Ryan Farias and Jessica Smith
SMMA

Talk Description
In 1996, SMMA formalized their internal and external commitment to quality management by obtaining ISO 9001 certification. Obtaining this certification required that SMMA create, document, and implement formal processes to learn from their mistakes and share their improvements. In this talk, Jessica and Ryan will share the good, bad, and the ugly from their experiences of the firm's continuous improvement journey.

Speaker Bios
An SMMA Principal, Studio Director, and Quality Manager at SMMA, Jessica Smith offers more than 20 years of design experience. Jessica's passion and expertise lies in process improvements and project management. At the helm of SMMA's ISO 9001 Quality System, Jessica upholds quality requirements and fosters continual firm-wide improvements toward client satisfaction and design excellence. She is passionate about sharing lessons learned and best practices across SMMA's six design studios and seven design disciplines, and fittingly, her credo is "Let's make new mistakes."

As Principal and Director of Marketing, Ryan Farias is responsible for overseeing the full scope of SMMA's marketing initiatives and assisting in the development of the firm's overall strategic direction. Moonlighting as a Knowledge Manager, Ryan is particularly interested in helping his firm advance by better connecting people to critical knowledge while helping them work smarter and develop professionally. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and three children, and trying to find time to play music, watch Boston's sports teams, and brew beer.

Christopher Parsons of Knowledge Architecture interviews Ryan Farias and Jessica Smith of SMMA at KA Connect 2018.