We’ve howdyed, but we ain’t shook. That’s Texas-speak for “we haven’t been formally introduced.” So let’s draw the curtains and shine the spotlight on Ed Morrissey, Integrity’s Partner and Chief Creative Officer. Ed hails from Houston, where he got an early education in all things technical and webby at Compaq. After the interactive start-up he led was acquired, he turned his attention to leading Idea Integration, which was named one of AdWeek’s Top 50 Interactive Agencies. Not too shabby-looking on a résumé, if you ask us.

After a mere five years in St. Louis, he has certainly given people reason to talk—and not because he smells funny or wears socks with sandals. He helped Global Velocity earn Governor Blunt’s Missouri Technology Company of the Year award in 2008, and in 2007, St. Louis Commerce Magazine named him a “Key Player within St. Louis Technology.” But wait, there’s more! (R.I.P. Billy Mays.) Ed’s a member of St. Louis IT Entrepreneur Networking Mentoring Committee, he acts as a strategic advisor to several area start-ups and is co-founder of a nonprofit organization called Operation Shower, which produces and coordinates baby showers for pregnant and expecting military personnel and their families. So basically what we’re saying is he’s a hard-working, creative and big-hearted guy. Lucky us.

Ed gets his kicks by employing creative, user-focused development principles to help businesses better achieve their goals, connect with target audiences and extend their brands online. That’s fancy industry speak for “he’s got mad website skills and puts our clients’ business needs ahead of any lofty design goals.” Which is why he’s been able to usher new clients into our Clayton doors week after week after week…

His experience is all over the place (in a good way), having worked in a plethora (vocab points!) of industries including technology, consumer packaged goods, healthcare, government, oil and gas, media and financial services. And not to brag—okay, a little—his brand roster includes a few familiar companies like AT&T, Bausch & Lomb, Hewlett Packard, JCPenney, Sony, Microsoft, Continental Airlines and Exxon Mobil.

In short, he’s a rock star. So far, the only drawback we’ve encountered is Ed’s love for queso, as it conflicts with our ability to fit in our pants. But we’re willing to give him a “pass” just this once. Consider yourself “shook-ed.”

The Integrity family has adopted a new member—it’s getting to be like the Jolie-Pitts around here. As our new Director of Content Strategy, veteran media guru and wordsmith Natalie Kurz will be helming the ship of website content and information architecture design, internal branding and PR, online user experiences and social media strategy. Yes, that means she’s getting paid to Tweet.

With a musical ear for language, a methodical eye for consistency and an unwavering devotion to common sense, Natalie has spent the last decade helping tongue-tied companies, both large and small, figure out exactly what they want to say and how they should go about saying it. Whether entering a company as an employee or contractor, her natural niche has been to make things better—streamline a process, create a style book, revamp an intranet, craft a marketing strategy, explicate an unspoken idea, rewrite a website or simply clean out the fridge.

Her formal training was gleaned from esteemed professors at New York University as she earned a master’s in journalism. Her informal training extends back to the third grade when she wrote her first “book.” Other notable stops along the way include work with Citysearch, Purina, Express Scripts, AOL, Home Decorators Collection, New York Post, Sauce magazine and Alive magazine.

For client SBPA Systems, Integrity helped a trusted provider of technology-based healthcare management solutions return to its core identity.

As corporate restructuring threatened to absorb SBPA’s brand, the solutions provider sought to assert its identity through revitalized marketing and messages. After several independent attempts at developing collateral materials, SBPA engaged Integrity to distill and express the essence of their company. During this exploratory phase, Integrity discovered a client who was uncommonly attentive, communicative, and helpful. Their core identity – providers of extraordinary service – was apparent in their every action, yet unseen by the professionals who considered it “all in a day’s work”. Further exploration of client testimonials confirmed Integrity’s findings.

While integrating established brand characteristics and mandatory corporate themes, Integrity upgraded collaterals with SBPA’s rediscovered brand truth. An updated look & feel aligned the new materials with a technology-based service provider. New creative campaigns set apart SBPA from its conservative, buttoned-down peers. And powerful service-minded messaging asserted to employee and customer alike the benefits of mid-sized service providers in an oversized industry.

The partnered efforts of Integrity and SBPA ultimately reinvigorated the service expert’s core identity while maintaining a sense of established brand and the equity within SBPA’s niche market.