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CMND SHFT Presenting Sponsor: Position Interactive

Position Interactive is a full-service creative agency, designing solutions for the digital and physical world.

From left to right: Phil Tretheway, Ali Zamanian and Kyle Marks attending Tedx Sacramento 2016.

Position Interactive Inc. is nestled on the ninth floor of Elks Tower in downtown Sacramento. Owner Ali Zamanian, Creative Director Phil Tretheway and Designer Kyle Marks love this location. They can easily walk to clients’ offices for meetings, catch a quick bite at one of the nearby restaurants or head out to one of the many events held at Cesar Chavez Plaza — or gaze at a great view of the city! Their office may be sparsely decorated, but when it comes to design projects leaving that office — it has to shine!

Ali: “I’m not a designer but I appreciate good design. I appreciate creativity. I hope this [CMND SHFT] is the start of something bigger and generates more events and more opportunities to collaborate together as a community.”

Left: Downtown Sacramento Partnership website – www.downtownsac.org • Right: Java City website – www.javacity.com

 

A Little Background

Ali has been an entrepreneur since the age of 13 when he created his own lottery scratcher tickets to sell at family gatherings. “I was always looking for a fun way to make a few bucks here and there.” Ali has started several businesses, including a web hosting company which paid for his way through college. A few years after college, Ali started Position Interactive with the goal of providing clients an alternative to the large web development firms and freelance designers that were prevalent at the time.

Ali: “No one was ever happy with their web firm. They felt neglected and ignored, people were settling for less than they deserved. I saw an opportunity to deliver high quality work and attentive service. It’s a simple idea, but very powerful.”

This approach worked well, and soon clients were asking Position Interactive to handle all their design needs – to effectively be their in-house design department. What started as a one person digital firm quickly evolved into a full-service design agency with an integrated team of designers and developers.

Porter Scott Attorneys – www.porterscott.com

Filling A Niche

Ali quickly realized the most rewarding and effective projects Position Interactive worked on, were with agencies and in-house marketing departments. His small and agile team integrates well with the advertising, marketing and public relations teams of companies including: Downtown Sac, PORTER SCOTT, UC Davis, Sutter Health, Golden 1 Credit Union, Visit California, Java City and the Sacramento Kings.

Brand design for WAL – Warehouse Artist Lofts

Ali: “We wanted to provide the type of service where we are an extension of our client’s team. They can pick up the phone and talk to the person they need to – without going through an extra layer of management. From beginning to end, you work with the same people, so nothing is lost in translation. Most of our clients have direct access to me via email or cell, any time, day or night.”

Position Interactive does not specialize in one area of design or a specific industry. They feel focusing on one type of design, or one industry, would get stayed and make them less effective at what they do.

Phil: “We don’t specialize in any specific industry and that has been a big advantage for us. I think it’s important to get an outsider’s perspective. We start each project with a fresh take and immerse ourselves with the challenge at hand. This allows us to get away from cookie-cutter solutions and reimagine how to tell a story, solve a problem and deliver on our client’s goals and objectives.”

Sacramento Metro Chamber Annual Dinner

Work-Life Balance

Kyle in Yosemite playing with rocks.

I think it’s important to ask how a busy team like Position Interactive keeps their sanity, and there was no shortage of answers there.

Kyle: “If you look at the three of us, we all have different interests outside of design that help keep us recharged. The work-life balance is a very important value of the company.

Personally, I like being outside. I like outdoor adventures like hiking, climbing and camping. I like exploring Sacramento, reading at a coffee shop or having a BBQ at the river.”

Phil enjoying a weekend in Oakdale with his wife and kids.

Phil: “Cooking is one of my creative outlets and a great motivator for me. The outdoors as well. Fishing, hiking and mountain biking in Tahoe. Being out in nature allows me to decompress and relax. And of course I enjoy hanging out with my two young kids Jack and Gwen and my wife Amber.”

Ali holding the 2015 Pinot Noir from Bailarin Cellars.

Ali: “Well, I’m a foodie and I rarely eat at home. I love eating at restaurants. Food is one of my passions along with traveling and photography. I’m also involved in the wine scene. I recently teamed up with friends to start a wine company called Bailarín Cellars (Position Interactive did the design and branding). The tagline is “What makes you dance? it’s another way of saying, what inspires you? Wine definitely inspires me.”

Thank you again to Position Interactive for sponsoring CMND SHFT 2016 and supporting the creative community in Sacramento! For more information on Position Interactive please visit their website or Facebook Page.