Steve Gahler, new Portent President

Portent’s had a fantastic run so far: 16 years in business, great clients and fascinating work, day in and day out. But there comes a point when one multi-tasking nerd (me) can’t further grow the company.

So I’m thrilled that Steve Gahler has signed on as President and Partner at Portent, Inc. Steve’s going to head up business development and operations, while I focus on training the team, writing, tools and other marketing geekery.

A media guy

Steve is a brilliant media guy and overall professional. For 5 years, he was the VP and General Manager of KSTW, CBS’ Seattle television affiliate. He worked a variety of miracles there, but one thing stands out to me the most: He presided over huge growth in audience, profitability and revenue at KSTW, while also building a great, positive work environment.

I met Steve through a colleague and we immediately hit it off. We started working together a few months ago, and somewhere along the way realized we’ve got very complimentary skill sets. As a team, we can help Portent grow in ways I could never do on my own.

We also look at the media world the same way: Digital is beyond a ‘trend’ at this point. Inbound marketing is clearly here to stay. So agencies that can master both provide the best value for their clients and can most improve and advance the industry.

So, we’ve teamed up and are aiming for some pretty lofty goals.

What this means

First, if you’re a client, don’t expect major changes. We’re not suddenly changing what we do, how we do it, or why. Steve will ensure that as we grow, we provide the same level of service and intelligent marketing, or better.

Second, I’m still the obsessive, ranty CEO. I’ll be putting in the same effort as always. But now I’ll get to focus on the things I do best: Training, teaching and refining techniques.

Whether you’re a client or not, what you will soon see are:

• An even higher level of professionalism and smarts from Portent staff;
• Some great training and content from the Portent crew;
• More work in the marketing community by me and the team;
• A lot more of Portent’s “public face.” Not many folks know about
  us, but they will soon.

As Churchill said, this is only the end of the beginning. Portent’s had a good start as a long-term presence in the industry. This is our next big step, and I’m super-excited about it!