UNITED FUTURE Adds to Growing Team With Four New Hires

LOS ANGELES and SEATTLE, May 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Interactive agency UNITED FUTURE, the digital arm of Wong, Doody, Crandall, Wiener, today announced the addition of four new team members to the Los Angeles and Seattle offices. Samuel Kim, director of Web analytics, will be based in Los Angeles. Joining the Seattle staff are Scott Lair, project manager, Laura Dean, user experience designer, and Narith Hoc, art director.

Samuel Kim, director of Web analytics, will be responsible for guiding the company-wide analytics practice. He brings a wealth of analytics experience, most recently from Ogilvy & Mather, New York where he was a senior consultant for marketing analytics. While there, he was the marketing analytics lead on the Time Warner Cable, DuPont and Kaplan accounts. He developed multi-channel digital solutions with data-based insights and recommendations.

Prior to Ogilvy & Mather, Kim was a senior campaign analyst at Rapp Collins Worldwide in Los Angeles where he managed analytics relationships for the Toyota, Adobe and Mattel accounts. He previously worked at Intermark Interactive in Torrance, Calif. as a business analyst and at Digitas in Boston as an analyst. Kim is a graduate of Boston University with a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy.

Scott Lair joins the agency as a project manager, responsible for directing the digital business for client engagements. Most recently, he worked at Ascentium in Bellevue, Wash. While there he worked on digital brand extension, marketing campaigns, SharePoint and website planning, and implementation of public sites and intranets for clients including Microsoft, Nokia, Del Monte, Expedia and Wetpaint.

Prior to Ascentium, Lair worked as a user experience architect and e-learning consultant for St. Louis, Mo.-based Quilogy, where he established the user experience practice. His clients included, among others, Anheuser-Bush, Microsoft and the State of Iowa. He then transitioned into project management for Microsoft clients. He has a master of arts degree in instructional design and a bachelor of arts degree in political science from the University of Missouri, Columbia.

As a user experience designer, Laura Dean ensures the integrity of the interactive user experience through a combination of consumer behavior research, design strategy, information architecture and analytics. Dean joins the agency from Apex Learning, Inc. in Seattle, Wash., where she was the Math Domain Art Lead. While there she developed interactive Flash pieces and templates for secondary educational online curriculum and consulted as a user experience designer on their client-facing platforms.

Previously, Dean worked as a multimedia designer for Online Xpress at San Francisco State University, was a program assistant and juror for the Hi-Lo Film Festival in San Francisco, and freelanced as a Web designer and animator for clients such as Audio Heirlooms and Bluewolf. She holds a master of arts degree in digital media from San Francisco State University and a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Narith Hoc joins the team as an art director, bringing experience with Web, mobile, application, motion, corporate branding and identity, packaging and print collateral. Prior, Hoc was a senior art director at Ascentium in Bellevue, Wash. where he managed the design and production of video, websites and mobile applications, and trained, supervised and provided art direction for designers. Clients included Microsoft, Expedia, Windows Mobile, Precor, T-Mobile, Electronic Arts and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Earlier, Hoc was a designer at Engine Interactive in Seattle. While there, he designed print materials, websites, email templates and motion graphics. He holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in visual communication design from the University of Washington.

About UNITED FUTURE

UNITED FUTURE, a Wong, Doody, Crandall, Wiener company, is a full-service interactive agency leading the convergence of the Internet, technology and broadcast. Its team of experts designs engaging user experiences that efficiently drive greater business value and consumer satisfaction. With offices in Seattle and Los Angeles, UNITED FUTURE and Wong, Doody, Crandall, Wiener have 147 employees and $175 million in billings.

UNITED FUTURE clients include: ABC.com; Alaska Airlines; Airbiquity; Autodesk; Holland America Line; Microsoft; The Resort at Pelican Hill; Washington State Department of Health; and T-Mobile. For more information, visit www.unitedfuture.com.

SOURCE UNITED FUTURE