Get To Know Kevin Howe

Prior to striking out on his own to open Three29 in March of 2010, Kevin worked for two top web design and advertising firms in the Sacramento area. Kevin was responsible for managing client projects, designing and developing specs and creative as well as providing technical direction on a number of projects. That expertise was brought to Three29 when Kevin opened the company and has since built a list of clients including Facebook, Instagram, CBS Sports, iHeart Media, Mikuni Sushi, Trumpette, Ella Dining Room & Bar and many others.

When Kevin isn’t building Three29 he enjoys spending time with his wife Nicole and their sons Bennett and Sebastian, polishing his golf game or preparing his snowboard in eager anticipation of a snowy winter. Kevin often defines himself as nerdy, a bit obsessive (but in a good way), creative, fun and hard working.

We’re thrilled Kevin will be speaking at WordCamp Sacramento 2016 on Freelance to Agency: Peaks and Pitfalls of Growth!

Speaker Q&A With Kevin

To help you learn even more about Kevin, we asked him to answer a few questions for us, some WordPress-related, and some others we think you’ll appreciate 🙂 Be sure to give him a shout out on Twitter and don’t forget to use our hashtag #wcsac.

What inspired you to give this talk at WordCamp?

As Three29 has grown we are continually looking for ways to give back to our community. Part of that is discussing our growth, changes, etc with the development community in Sacramento. WordCamp is one of those avenues. I wanted to be able to discuss what happens as an agency grows and try to provide other developers with some insight in to what changes at an agency. What goes wrong, what can you do to grow better, etc.

How did you discover WordPress?

I honestly don’t remember. I’ve been in this industry for so long that I feel like WordPress has always been there. For a while the CMS capabilities were not on par for what agencies needed. However, in the past few years the CMS system has grown and it’s become a goto software piece for our agency.

How has WordPress Or WordCamp impacted you?

WordPress has given Three29 a platform on which to build. For a short time we used Expression Engine, which is pretty nice; however, it is not as flexible or as easy to work with as WordPress. With WordPress I know I can walk into any meeting with a client or potential client and find a solution that fits their needs and their budget.

How do you primarily work with WordPress?

At Three29 we primarily use WordPress to develop custom sites for our clients. This ranges from simple marketing sites to very complex membership systems, ecommerce, etc. We also use WordPress as a CMS for some of the iOS and Android apps we develop. Content is stored in WordPress and we use APIs to pull the data out for display on the mobile apps.

What does the WordCamp theme Discovery mean to you?

For me Discovery is the constant theme of Three29. As we grow and evolve we are always discovering things we do right or wrong. From a business side this can be billing issues, staffing issues, how we write a proposal, when we win work or lose it. Each success or failure leads to discovery within the agency.

When we build WordPress sites we have the same thought process. What worked? What didn’t? What can we do better next time and what did we do really well this time? There is the thinking of “evolve or die”. That truly is discovery. If Three29 stops discovering, if we stop discovering ways to better our product we will pushed out of the market. We have to discover to keep ourselves alive.

What is the latest book you read?

How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp.

What is your favorite restaurant? Favorite menu item?

Lamb Cheeks @ Boxwood Cafe in London.

What TV series are you current binging on/into?

Stranger Things & HBO’s The Night Of.

What do you do for fun?

The majority of my time outside of work is spent with my family. With two small boys (2 and 4) we’re constantly running around to golf practice, funderland, the lake or traveling somewhere fun. When I’m not doing that, I golf…as much as I can.