Pros
Being in Pioneer Square is great. The work is somewhat consistent. The newer directors of creative (now gone) and strategy were a step in a new direction for the agency and certainly bring talent and experience. The longtime client services director works very hard. The staff are generally very nice.
Cons
Where to start? The problems with BuzzBee are largely at the top. The CEO is a big problem. Simply put, she's overbearing - in everybody's face, very impolite, and loud. She constantly finds ways to pick on someone for something, whether at their desks or in meetings or in front of a group. She also walks around the office interrupting people with random requests. And oh, the tantrums she throws. Every last person in this agency is truly and sincerely terrified of doing anything to set her off. Not doing things to make her mad is an actual part of many discussions. She has a good idea of what it takes to keep a business running financially, but the people side is odd, as you'd expect from reading this far. She has little tolerance for anyone who questions her or doesn't strictly adhere to her mindset. And while she's got every right to choose her employees by her own standards the result is a trade-off in the diversity of thought. If you're not subservient or one of her favorites you're in for a hard time if you even get in the door. I've seen great candidates for jobs not make it and I've seen good, talented people let go for weak reasons. For as much as we tout how modern, digital and awesome we are, the work output is non-exceptional - sometimes bad, sometimes good, but usually just regular. The talent range is equally spread: some good talent, some poor, a lot regular. We actually stress a "good enough" approach so it's rarely great. There is a tremendous focus on hours and how much time gets applied to what projects. In a way it's about managing a proper burn rate, for sure, but it's also overly anal and makes people super picky about how hard they're going to work on a project, and how much they end up caring. It's definitely more important to have the right number of hours than to spend extra time to make work great. Overall the clear focus is: keep your head down, do the minimum required, and don't make the leadership mad. There was an earlier review that mentioned you will be made to feel like you haven't done enough, that you're not good enough, and that is definitely the case. And even if a person doesn't do enough, there's a right way to move them along and then there's a way to make them feel bad or foolish or whatever that's the opposite of what ends up making them feel more loyal. The CEO seems to just relish the latter. I've seen it happen a few times but each time I'm so turned off. The "quality of life" angle we love to tout is somewhat of a mirage. There's always talk about how we love to drink and have fun but the drinking is infrequent and in small amounts. There's a little booze but it's cheap booze that nobody wants. Symbolic. What else? The ownership is cheap so the decor is tired and the tools are old. Want any kind of modern app for project management? Good luck, and learn Office because you'll use it for everything. Bottom line: If you're someone who can crank work, punch the clock, and be the kind of nice, agreeable person who takes all kinds of crap with a smile because you have a thick skin or bigger things to worry about, you'll be OK. There are some great people here. I'm not always sure why we stay. This place exists in its own world. There are better options out there.
