About Me
WHO I AM
Hi! I’m Justin. I’m a web specialist living in Las Vegas, NV. I have over a decade worth of experience working in marketing and advertising, including managing multi-million dollar websites for the LVCVA.
But who wants to read a bunch of paragraphs these days? Check out more about me below!
Age
- 36
Location
- Las Vegas, NV
Originally From
- Born and raised in South Jersey
Education
- Bachelors in Marketing – UNLV 2010
If I don’t know something, I won’t charge you for the research time (with certain exceptions, of course). You hire me to be the expert – not to nickel and dime you for my ignorance.
With that being said, I’m also a firm believer that you don’t need to memorize everything these days to be an expert. One of the most important things I was taught as a developer is that you’re not expected to memorize everything – you’re only expected to know how to find out how.
Websites & CMS
- Custom Website Builds
- CMS Setup & Configuration
- E-Commerce Setup & Integration
- Domain & Hosting Management
User Experience
- Wireframes & Prototypes
- Sitemaps & Taxonomies
- User Persona Journeys
UI & Design
- Complete Website Design
- Brand & Digital Styleguides
- Mood Boards
E-Mail & Marketing
- Marketing Platform Configuration
- Subscribers & Automation
- E-mail Design and HTML
- Web Banner Design & HTML
About Me
PROFESSIONAL & EDUCATION
In my 10+ years working in marketing and advertising, I’ve experienced a bit of everything that goes into promoting brands – from multi-million dollar collaborative campaigns to coding websites to even casino marketing.
Everyone has to start somewhere, right? Take a look below to see my journey!
2007 – 2008
I originally came to Vegas for a marketing internship at Palace Station, where I got my feet wet in casino marketing and promotions. Long story short, Station Casinos offered me a full time Marketing Coordinator position at Wildfire Casino, where I ran on-site promotions, analyzed marketing data and got my first real taste of direct marketing in action.
Responsibilities
- Responsible for day-to-day marketing operations on property
- Ran casino promotions and giveaways
- Managed local rewards program & website updates
- Worked with partner properties on promotions and operations
BA Marketing – 2010
I transferred from my college in New Jersey and quit my casino job to focus on finishing school full time at UNLV’s business school. Since I was a transfer, I only had a few years left for my degree.
I graduated with a bachelors degree in Marketing in 2010, which would lead to the next phase of my life – advertising agencies.
After graduating, I landed an internship at SK+G, one of the top agencies in Vegas at the time. I helped with the digital department overall, but was really taken under the digital project manager’s wing. He ended up leaving and recommending me for the next decade of my life – R&R Partners.
Responsibilities
- Website content updates
- Assisted in project timelines and PM tasks
- Coordinated projects between design and dev departments
- Assisted in team presentations
- Shadowed other departments for further agency experience
I was hired as a Digital Product Coordinator at R&R Partners, the largest agency in Las Vegas. I was eventually promoted to Assistant Digital Project Manager, where I assisted in managing web content, email programs and web campaigns for LVCVA, as well as being a direct contact for client communications.
Responsibilities
- Created project timelines and scopes of work for digital projects
- Project lead for LVCVA email content and vendor management
- Assisted in strategic planning for websites, email programs, web banners and social campaigns
- LVCVA CMS content updates
- Assisted in client communications and status meetings
I found my love of building websites through my PM role. I transferred to the web dev department, where I was responsible for building and maintaining custom WordPress builds and acted as a digital studio manager for web banner and email production. While I didn’t stay in web dev, I still consider this the best professional move of my life, as it gave me the knowledge to branch into other related disciplines.
Responsibilities
- Primary developer on small to medium website builds
- Custom WordPress theme development
- Client website maintenance and updates
- Acting production manager for agency e-mail and banner development
- Managed one Jr. Dev in production and small web tasks
- Managed domain names for entire agency and clients
While I enjoyed web development, I wanted to use my newfound knowledge to assist in a more strategic way. I transferred back to the LVCVA team and became a Digital Producer, primarily managing LVCVA’s web presence and assisting in strategic decisions.
Responsibilities
- Managed articles, campaigns and promotions for all LVCVA sites
- Primary contact for website content and tech consultation
- Assisted in all phases of web strategy and redesigns
- Worked directly with SimpleView on active client projects and custom dev jobs
- Assisted in e-mail strategy and CRM management
- Designed minor UI and page elements for websites
- Assisted UX department with low-level wireframes and user testing
- Coded basic HTML emails for one-off projects and sponsors
- Attended numerous conventions and workshops, including a mobile UX workshop at Google’s LA campus
- Vetted prospective client projects and vendors
- Managed all domains for the agency and clients
About Me
Skills & Software
I’ve always had a passion for digging into the how and why – looking for patterns and efficiencies that make things work. As a kid I used to play Sim City for hours, to where my mom even thought I’d be a city planner or architect. While not quite what she had in mind, you could argue building a website is like Sim City.
Stay with me here…
Keeping with the Sim City comparison, think of UX like the planning and architecture side. You’re essentially researching the area for suitable buildings (Discovery), determining suitable building types and demographics (Information Architecture) and constructing the buildings blueprints (Prototyping).
COMPONENTS
- Discovery & Research
- Information Architecture
- Prototyping/Wireframes
- Usability Testing
Software
- Figma
- Sketch
- Adobe XD
- Indesign
- UserTesting.com
In Sim City, no one wants to live in an unattractive area. Think of web design like raising the land value to attract more people – building models/designs (Design Comps), uniformity among neighborhoods & business centers (Styleguide), proximal services & parks, etc.
Components
- Website Design Comps
- Digital Styleguides
- Mood Boards
- Animation & Interaction Guides
Software
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe Indesign
- Adobe XD
- Figma
- Sketch
If UX is the architecture side of Sim City, dev’ing a website is the city planning part. Building the structures (HTML/CSS), utilities and transportation (programming), outside connections (APIs & plugins). You get the point by now.
COMPONENTS
- Domain & Hosting Configuration
- CMS Setup & Customization
- Content Entry & Asset Optimizations
- Quality Insurance
- Regular Maintenance
Languages & CMS
- HTML / CSS
- Javascript / JQuery
- WordPress / PHP
- Shopify / Liquid
- SimpleView CMS
- SquareSpace
Every city needs imports and exports to balance the budget. Think of e-commerce like selling your services to your population or excess utilities to neighboring cities. Not to mention the logistics of how to provide and ship said services and products.
COMPONENTS
- Storefront Setup & Configuration
- Inventory Setup & Management
- Theme & Web Styling Integration
Software
- WooCommerce
- Shopify
You need to advertise your city’s attractions and services to grow into a metropolis. This is like the e-mail and marketing sides of web campaigns. By pushing marketing channels and establishing a subscriber base, not only do you increase your digital presence (SEO, brand awareness), you provide a direct pathway for your customers to enter your site, much like building an airport will allow for direct transportation to your city.
Components
- Marketing Platform Setup
- Subscriber Segments & Automation
- E-Mail Design & HTML
- Web Banner Design & HTML
- Analytics Setup & Management
- Basic Website SEO Setup
Software
- Mailchimp
- Klaviyo
- Adobe Animate
- Google Web Designer
- Google Analytics
Building a website isn’t the only element of a project. Someone needs to set the timelines, manage budgets, gather the content – you know, the mundane stuff. Sort of like how you need to manage the operations of your city and balance your budgets in Sim City.
I’ve worked in many hybrid roles over my career that set the foundation for how I approach and manage projects. Below are some of the skills and software I’ve used along the way.
Components
- Project Management
- Account Management
- Presentation Decks
Software
- Asana
- Webvantage
- Microsoft Project
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Keynote
- Slack
About Me
Clients & Industries
One of the benefits of working in an agency is the number of different clients and industries you work across. While my main achievement is working with LVCVA for so many years, I’ve worked on a number of clients and industries over the course of my career.
Rather than name-drop multi-million dollar clients I designed web banners for at my agency, below is a list of clients I’ve worked on in my freelance life (mostly).
Las Vegas Convention & Visitor's Authority
INDUSTRY: Travel & TourismClient Info
WEBSITE: visitlasvegas.com
MY ROLE: Digital Producer, Web Development, Project Management
REFFERRED BY: R&R Partners Client
Desert Does It
INDUSTRY: Automotive Parts SalesSummerlin
INDUSTRY: City & GovernmentClient Info
WEBSITE: summerlink.com, summerlinpatrioticparade.com
MY ROLE: WordPress Layout Design, Content Entry, CMS Management
REFERRED BY: Mixtape Studios
Primal Relief CBD
INDUSTRY: CBD & HealthcareClient Info
WEBSITE: N/A
MY ROLE: WordPress & WooCommerce Development, MailChimp E-Mail Automation
REFERRED BY: Freelance
Uptice
INDUSTRY: Auto & Marine Part SalesCLIENT INFO
WEBSITE: uptice.com
MY ROLE: Shopify website redesign and management
REFERRED BY: Desert Does It
Pathway To Happiness
INDUSTRY: Health & WellbeingCLIENT INFO
WEBSITE: pathwaytohappiness.com
MY ROLE: Server Management & Updates, WordPress Management, Content Entry
REFERRED BY: Mixtape Studios
About Me
Contact Me
Looking for project estimates? Are you a prospective employer? Maybe you just have a general question? Regardless of the reason, you can contact me via the form below and I’ll reply as soon as I can.
About Me
Download Resume
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WHERE TO FIND ME