When Steve Glauberman came to Perficient through the Enlighten acquisition in December 2015, Perficient got much more than a leader with broad success delivering excellent digital experiences.
Glauberman, a general manager of Perficient’s new digital agency, Perficient Digital, also volunteers as vice chairman of the Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA), a high-profile trade association founded in 2007 that gives a voice to the entrepreneurs and innovators who are charting the future of marketing and digital experiences. More than 100 of the world’s top digital agencies and production companies are members, and its list of strategic business partners includes big names with close ties to Perficient, such as Google, Microsoft, and Adobe – SoDA’s founding partner.
SoDA provides infrastructure, processes, and products that enable and improve knowledge sharing around best practices. This collaboration and business support enables a better exploration of how technology can be leveraged to transform consumer experiences.
Glauberman has many responsibilities in his capacity as vice chairman, but among the biggest, “I actually sort of manage the Adobe relationship with SoDA as well as act as a general voice and counsel to other key partners and member agencies within SoDA,” he said. “And there is also a kind of partner group within Adobe that works with groups like SoDA and other kinds of organizations.”
His engagement with Adobe – one of Perficient’s top partners – puts him close to the people and processes that have powered the San Jose, Calif.-based company to the top of the global computer software market.
“Say Adobe is thinking about coming out with a new product. They will first talk with a select group of SoDA agencies about this product and get our feedback on whether there is a market for it or how they need to pivot their strategy on that product,” Glauberman explained. “Additionally, Adobe is looking for interesting case studies about the use of their tools and technologies.”
This valuable interaction reflects SoDA’s prestige. Only about 13 percent of the agencies seeking membership each year are accepted, Glauberman said. Once they are aboard, “they must accept a set of understood rules that, while we are all competitors, there is an honesty and openness about the information we share because we’re all trying to do the same things – move the industry forward, create the absolute best work possible, and do it in a way that’s profitable and enjoyable for everyone.
“We hone the SoDA brand so you’ll think, ‘Wow, if you’re in SoDA, you’re producing some of the best and most innovative work in the industry,’ ” he added. “And that’s really critical to everyone in SoDA.”
Glauberman became associated with SoDA seven years ago when he was CEO of Enlighten. He has held the vice chairman’s position three of those years.
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