Community Spotlight: Brendan Harrison, Principal Content Strategist at Getty Images
What is your role and responsibilities at Getty Images?
I’m the Principal Content Strategist for Getty Images, the world’s leading source for exclusive and unique creative and editorial imagery and video clips through our websites www.gettyimages.com and www.istockphoto.com. I’m responsible for all customer-facing copy on these sites as well as the copy that supports the tools our contributors rely on to submit their images and videos to them. My job is to make sure the language that drives these experiences is clear, concise, and helps users accomplish their tasks.
How did you get into content strategy and what was your path to your current role?
I’ve always loved writing and have gravitated towards wordy jobs for as long as I’ve been working. Like many before and after me, I followed the career conveyor belt from journalism to communications to marketing. I’m thankful that my last stop on this path was at a tech company, which opened my eyes to other possibilities.
Calgary’s creative community is pretty tight-knit, so I’ve known folks who have worked at iStockphoto for a long time — even before it was acquired by Getty Images in 2006. Fortunately for me, Getty Images recognized the incredible tech talent they had in Calgary and made a commitment to staying put. I’d applied for a number of roles at iStock over the years, and finally got my foot in the door with a job on the marketing team.
Prior to joining Getty Images as a marketing copywriter, I’d worked as a content specialist on Neteller’s marketing team, so I was expecting to spend most of my time working on banner ads and email blasts. I was surprised to find myself spending most of my time on projects that were more “product-y” in nature, like a referral program or adding new features to our sites. At a certain point, it became clear that I was working more closely with our UX team than with our Marketing team. As part of a reorg, I was officially moved on to our UX team and that’s where I really embraced my roles as a UX Writer and Content Strategist.
What do you love about content strategy?
I love looking at things through the lens of a user. With marketing copy, you’re trying to persuade and entice users to take actions that may not reflect their needs. Writing site copy forced me to think about who our users are, understand their needs in a particular context, and write clearly to speak to how our product benefits them. In marketing, we’d sometimes stray away from users, but in product writing, you can’t afford to do that.
Why Calgary?
Like many people, when I was 19 I couldn’t leave this city fast enough. I packed my bags and I moved to Montreal where I lived for many years. I came back in my late 20’s and I realized that I was wrong about this city. When I came back I met people who were just as engaged in our arts and culture community as the kids throwing loft parties in Montreal. I realized that Calgary is as vibrant as any city and could really be anything — it’s up to the people who live here to create it. For me, this was a freeing realization. I’m committed to being part of the community, being involved in arts, going to shows and through my work being involved in the design community. It’s been very rewarding and I love this town.
Calgary is as vibrant as any city and could really be anything — it’s up to the people who live here to create it.
What does the future of tech look like in Calgary?
We have tremendous potential here. There’s a lot of people who have the skills, have built products that have been used by millions of people, they know how to build companies and get things started. There’s a unique, and different kind of tech community in Calgary than there is other places. The focus on community and the ability to build something that is a uniquely Calgary version of something is really exciting. You’re not going to have that hustle and grind culture in Calgary and you can find that in other places. In Calgary, you’re going to find an incredibly talented group of people here that love to get stuff done with no ego. I think you’re going to see a ton of new businesses come up and I’m excited to see what happens.
