. And sure enough, now it is. As our Podcast Strategist with more podcast experience than practically anyone, Lisa pioneered the Podcasting division and leads its strategy and media buying. She communicates with podcast clients, develops media plans, ideas, scripts, and creative for the client’s brand. Lisa is detail-oriented and knows every in and out of every show she’s placing. She also works well under pressure—just watch her when challenged to a dance-off! Ginger Rogers has nothing on her. Rumor has it she can tell a golf ball where to go and it always obeys. So do her kids. But why wouldn’t they? Lisa’s the perfect Mom. She’s a video game whiz, she takes her kids hiking, biking, trips to the beaches, and on fantastic vacations at Disney World. At Disney she’ll sometimes stop and stand for a long time in Future World at Epcot, with a faint smile on her face. Who knows what she’s thinking? Probably the bright future of your campaign.

Nothing says team player like a willingness to do some heavy lifting. And nobody does more of it than Andrew. He’s such a team player he’s on two teams: Podcasting and Creative. When it comes to Podcasting, he’ll handle a load of details that would stagger most mortal men. But Andrew carries them with ease. As an Audio Production Engineer in Creative, he’ll take a script, add just the right voices, music, and soundscape until he’s elevated your ad and your brand to the listener’s top-of-mind awareness. He brings 7+ years of experience to cultivate winning ads. But the truth is, he’s on everyone’s team. Someone needs a little help, Andrew’s the first one there. Everything about Andrew is artistry, right down to his tattooed forearms. He’s a dedicated husband, father, Mr. Fix-It and bourgeoning chicken farmer. He’s good at what he does, he’s ready to help and he loves his work. So do our clients.

In the podcast world, Lee Syatt is a bit of a celebrity. His recent co-hosted podcast has been downloaded over two hundred million times. He’s produced and co-hosted a variety of other podcasts and he’s helped at least a hundred people launch or improve theirs. He’s a stand-up comic, a lover of people, sports, fine dining and a world traveler. At SMI Lee does just about everything related to podcasting. He coordinates and runs all the onboarding calls, verifies impressions, air checks the spots, coaches podcasters and helps with research. If you’re looking to find your way through the world of podcasting and discover the pot of gold, you couldn’t ask for a better guide than Lee.

There are only two times you might be a little nervous around Sarah. When you pick up a ping pong paddle, or if you’re a station that missed airing one of our client’s commercials. Yep, that sweet, smiling, loving, loveable Sarah will take you apart, shot by shot, at the ping pong table and relish it. And oddly, you enjoy it too. (Sarah is that charming.) Or if you’re a station that missed just one of our client’s spots, well, as Media Researcher Sarah always finds out. Always. But one smile and one of Sarah’s jokes and the people at the station rush to make it good. Sarah makes sure our clients always get what they pay for, and that they always come out winners. She’s a lover of music, a devoted hockey Mom and a wonderful host of get-togethers with her many friends. She’s all fun. Until a client’s spot doesn’t air, or you face her in ping pong. Then she’s all business.