Joe Van Remortel in the Bricklight
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Joe Van Remortel, and I am the Vice President of Business Development, which really means sales.
I’m still not exactly clear on what it is you do. Can you break it down for me?
My job is to find innovative marketers who have digital marketing needs and to then determine if our services and capabilities can be beneficial to them. If so, I reach out to them and strike up a relationship.
Got it. So how was Red Bricks in 2009 for you and your department?
2009 was a very good year. We had some big wins, we have done a lot of great work in terms of repositioning who we, Red Bricks, are as a brand, and we’re doing a better job at explaining what we can do and how we can do it. ’09 has also been an exceptional year in terms of development for some of our practices. For example, we are making great strides in Social Media and have done some great work with our clients in that arena. And that type of exposure makes my job a lot easier.
Perfect Saturday for Joe Van Remortel. Go.
Wake up and make a big breakfast with my four daughters and my wife. Then off to coach two basketball games for my grade school daughters. We win both of those games and then we go watch my youngest daughter in a ballet performance and then we go and watch my older daughter in a mock-trial event where she is acting as the prosecutor. Then we all hit the park for an hour long dog walk. After that, we get together with friends. Four families for a BBQ. There is wine and Shanghai rummy played until one in the morning. Then it’s home, exhausted, and right to bed.
Let’s pause right here and reflect on something you just mentioned, and that is ‘coaching’. There are several people at the office that have nicknamed you ‘coach’ and call you that. Does the whole ‘coach’ thing go back to you leading the American Co-Ed Badminton team to a win in the ’74 Summer Olympics in Nairobi?
Yes, that is definitely the origin of the nickname. Most of the team had never been out of the States and I had a lot of experience in Africa. I’d already been to Kenya, Tanzania, and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. So by having those experiences under my belt, not only was able to coach the sport, but I could also help the team acclimate and get comfortable pretty quickly. The Gold Medal that year really created my lifelong desire to be a coach in all aspects of my life. Badminton was just the beginning.
Inspiring stuff, to say the least. While we’re reminiscing about the past, are you at liberty to discuss your involvement with the CIA in the early 80’s?
I can only tell you that I was in the CIA and my primary assignment in Papua New Guinea, where I was stationed, was related to the rare tree-climbing kangaroo found only in those parts. There were some uses from that animal regarding reconnaissance and intelligence gathering, but that’s really as much as I can say.
That is such a fascinating fact about you. I really wish you could discuss your involvement at length but I understand the sensitive nature of the topic, so lets move on. Any predictions regarding 2010 trends to watch for, regarding RBM and the industry we work in?
RBM will continue to grow and expand its service line so we will have more to offer to new clients and bring added value to our existing ones. As far as the industry goes, I feel very confident declaring that 2010 will be The Year of Content Control. Consumers will fight to gain more control of their digital content; book publishers will control the distribution of e-book content; news outlets will make more money on the content they create; and more websites will grab back ad inventory from networks, just as CBS has done.
Well put. And finally, Lionel Ritchie or Phil Collins?
Wow, that’s a tough one. To tell you the truth, I’m not really a fan of either. However, I do consider ‘All Night Long ‘ to be a classic.
As told to Russell Bongard, RBM Creative Director
