Hanson Inc. - Design, Interactive Solutions, Video Production

Steve is an interactive marketing pioneer and a video and live production visionary. When he established Hanson in 1991 as a production company, Internet use was in its infancy. But as on-line commercialization took root, Steve saw the unlimited potential of interactive marketing for his clients. He formed a team of the best and brightest website designers, engineers and marketing strategists, which brought an impressive array of clients from around the globe to Hanson. Under Steve's guidance, the interactive group joined Hanson's expert video and live production staff to create a formidable, full-service digital agency.

Steve maintains client partnerships, oversees Hanson's executive management team and directs the company's long-range vision. Hanson clients value Steve's ability to see the big picture while understanding the intricacies of an immediate situation that requires action. Thus, he's adept at identifying their long-term issues while addressing constantly changing market conditions.

“My job is to make sure our clients get the very best of what we have to offer, which is a lot,” Steve says. “I personally help them look beyond their day-to-day business to figure out what market conditions can impact them the most. We then determine which new technologies can positively impact their bottom line. This approach, I believe, has helped us forge immensely successful and rewarding client relationships and made Hanson a significant presence in our field.”

Steve's 30-year career in communications and strategic planning runs the gamut from photojournalism and public relations, to film and visual communications, to sales promotions and on-line marketing.

He graduated from Bowling Green State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.

Jenny has been a guiding force in nearly every facet of Hanson’s steady rise from a tiny video boutique to a thriving digital agency.

As a video producer, she’s manned and managed projects shot on sprawling soundstages and in rural Chinese villages, and shown in airports and boardrooms, on PBS and MTV.

During her tenure as VP Operations, she oversaw a twenty-fold increase in employees, managed the acquisition of a new building, supported strategic outgrowths into new ventures and spearheaded internal initiatives related to the convergence of video and interactive media.

In her current role as VP Creative Services, Jenny combines her vast experience in business operations and digital go-to-market strategies to oversee both the integration of creative resources and the execution of creative solutions for the benefit of our client partners.

“Effective solutions start by understanding a client inside and out–both how they function as a business, and how they’re perceived by others,” says Jenny. “Then using that knowledge to determine the means, the media and the message. And having the right people in place to execute on the plan.”

Jenny graduated from the University of Toledo with a bachelor’s degree in Art History. She joined Hanson in 1994.

Prior to joining Hanson, Inc, Ron Senkowski served as VP Production and Editor-in- Chief for FEARnet, a VOD network co-owned by Comcast, Sony and Lionsgate Films.

Senkowski built a stable of original web series, including WTF (What the Fear?), new movie releases, interviews, games, news, events and comics.

Prior to joining FEARnet, Senkowski served as Convergent Lead and Site Director for Scripps Networks popular brands HGTV/HGTV.com and Fine Living.com. At Scripps Networks he oversaw the development of strategy and content for hits such as Summer Showdown, Design Star, Rate My Space and We Live Here, the first on air series for Scripps that was from user generated content.

At Farmer’s Almanac TV, a start up that Mr. Senkowski founded and eventually sold to his Board of Directors, he oversaw the creative and development teams with success in broadcast and broadband distribution and emerging technology platforms while emphasizing lifestyle content and reinforcing the Farmer’s Almanac brand. A multi-year series with National PBS resulted from his tenure and leadership at Farmer’s Almanac TV. At Disney Studios, Mr. Senkowski held the position of Director of Development for Michael Mann’s production company. He sourced material for the award-winning film The Insider, starring Russell Crowe, managed relationships with studios, agencies and oversaw a stable of writers and staff.

Senkowski has sold screenplays to Adam Sandler, Quentin Tarantino, Barry Levinson and has written and directed a number of smaller features (including Table for One with Rebecca De Mornay, Let’s Kill all the Lawyers with nobody you’d know). Senkowski’s most recent script, SWAG, is an adaptation of an Elmore Leonard novel and looks to be going into production in 09.

Mr. Senkowski holds an undergraduate degree in both Political Science and English from the University of Michigan Honors program, an MFA in Film and Television from the University of Michigan and an MBA with a focus on Strategy from the University of Tennessee.

Websites can function well and be strategically sound, but require sharp design and enticing graphics to grab users and help them easily navigate the site. As Hanson’s director of design, Erik works closely with our technology and strategy groups to create websites that are aesthetically pleasing yet practical and functional. Erik is that rare artist who has a firm grasp of the technology side of interactive marketing, a talent recognized and appreciated by Hanson’s clients.

“An effective website has to hold the attention of visitors and make it easy for them to find what they are looking for,” Erik says. “So my job is to create a design that not only looks good but encourages – and allows – people to move around the website with minimal effort. This is what our clients want, and this is what we deliver.”

Erik’s achievements have been widely recognized. In 2004, Inside Design Magazine featured his work in an article about an award-winning Hanson project. Also, STEP Inside Design recognized one of Erik’s projects as a top 100 design piece of 2003.

Erik joined Hanson in 1998. He earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Wittenberg University, where he also studied computer science.

Few can match Mike’s intellect as a website design and content strategist. His marketing, management, communications and graphic design skills coupled with 13 years experience in interactive and website development have propelled Hanson clients’ websites to new levels of performance and success.

This success, Mike says, is no accident. “Hanson’s overriding strategic philosophy is that websites and all online experiences are extensions of clients’ brand relationships. When visitors interact with a site, they are interacting with a valuable service of that company. The entire online experience needs to play a role in the selling process. And with a Hanson-designed website, it does.”

Mike joins Hanson’s marketing, business and technical directors to form an experienced and dynamic team that provides clients with a resource unmatched in the quickly evolving world of Web design and content.

Prior to joining Hanson Inc. in 1998, he served in strategic and production positions with several prominent interactive, graphic design and marketing firms.

Mike holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing management and an MBA with a marketing management focus, both from the University of Toledo.

He is a member of the Usability Professionals Association, the Information Architect Institute and the Association for Computing Machinery: Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction.

The blending of function with design and content that Hanson’s websites are known for can be attributed largely to Josh’s technical skill and innovative thinking. Josh likes to joke that he’s the man behind the curtain. His contribution might not be visible, but Josh’s ability to handle the complexities of code and infrastructure to deliver a powerful, functional browsing experience through a simple, beautiful Web page makes him an invaluable member of the Hanson team.

He explains: “Technology should not get in the way of creating a user-friendly website. Rather, technology can – and should – enhance the experience. That’s what I strive to do. At Hanson, we’ve had considerable success doing so.”

Josh also works closely with the technical staffs of Hanson’s clients. He speaks their language, understands their goals and knows how to get it done within their budget requirements.

Josh joined Hanson in 1997. Previously, he co-founded and operated Digital Fugue, which developed multimedia and interactive entertainment websites, marketing and sales tools.

Josh studied computer science at Ohio University.

When it comes to innovative, eye-catching and successful website designs, Dave has few peers. He instinctively understands what needs to be done, visually, to hold website visitors and elicit a pro-active response - a talent that endears him to Hanson clients.

Another of Dave's talents is his ability to coordinate and integrate multiple websites for the same client. For instance, he has helped design dozens of websites for Owens Corning, a daunting task that required supreme organizational skills.

Says Dave: "You have to know and understand how everything fits together. You need to be on the same page visually - and info-architecture wise. In a sense, I'm not only a designer but a visual editor, determining what works, what doesn't work, and utilizing all available software and techniques to produce the most effective websites."

Dave joined Hanson in 2006, following his graduation from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Although he studied information technology, a discipline that has benefited him greatly, his passion for design, a life-long endeavor, won out. At Hanson, Dave's talent enabled him to rise quickly. He became the lead designer on Hanson's Owens Corning account in 2007 and was promoted to director of design in October, 2008.

A native of the Toledo area, Dave lives in Dundee, Mich., and counts traveling, cooking and reading among his hobbies.

Hanson's roots are in video production, and Mike has helped build and expand the department's considerable capabilities. He directs a team of producers, writers, videographers, editors and audio technicians that produce some of the industry’s most creative and effective videos.

Under Mike's guidance, Hanson has become a force in Web video productions, which require a more intricate editing process. Additionally, Mike has directed Hanson’s successful forays into animation and motion graphics.

Integration of Hanson's video production services with the company's interactive and live-event departments has been seamless under Mike's leadership.

His take on the Hanson way of tackling client projects:

"One of the great things about Hanson is that we're never content with our accomplishments. We're always pushing to raise the bar in what we can achieve for our clients. That makes Hanson special and accounts, in part, for the enormous success the company has achieved."

"For example, on the production side, we don't punch out duplicates of successful videos for every client. We reject an assembly-line approach to the work we produce. Each client is unique. So every work we produce stands on its own, telling our client's story in the most effective way possible with an individual, creative flare that sets Hanson apart."

Mike joined Hanson in 1995 as an intern from Bowling Green State University, where he earned a liberal arts degree focusing on visual communications technology and telecommunications, and graphic design. He and his wife, Natalie, reside in Bowling Green with their young son, Evan. Mike counts photography, cars and painting among his hobbies.

John calls himself a jack-of-all trades because of his ability to handle any aspect of website construction. He plays an integral role in nearly every phase of the process, from development and design to user interface construction to website maintenance.

Hanson clients benefit hugely from John's knowledge and understanding of which technology works best for whatever the interactive strategy - and his ability to custom-design effective software.

Says John: "I sit down with our clients and help them decide what they need. I then work as a technical director with our designers and strategists to formulate a blueprint. And then, working with a team of engineers, we build the website, help it go live, make sure it stays there, and maintain the site. It’s a dynamic process I fully enjoy, in particular because it allows me to help our clients succeed by developing high-end websites that few companies can match."

John, a Cleveland native, has a software engineering degree from the University of Toledo. Previously, he worked for KeyBank, Foresight Technology Group and Berbee Information Networks. He lives in Temperance, Mich.