Big News: Scott Monty Joins SHIFT

Scott Monty could have gone anywhere after his hugely successful stint at Ford Motor Company. For the past 5+ years, when anyone asked for “great examples of companies doing great work in Social Media,” Ford was one of the few examples universally cited by newbies and the experienced alike. While Scott is the first to remind folks that he was supported by an amazing team, he was for many years both the face and the brain of the operation. You can just imagine the courting calls that made their way to Scott when he announced his departure from Ford.

He could have gone anywhere.

He came here.

Please join me in congratulating Scott Monty on his new gig as Executive Vice President of Strategy at SHIFT Communications!

As you might imagine, we are delighted. As a legitimate industry icon, we are honored to welcome Scott to the family. As a trusted friend for the past 10 years, I am personally delighted to work alongside Scott as we work with the rest of our exec team to forge SHIFT’s path forward in the fast-evolving marketing landscape.

Still, you must be wondering: “Why SHIFT? Of all places? Why not another Big Corporate Job? Why not join one of those Mega Agencies?” Good questions. Scott provides his own answers on his blog, but here’s my take:

SHIFT is an innovator. Hark back to the heady early days of Social Media and you’ll no doubt recall our role in debuting the Social Media Press Release, the Social Media Newsroom, the Blogger Bookmark, etc. Now, we’ve by no means rested on our laurels following any success, instead opting to challenge ourselves in new ways. Scott says as much in his own words. This same challenge excites him as much as it does us. The intersection of analytics, data, PR, marketing tech, and creative is the future and we’re leading the way. In fact, we recently gave Scott a peek under the covers and – remembering that this guy has been working with some of the best agencies in the world for the past 6 years – we were delighted when he came away saying, “This is far and away ahead of anything any other agency is doing, or even thinking about!”

That’s the kind of agency that deserves to attract talent like Scott Monty. Scott has seen the potential at SHIFT and wants to help us maximize it.

Finally, we can’t discount the personal connection. Scott and I grew up in this industry together. We’ve known each other from well before his Ford stint. We disagree on almost everything having to do with politics, but agree on darned near everything related to Social Media Marketing – and in every case, whether we reach an accord or not, we debate like gentlemen and end every interaction on a gracious note. That level of respect and cordiality give us both great hope that we can build something amazing.

As our EVP of Strategy, Scott will work hand-in-glove with Chris Penn, me, my partner Jim Joyal, our president, Amy Lyons, and of course the rest of SHIFT’s exec team to deepen relationships with existing clients and strengthen their campaigns; explore partnership opportunities with outside allies; assist in the development and integration of new service offerings; develop curricula and content for events and our blog; etc., etc., etc. Something tells me there will be no shortage of to-do’s!

We’re proud that Scott has chosen to call SHIFT his home and we’re eager to get started.

Let’s roll.

Todd Defren
CEO