About Verndale UI / UX company in Boston, United States
We are a customer experience agency purpose-built to help marketing and technology leaders connect the dots of the customer journey.
We design and build digital experiences and enable marketing technologies that bring brands and their customers closer together.
Boston | Los Angeles | Minneapolis | Quito
We are one of the largest independent agencies in the customer experience industry with four offices in two countries and over 140 people. While our focus has evolved over the years one thing has remained constant: We exist to help brands grow by creating and optimizing the best digital experiences for their consumers.
Owning the customer experience and stewarding that journey allows companies to drive focused innovation retain a competitive advantage and ensure the best possible business outcomes.
Weve engineered our business around the needs of the customer experience leader - combining strategy design technology enablement and optimization into one cohesive methodology that helps them succeed.
Its a good thing Chris loves his work because he is always working. This has been the case since he was 14 and the pattern hasnt let up since. Hes come a long way from the paper routes and commercial kitchens of his youth to being the head of Verndale which he helped found in 1998.
Chris has a talent for seeing the large strategic picture as well as granular details – this gives him the uncanny ability to distill complex situations into simple actionable strategies. Hes also a serial entrepreneur constantly thinking of ways to grow and extend whatever business hes engaged with. These traits have been as important to his client work as they are to his role in shaping Verndales success over the last two decades.
He considers Verndale his first child and cares deeply about its growth and health as well as that of people who make it great. When hes not on the road for a client or in a meeting peppering a whiteboard with commanding infographics you might find him on the move with his actual children as they chip away at their goal of seeing all 50 states.
Entrepreneurial spirit? Well at 12 he founded his own landscaping business by saving up his paper route money to buy a lawnmower.
Grace under pressure? He volunteers as an EMT. After that theres no business problem or client challenge that can make his palm sweat.
Stamina? In addition to the 18-year marathon keeping Verndale at the leading edge of technology he is a regular at any number of physically brutal obstacle-based mud races.
Hes also pretty fantastic at seeing the big picture – artfully matching a clients challenges with the best strategy to solve them. That includes helping them get the absolute most our of their technology investments.
Lifes not all hard work barbed wire and high pressure though. His favorite way to unwind is practicing the ukulele with his daughter or getting some quiet time in on the water with a cold drink in his hand.
He builds furniture brews beer smokes his own meat makes his own hot sauce grows his own vegetables majored in Computer Science with minors in both Art History and Astronomy. Oh and he can throw a football better than most. Its all in the reflexes.
This ridiculously broad set of interests has shaped his ability to take disparate complex technical concepts and make them incredibly clear. Because of this hes able to act as the bridge between technical and non-technical teams – stoking meaningful collaboration between the two and freeing clients up to focus on marketing goals rather than technical roadblocks.
During his tenure at Verndale hes built a team of over 100 engineers across Development Technical Business Analysis Managed Services and Research amp; Development. Being a Sitecore Certified Developer himself hes completed hundreds of successful client implementations from straight CMS to the full MarTech stack.
When hes not at Verndale youll find him spending time with his wife and kids pursuing his myriad interests or finding whatever excuse he can find to get his giant wonderfully crazy extended family together.
Just ask her three young kids the 30+ varieties of flowers in her burgeoning garden the countless horses shes taken care of over a lifetime of riding and her goldendoodle Charlie who is an office staple.
Of course the decade shes spent as an HR professional doesnt hurt either – with experience at Aberdeen Group Bear Stearns and more. Shes also SPHR and SHRM-SCP certified. Which may just sound like a bunch of letters if youre not in HR but its kind of a big deal. We see it as official recognition of what weve known all along – that shes awesome at helping people become even better versions of themselves. So if you know any smart respectful and talented people out there be sure to send them her way.
Meg spends her free time with her family spotting whales off the Maine coast swimming with giant mantas and sea turtles in the Caribbean and hopping in on the occasional double dutch session.
Sidenote: She loves the heat. Like 90+ degrees kind of heat. Which means we have a pretty good idea who keeps turning the AC down when no ones looking.
As Chief Experience Officer Tims oversees a cross-functional team that spans strategy experience design creative services and marketing - delivering holistic end-to-end solutions for the optimization of the customer experience.
Prior to joining the Verndale Team Tim served as Director of Brand Activation for Breakaway a hybrid agency/VC firm based in Boston. In that capacity he developed and led an integrated practice of social content digital public relations and brand experience design for clients ranging from global brands like Puma VELCRO Brand and Tishman Speyer to energetic start-ups like Oath Craft Pizza IdeaPaint and Drizly.
Tim started his career as co-founder of MetroConcepts a boutique entertainment marketing firm that served clients across the music and lifestyle industries including Interscope Records Virgin Records adidas and Red Bull. In his glory days he worked with artists like Eminem Mary J. Blige Black Eyed Peas and Everlast.
When not at work Allen#39;s probably listening to vinyl records at home expanding his cooking skills or sailing Cape Cod Bay with his family.
As Chief Financial Officer with over 20 years experience Chris is a key contributor to Verndales growth strategy and is responsible for the overall financial health of the organization (which means we all sleep better knowing hes fantastic at his job).
Chris is constantly searching for ways to improve and believes that consistent incremental advancement is more important than making wild uninformed leaps.
Hes also the quintessential team player – reaching well beyond the numbers and deep into the alphabet to provide thoughtful level headed strategic advice to managers across the organization.
Chris has spent his entire career in the marketing and media industry with experience in both large and small companies. He was most recently SVP Finance at Isobar and prior to that was CFO at Molecular VP of Finance at Carat and Controller at Arnold Worldwide. Chris also earned his MBA from the Suffolk University Executive MBA Program.
Most of his time outside of work is spent using his immense mathematical skills to keep score at his kids sporting events
The Celtics had Red Auerbach. The Redskins had Joe Gibbs. The Account team at Verndale – has David Kovner. With over a decade of account management experience across verticals ranging from energy to healthcare and insurance to nonprofit – David helps push the account team at Verndale to be even better than they were the day before.
He believes the greatest asset to working as a team is keeping an open mind. His open mind is typically hard at work getting to know the nuances of our clients business so that we can be the best strategic partner.
When hes not leading the account team at Verndale hes on the field coaching his own kids soccer basketball and softball games. Basically he just cant stop coaching.
Formally educated as a mechanical engineer Ross found his way to an aerospace software company where he saw huge potential in web solutions – launching a web development company with several members of his team. This experience gave him the ability to work across a wide range of verticals and also helped hone his business operations skills.
Hes logged over a dozen years of experience delivering enterprise level software solutions – spearheading transformational projects across fortune 500 companies. He is extremely hands on which isnt surprising coming from a professional bass guitar player. After touring and traveling across the lower 48 hes funneled that dexterity into solving problems and shaping engagement for his team and Verndales clients.
Hes a diehard Celtics fan living in LA which is a testament to his courage and fortitude. It also means that if youre looking for him during playoffs season hell be at Sonny Mcleans with the rest of the Boston expatriates.
Our clients have long appreciated his collaborative approach and relationship building versus the hard sell car-dealership-on-steroids approach that theyve run into elsewhere. Over the last 10 years hes helped build a team that echoes this style bringing a refreshing level of hospitality and partnership to every client they meet.
He knows his product backwards and forwards and has a ton of faith in his team – which leads him to make ever-loftier promises that with enough caffeine and teamwork were consistently able to achieve.
When hes building client partnerships or promising the world you can find him in the Berkshires relaxing with his family in the crystal clear waters of Otis Reservoir casting a fly in an icy stream or (during weekends between pre-season and the championship) feeding what he calls his ’Patriots Problem.
After graduating from Boston College with degrees in Computer Science and Psychology and a brief stint with Primix Solutions Liz began working at Verndale in 2001. As the company has transformed from a 7-person shop to the agency it is today Liz has worked her way up through the roles of engineer technical lead and technical architect.
Now as the leader of Development Liz works closely with QA Front-End and Engineering teams to bring best practices organization innovation and passion to everything they do. Her focus is two pronged. First: analyzing the health and strategy of each department to ensure a great environment for her team members. Second: working with technical leaders on projects to verify they are executing successfully within budget and timeline always keeping in mind reuse efficiency and quality.
Liz#39;s various technical certifications keep her up-to-date within the industry and she isn#39;t afraid to jump in and get her hands dirty when duty calls. She is particularly proud of her Sitecore MVP status. She is one of only three women to receive this prestigious acknowledgement in 2015.
German who opened the office five years ago was the perfect choice for the job. Hes learned to funnel his boundless energy talents and perfectionist tendencies into hiring the best people and helping them accomplish their goals. When hes not doing that hes working on goals of his own at the local soccer pitch (or watching Messi work on his – Visca el Barca!).
In addition to running offices hes led development teams for most of the past decade – something hes uniquely qualified to do since hes a developer himself with experience at tackling complex experiences for Fortune 500 companies and even running his own startup mobile gaming company
He loves food and can frequently be found fine-tuning his grilling skills. His guilty pleasure is pizza which makes his obsessive soccer playing even more important!
Jeff leads Verndales Commerce Experience Practice leveraging 25 years experience as a business owner as well as his digital strategy leadership across a wide variety of industries and business models. Having built his own timber frame cabin he is as hands on as they come. True to form he sweats the details and plays an active role in each and every one of our commerce engagements – as a strategic advisor and stakeholder through every phase.
His broad background has given him experience in a wide range of experiences and technologies from online to in store – and his ability to understand how they all work in concert with each other is a rare and beautiful thing. Jeffs client work includes both CPG and onmnichannel retail companies such as Orvis Green Mountain Coffee Roasters / Keurig and Hershey Chocolate Company as well as manufacturer sector / B2B channel models in the alternate energy and manufacturing sectors.
Armed with a fresh copy of ’HTML For Dummies’ Jeremy founded a web company named Aware Web Solutions in Minneapolis. After working away for 21 years at building Aware into a nationally known and respected digital firm Jeremy and his team joined Verndale: uniting under the mission of helping clients create unparalleled digital experiences for their customers.
Since 1998 Jeremy has partnered with some of the largest and most innovative software partners in the industry to deliver ROI-driven digital or business transformation projects for mid-size to enterprise organizations. His extensive strategy and consulting experience around content management systems web development best practices ecommerce PIM solutions and internet marketing puts him in a prime position to foster success in any relationship.
We exhibit attend speak teach and learn at many industry events throughout the year. Going somewhere you think we should be? Going somewhere where we#39;ll be and want to connect? Contact us at [email protected].
Inside the walls of Verndale weve created our own atmosphere of camaraderie commitment and frictionless fun. Were here to make a difference. To lead. And challenge both ourselves and the status quo.
Through the Verndale Cares program we support our employees and their causes by getting organized around and involved in community service efforts. We believe that through the power of volunteering and community involvement we have the potential to make a big difference and have a positive impact on the people in the neighborhoods where we work and live.
