It was a natural transition from public relations to digital communications that lead to the establishment of QuickSilver Interactive Group (QSI). In 1996, after 20+ years in PR and marketing, Steve Lee started Mercury Technology Group as a subsidiary of the PR firm where he was employed. Then in 1998, he went on his own and formed QSI. At that time, his wife Jeannine managed an intranet for a national financial company. After many pleas, Jeannine soon came to work for Steve. Fast forward and turn things around – Jeannine is now president and majority owner. Steve handles strategic planning and research, while teaching social media and communications at two local universities.
It's easy to describe QSI as a digital agency (or interactive or whatever label seems to be 'hot') and think that tells it all. Yet, it doesn't come close to getting to the heart of who we are – committed, diligent, hardworking and deeply experienced. We're humbled that over the years our clients have called us honest, dedicated, resourceful, innovative - and have become our friends. We think that has a lot to do with our great team of employees who excel in managing our clients online presence (web sites, blogs, social media, mobile etc.), develop innovative designs, and program highly customized online systems. It might also be why 5 to 10 years later, those clients are still clients.
At QSI, it's difficult to stump us with your problem or request. From our PR days to our digital days, we've experienced so many situations on so many levels that it's going to be rare we don't have a story about a client with a similar situation. That's experience...and some of us have the gray hair to prove it! So call us - or come see us! - and tell us your story. We think you'll find out for yourselves that we're the right fit.
Charting ways through the digital maze is what Steve does best. A strategic thinker, he keeps his mind on the crystal ball of technology to stay ahead of industry changes and trends. Steve is a sought after speaker on digital trends and social media. He also teaches college students how to be great professionals at 2 local universities. Concert photographer extraordinaire. A pretty cool dude.
Sometimes, running an agency is a two-fisted coffee day! But all in all, Jeannine finds true pleasure working with QSI’s great clients and employees. Honest and upfront, she’s not shy in speaking her thoughts. Advising, solving, creating, learning ... 20+ years in PR. 15+ years in digital communications. Never a dull moment. Loves cooking, reading, music, theatre and the color purple.
Annette’s pre-QSI work includes sales, promotions, event marketing and customer service management at several Fortune 500 companies. At QSI, she uses her efficient project management skills in managing several large accounts. She’s our resident dog expert and we love it when her well behaved Westie visits! In her off time, Annette is an active church and community volunteer.
Dustin grew up in Arlington and has always had a passion for all things technical. QSI’s resident CMS expert, Dustin is experienced in WordPress, Joomla, Zend Framework and jQuery. The bigger the challenge, the happier he is. His favorite project was an eBay and Amazon marketplace integration into e-commerce. In his spare time Dustin can be found mountain biking or gaming.
Not our only Aggie, Matt has a degree in molecular and cell biology from Texas A&M. A voracious reader/learner, he adds a framework or language to his skillset every 6 months and spends a lot of evenings working with new technologies. Matt is never satisfied with “well it works,” but strives for efficiency, elegance and quality. In his free time, Matt can be found bowhunting at the lease.
Coming from a more traditional background, Michael is still deciding what is his favorite aspect of the digital world. After graduating from the Dallas Art Institute, he worked for many years as a graphic designer. That is where he developed his tenacity for staying “at it” until it’s right for the client. An accomplished musician, Michael also enjoys spending his free time with his son and daughter.
Sometimes the parents’ passions rub off on the child. However, we think in Nick’s case, it was his obsession with computer games (there’s actually a photo of Nick at 3 playing on the Palm) that lead to his desire to program. Self taught, Nick is experienced in PHP and WordPress. He’s one of our QSI QuickBox developers, our MAC tech and helps out our aging accountant. Who says men can’t multi-task, too?!
Lead programmer and server technician at QSI, when we asked PB what he thought his title was, he insisted on “Fire Chief.” Our go to man for programming challenges, legacy system needs, server issues ... yeah, we think that Fire Chief works. It doesn’t hurt that he’s a bit quirky. How many people do you know who raise catfish in a barrel as an experiment for their kids?
Sara is perpetually the victim of a tug-o-war between her left and right brain. This leaves her constantly tempering “that would be so cool!” with “what does the client really need?” When not hunkered down in her office with her headphones, Sara can be found at any given sporting event or concert, probably taking an inordinate amount of pictures on her iPhone. She’s also an Aggie, a topic we just try to avoid altogether.