1. SVM stands for “Sound and Vision Media”.
2. Our name changed 4 times since our founding: Sound & Vision Media → SVMedia → SVM E-Business Solutions → SVM E-Marketing Solutions.
3. Look at how our logo has changed from then to now (see left).
4. When SVM was founded in 1995, there were under 3,000 Websites. Now there are over 1 billion URL’s registered… Wow!
5. Our company has operated on every technology from 56K modems to wireless broadband.
6. Since SVM is in New Jersey, we have access to some of the most delicious bagels. Some of the best mornings start with breakfast from Hot Bagels in Red Bank.
7. SVM’s first website looked like this (see right).
8. Work/Life balance is just as important to us as producing results. It is for this reason that we have implemented summer Friday hours between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend so our team can enjoy extended weekends at the Jersey Shore.
9. Our office looks like a mini Google HQ in the heart of Red Bank.
10. Our first office was a PO Box in Princeton, NJ.
11. Our office is located above Monmouth Street Emporium, one of the many antique shops in Red Bank.
12. The SVM team meets every Tuesday for our own “Sprint” meeting where we share a tip of the week and discuss our clients’ needs and priorities, as well as our own.
13. We love making a difference by volunteering and making charitable donations to nonprofit organizations. Every year, around the holidays, we donate to local schools via DonorsChoose.org. In the past, we have also put together 25 shoeboxes for Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child. These boxes went to Rwanda and made lots of little girls and boys very happy! We look forward to being able to continue to make a difference in these kids’ lives again. This year, we also donated and volunteered at Lunch Break in Red Bank, a non-profit organization offering daily food distribution (see left).
14. We have Workout Wednesday once a month where we wear gym clothes to the office and bring in a yoga instructor to help us stretch and relax during our lunch break.
15. SVM was founded 3 years before Google, and a just few short months after Yahoo!
16. We love incorporating team-bonding activities into our agenda! Here we are at Pinot’s Palette getting creative as a group (see right).
17. Red Bank, where our office is located, has some of the most impressive places to eat in New Jersey and we take full advantage of it. Some of our all-time favorites are Teak, Bistro, Birravino, and Pazzo.
18. We have a stand-up desk, a walking desk, bean bags and lots of other fun areas to work from so we are not always sitting at our desk when working on client initiatives.
19. We are a young office! Everyone at SVM is under 35 except for the president, Bob DeStefano.
20. The majority of the employees at SVM started out as interns. That’s because our interns are in the trenches with us every day and work on the same client initiatives that we do so they learn all of the skills needed to be hired full time here or at another marketing agency.