Emerge Inc. Blog

Emerge believes in leadership over management.

We believe in defining a clear vision and a definition of success. We trust motivated, passionate individuals and self organizing teams to make fast and smart decisions to navigate a changing environment and achieve the vision.

We believe leaders take strategic risks, take responsibility for the occasional mistake and find amazing breakthroughs that would not be possible through risk-averse behavior.

We believe in continuous learning, proactive action and pursuing unexplored paths.

Emerge believes in the power of individuals who are passionate, knowledgeable and socially connected.

We believe recent technological advancements enable small, focused, expert teams to create more value than the previously needed bureaucracies.

We believe that each Emerge team members should become a micro-brand, a recognized expert in their area of passion and connected inside and outside of Emerge in ways that create value for their connections, themselves, the Emerge team and Emerge clients.

To supplement the Emerge team, we believe in putting together the most effective and efficient team possible for each project, including using expert freelancers and outside firms.

Emerge believes customers should not be locked into proprietary software or processes that restrict their ability to make decisions in their best interest.

We believe that if Emerge is no longer the best choice for clients, they should have the ability to leave and take their data with them.

We believe that in addition to being good for clients and the right thing to do, never locking in clients is in our own best interest because it provides a feedback mechanism to let us know if we are providing enough value and the right value for clients.

Update (1/14/10 @ 9:35 p.m.) – In the final sentence, removed the word “not”; changed “or” to “and” and changed “to” to “for”. It originally read, “We believe that in addition to being good for clients and the right thing to do, never locking in clients is in our own best interest because it provides a feedback mechanism to let us know if we are not providing enough value or the right value to clients.”

Emerge believes that competitive advantage, both for Emerge Inc. and for clients is achieved by responding to changing circumstances and adjusting to lessons learned.

We believe in iterative development over long-term detailed plans that may not account for changing realities.

We believe the focused, simple solution is better than the complex solution with unnecessary features.

Emerge believes clients recieve the greatest value when working with Emerge as a partner, rather than in a short-term work for hire relationship.

We believe both parties must have open, clear and transparent communication. We believe in collaboration over contract negotiation.

We believe customers have a right to understand what work is being completed, when and by whom.

We understand that as partners, we are entrusted with important private information and ensure that it is held confidential and secured.

Emerge is seeking a cutting edge developer to join the Emerge team on a part-time basis (with the potential for full-time in the future).

The successful candidate will join Emerge’s custom development team and focus on developing a variety of client and internal projects related to emerging media. Work will include mash-ups, APIs, widgets, gadgets and mobile apps.

Full details on the Emerging Media Developer position.

Emerge believes that the best way to exceed our client’s expectations is to exceed their customer’s expectations.

We believe this means providing services and products (websites, web based applications and interactive marketing programs) that focus on enabling the customer’s customer to achieve their goals effectively and efficiently.

We believe a clear understanding of expectations and definition of success enable both parties to focus on the highest priorities and measure progress.

Often times there are multiple ways to solve a given issue. We believe in choosing the option that best serves the customer’s customer.

Beginning Monday (January 11, 2010), I am going to write a blog post a day on Emerge’s company values. For many years, we have informally operated under these values, they drive our hiring decisions, our project management decisions and the way we related to clients and other team members.

In the middle of 2009 we decided to formally document these values. For the past 6 months, we analyzed and discussed these values to ensure that they were in the best interests of clients, fellow team members and the company owners.

The next phase is to publish these values, explain them and ask for feedback from friends of Emerge.

Emerge is seeking a cutting edge marketing professional to join the Emerge team on a part-time basis (with the potential for full-time in the future).

The successful candidate will have lead responsibility for creating an emerging media strategy for various Emerge projects, implementing the strategy and measuring results. For this position, we are defining Emerging Media as everything on Brian Solis & Jess3’s “The Conversation Prism“.

Full details on the Emerging Media Marketing Leader position.

Chris Brogan, author of the New York Times best seller “Trust Agents: Using Social Media for Business Success — the Rise of the Trust Agent” will speak at Lorain County Community College from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 (Register Here). Chris is speaking as part of the Credibility Conversation, a 3-part speakers series on building personal and business value through social media. The Credibility Conversation is hosted by Emerge Inc. and LorainCounty.com.

Chris Brogan is an eleven year veteran of using social media and both web and mobile technologies to build digital relationships for businesses, organizations, and individuals. Chris speaks, blogs, writes articles, and makes media of all kinds at chrisbrogan.com, a blog in the top 5 of the Advertising Age Power150, and in the top 100 on Technorati. Chris is also the cofounder of the PodCamp new media conference series, exploring the use of new media community tools to extend and build value.

Chris won the Mass High Tech All Stars award for thought leaders for 2008. He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, US News & World Report, The Montreal Gazette and Newsweek.