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Poer Goes Back to the Future in L.A.

Apr 21, 2009  •  Post A Comment

To Brent Poer, being back at MediaVest is like deja vu in reverse, or “vuja de,” as he puts it.
After spending a year launching TheWB.com, Mr. Poer has returned to the agency as senior VP and managing director of Los Angeles operations.
“I think we knew there was a finite time that I would be at the studio, and at the same time I always stayed in contact with the family at MediaVest,” Mr. Poer says. “I kind of finished what I needed to do for the studio.”
Conveniently, there also was an opportunity at MediaVest.
“When you try something new, you learn a lot about the business. But at the same time you learn about yourself, and I think I came out from this experience knowing I am an agency guy. I completely understand that is core to who I am.”
TheWB.com launch went well, he says.
“The launch brought me into focus on creative and getting the brand put together and taking the site from concept to execution and getting the first set of series out,” he says.
Indeed, out came “Sorority Forever,” produced by McG, and “Children’s Hospital” starring Rob Corddry of “The Daily Show.”
“We were able to define and reconfigure the brand,” says Mr. Poer. “It’s all set up for long-term success.”
Naturally, Mr. Poer helped the site land advertisers and fit them into programming, which was a big part of his work at MediaVest. Retailer H&M was integrated into “Sorority Forever” and Accuvue was in another series called “Rich Girl, Poor Girl.”
“You can take the boy off the farm, but you can’t keep the farm out of the boy,” he says.
Back with MediaVest, Mr. Poer aims to grow the 40-person Los Angeles office.
“I came off a year of a startup, so if somebody’s ready to come in and take a startup mentality, I think it’s probably me,” he adds.
He’s looking forward to working on content creation with the agency’s Los Angeles clients, including Activision, Mattel, Public Storage and the Comcast Media Group. He’ll also be working with Executive VP Pam Zucker’s innovation group and Brian Terkelsen’s connectivetissue branded entertainment group.
When Mr. Poer left New York for TheWB.com job, he would remind his former colleagues about the weather he had left behind.
“It was sort of fun to torture people in New York and send Brian Terkelsen e-mails when it was snowing, saying, ‘How’s the weather there? It’s 75 degrees here.’ Or, ‘How’s that winter coat treating you? I’ve got on a T-shirt.’”
He says he’s fitting right in back at the agency.
“I’ve been here five days and it feels like I never left. It’s a great thing. It’s good to be back. I’m thrilled to be here and working with all of our teams, and I feel like my year at the studio has given me a new content play that we’ll be able to bring to our clients,” he says.
Mr. Poer is originally from Atlanta. He parlayed a chance meeting at a health club into a job with Reebok producing videos and TV content. Then he came to New York to work for Lifetime before joining MediaVest.
Now that he and his partner are in California, they’re enjoying more outdoor activities.
“One of the great things about living in Hollywood is that we can walk out our back door and go on a seven-mile hike through Mount Hollywood and then walk back home, he says.
They also plan to learn to surf as soon as the water warms up a bit this spring.
Who Knew: Mr. Poer says moving to California has made him a nicer person. “I went home for the holidays [and] my parents and my best friend from college said, ‘L.A.’s made you nicer. You used to come home from New York and you’d be so tense and a little aggro,’ and now I’ve become a far more laid-back person. The sun does bake your brains. And makes you a happier person. When it’s 76 degrees and sunny, what can you complain about? So, yes, the hardened New Yorker has turned into somebody who is a true California person now.”

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