Megan Etzel

Bio:

A born and bred Pittsburgher, I stumbled into Point Park University for undergrad, and then into Carnegie Mellon for grad school. I moved up to NYC to work for Animoto after grad school in 2009, starting as their customer relations coordinator, and now I'm diving head-first into the world of Animoto's communications and copy.

Before Animoto, some formative previous positions included a Pittsburgh Symphony ticketing representative (box office lady), intern for the VH1 Save the Music Foundation and Sesame Workshop (non-profit lackey), musician manager (for-profit lackey), child care technician (nanny), mixologist (bartender), and frozen dairy delicacy dispenser (ice cream scooper).

• Title: Marketing Communications Associate at Animoto
• Age: 25
• Location: Greenwich Village
• Contact: @megetz

Between Animoto, the Pittsburgh Symphony, and VH1, you’ve been around a lot of different types of music. Do you play yourself? What’s on your playlist?

I have no musical skills of my own, which I think is why I'm drawn into that industry so much.  (Those who can, do, and those who can't… go to grad school to learn how to manage those who can, I suppose.)

My playlists are varied, but I'm sure if anyone found my iPod they'd be able to say, "I think this probably belongs to a slightly nerdy twenty-something female who lives in Brooklyn."  And they would be right.

You’ve been at Animoto for two years. Tell us about your work and the team.

I started as Animoto's Customer Relations Coordinator, essentially answering every email that came in.  That role was a little tech support, a little public relations, and a lot of fun.

I'm not a formally trained computer geek, but had the two crucial traits of a good support person - I'm a total search engine ninja with fierce Google skills, and (more importantly) had consistent help from everyone at Animoto.  That's really the key to great support - not feeling like you can't ask questions or make suggestions of the people who would actually know the answer and can change things.  Every Monday, we share a couple of emails with the whole company so that everyone knows what our customers are saying.  Making sure that the support team is a hub with connections to every department of Animoto, rather than a one-way Q&A island, was one of my favorite parts of that position.

The team at Animoto is a blast.  I'm often not sure if I'm more impressed at how smart they are, or how much fun they are.  We've got a great office right in Greenwich Village for several dozen of us, complete with a beer tap, Rock Band, and our president's adorable Pekingese, Bruce Lee.

In January 2011, I transitioned from the support person into Animoto's Marketing Communications Associate.  This mostly contains writing all of our public-facing copy for the site, blog, and emails.  Feels pretty great to have this position after I was told by every professor that my essays were good, but too brief.  Now, I have a job that makes me keep asking, "Is this too wordy?"

Steelers or the Giants?

Steelers!  I'm a born-and-bred yinzer, and a diehard fan.  During the season, I keep a Terrible Towel hanging above my desk.

Earlier this year, Animoto documented No Pants Subway Ride, organized by Improv Everywhere. Were you a part of the action?

I wasn't able to be there this year, but I'm a huge fan of Improv Everywhere.  Living in NYC has been full of those moments when I realize that the things that make me say, "Oh, I'd love to do that!" can actually be done.  You know, like riding a subway.  Without pants.