Level Agency’s Inaugural “Test. Learn. Grow.” Company Summit took place last week, and we’re pleased to share some of the highlights with you! We hosted outside speakers from our strategic advisory board and from innovative companies like and Robots and Pencils and LUMA Institute. The event also featured company presentations from our Centers of Excellence on Client Services, Creative, Media, and Data. The Exec Q&A followed by a happy hour capped off day one – but that wasn’t all! On Friday evening, we enjoyed a steamboat cruise on Pittsburgh’s Gateway Clipper.
The theme, Test. Learn. Grow., gets its name from our recently launched podcast. The speakers, following that theme, discussed topics related to the theme that aligned with their expertise.
Robots and Pencils CEO and advisory board member Tracey Zimmerman chatted first with our executive team. Tracey leads a company of hundreds of employees across three continents in a remote-first environment. She discussed the importance of setting a transparent company culture when in a distributed working environment. “Culture should attract, but it should also repel,” meaning that a clear culture should bring in talent that fits well into your company culture and turn off who may not mesh well with your team.
Next, the executive team spoke with David Babst, another member of the advisory board. They discussed the new strategic direction of Level Agency following the management buy-out. Together they highlighted the many strengths and opportunities for growth Level Agency has and the strategic shift from our past strategic vision to our future strategic vision—more on that to come soon.
Our Creative Center of Excellence hosted a “Lunch and Learn” talk with Mike Rubino, Visual Design Manager at LUMA Institute. Brad Stephenson, Vice President of Group Accounts and Creative Center of Excellence, moderated this talk, discussing the many different frameworks LUMA has outlined and the general principles of “design thinking.”
“Our inaugural Summit was so energizing after many long months of working in isolation. The content was on point and engaging, there was a great mix of expert voices from our guests and across the agency, and it was great seeing so many colleagues in real life (some for the very first time). I left the Summit with so many smart ideas to deploy for clients and a renewed focus for the work we do.”
– Brad Stephenson, VP, Group Accounts & Creative COE Lead
The “Lunch and Learn” was followed by presentations on topics from our Centers of Excellence and Cross-Functional Teams. Speakers included:
- Geoff Roebuck, EDU Team Lead II and Search Marketing SME, and Tim Fitzgerald, Ecommerce Team Lead and Media Center of Excellence Lead, presenting on Media Thinking & Problem Solving.
- Amy Settler, Account Director II, Client Partnership COE Lead, & Research and Strategy SME and Laura Greenawalt, B2B-1 Team Lead, presenting on Testing Culture and Client Partnership.
- Patrick Patterson, Managing Partner & President and Data COE Lead, presenting on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Technology as it applies to marketing and work processes.
- Allyn Reynolds, Performance Projects Account Coordinator, presented the progress on our new, innovative onboarding and training process and the projects the brand-new PRO-1 team has taken on.
The presentations were a fantastic opportunity to catch up with our Cross-functional Teams and Centers of Excellence on the progress this quarter and since the company restructure in January. It also sparked new ideas for collaboration and development that are already kicking off post-summit.
“A big part of professional development is creating chemistry within your workplace and, as a student learning and growing in this industry, getting to bond and gain more knowledge in an in-person environment last week with Level was an invaluable experience!”
– Haley Hunter, EDU Team Intern
Finally, we hosted our Quarterly Business Update and Executive Q&A. This process allows our team to get a pulse check as an agency and have an open dialogue with the executive team. Finally, we announced the winner of our biannual PROUDY award, a peer-nominated award given to the team member who most exemplifies our PROUD values in their everyday work. The summer PROUDY was awarded to Keefer Kopco, Media Manager II on the EDU Team and Display, Video, OTT SME.
“It is an incredible honor to be awarded the PROUDY at the first-ever Level Summit. I look at the caliber of past winners and consider myself lucky to be counted among them. Having a peer-nominated award is so incredible because I feel like one of the hardest things to do at any job is gaining the support and recognition of your peers.”
– Keefer Kopco, EDU Media Manager II Team and Display, Video, OTT SME.
We capped off the day with a happy hour on the patio outside the venue with signature Level-themed drinks.
For Day Two, our team took the opportunity to bond on a steamboat river cruise of the three Pittsburgh rivers on the Gateway Clipper. Those from the area may be familiar with the iconic staple. Having worked in a completely remote team structure for over a year—the time to relax, eat, and drink with coworkers and our “plus-one’s” was appreciated by the team. Fortunately, the weather was warm and sunny—everyone who remembered sunscreen was thankful. The breeze and good company made it the perfect end to the Summit. Following the cruise, those who wanted to attend the Pittsburgh Pirates v. Philadelphia Phillies game. We won’t rub in the final score… maybe we’re good luck?
Level Agency’s “Test. Learn. Grow.” Company Summit was an excellent opportunity to learn performance marketing and growth strategies to help your company grow faster with less effort! Thank you to Thursday’s speakers, Tracy Zimmerman (Robots and Pencils), Business Strategist David Babst, Mike Rubino (LUMA Institute), and everyone on our team who participated.
