Rick Parkhill Talks iMedia and Helping the Industry Grow in a Healthy Way

TMI with Kevin Ryan

Rick Parkhill joins the show to talk about his time as the founder and prior CEO of iMedia Communications, which launched in 2001. Rick talks about how iMedia helped build community and produced an event where everyone was encouraged to drop their agendas and just connect for the greater good of the industry. Rick was a founding executive at Interactive Marketing, Inc. and founded Digitrends, along with InfoText and Brand Storytelling.

Takeaways:

• ● iMedia emerged in the midst of the internet explosion in 1999 when many of the internet companies washed away.
• ● Their first day of business was September 11, 2001, and after that major tragedy, they moved forward with building jobs for people and creating commerce for the community.
• ● Although he will never take all the credit, Rick definitely helped build the digital marketing industry, along with the help of many other iMedia longtime moguls.
• ● Rick discusses doing a roadshow for clients to explain what search was, and how it would impact them.
• ● The iMedia events were a space where people were invited to leave their agendas behind and connect in a nonpolitical realm.
• ● Rick handles big egos like none other, and he has some pretty good stories about them at iMedia events!
• ● Rick sold iMedia, and it did change in the way of personality and feel, but that is to be expected anytime a sale takes place.
• ● There are still a plethora of opportunities out there for content creators to get hired by brands. They are constantly looking for professionals to create entertaining and informative material for their product or service.
• Quotes:

• ● “There are massive egos at play, like entitled obnoxious jerks, like me!” — Kevin
• ● “We were true to our mission, to help the industry grow in a healthy way.”
• ● “You serve the community, and as an event producer your industry will do fine.”
• Mentioned in This Episode:
• iMedia
• Rick Parkhill LinkedIn
• Brand Storytelling