T3 has changed in many ways since 1989, when I cashed in a modest IRA to start my own advertising agency. Since then, we’ve spread our wings east and west and evolved into an agency beyond my wildest dreams.
Along the way, we’ve partnered with great clients to deliver pioneering work across print, digital, social and mobile. We’ve hired people who humble me every day with their intelligence and dedication to making us the best independent agency in the country. We’ve let moms bring their babies to work through our T3 & Under program and even welcomed dogs into the workplace.
Now we’re making room for what we jokingly refer to as T3 & Over. This influx of second-generation employees, including a couple of my own, are breathing new life into the idea of T3 being an extended family, not just a place to work.
One of my intentions when I started this company was to create a family-friendly agency. We’ve succeeded on most counts, fallen short on occasion, but never because the effort wasn’t there. While we depend on people working hard and being invested in the work we do for our clients, we also believe that you don’t have to be consumed by work to be effective. Championing a healthy work/life balance ultimately turns out better work and happier employees.
Seeing second-generation employees in the halls is affirmation that we’re doing something right at T3, that we’ve not only stood the test of time, but also stood for something. It’s organic marketing in its truest form.
SXSW Interactive serves as a great crystal ball for what’s next, which is why we put an army of T3 technologists and creatives on the streets of Austin to find the top trends, technologies and tech companies likely to make an impact in the coming year.
Finding great ideas at SXSWi was no more difficult than spotting hipsters, but paring them down to three things that we really think bear watching in 2013 tested our predictive powers. Take a look at the slideshare below to see what floated to the top of our list.
If you drove by T3 Austin headquarters in the wee hours of Saturday morning, you might have noticed all the lights on. We didn’t forget to shut down for the week, but instead to open the doors to developers competing in the official SXSW HackATX all-night hackathon competition.
Competing teams were given access to 23 enterprise-level 7-Eleven APIs developed by T3. The goal: develop new and innovative ways to provide digital convenience.
After a kick-off party at T3 Austin headquarters, a group of experienced developers settled in for a night of coding and creativity to help 7-Eleven re-imagine convenience. We provided caffeine, snacks, T-shirts and development advice. On the line were bragging rights and cold, hard cash.
The night was fueled by a creative spirit, plus lots and lots of hard work from the 27 competing teams. After a sleepless night of coding, 10 teams were asked to present their ideas to a panel of judges. Sean Devlin and Team Doo emerged as the overall winner. His SMS-centric app focused on the convenience of reaching as many 7-Eleven customers as possible. With a simple text message to a dedicated phone number, mobile customers using his app can find the closest 7-Eleven, current promotions, available services (gas pumps, Redbox, etc.) and directions.
Winners were chosen by a panel of industry-leading judges based on a combination of functionality, design and presentation.
“We want to thank everyone who participated and competed at HackATX,” says Pamela Crosier, T3 director of Creative Development. “It was exciting to see such a collaborative spirit coursing through this place overnight. Great fun, great work.”
