Get to Know: Ken Pope

Based in Orange County, California, Ken Pope joins EngageRM as CRM Solutions Architect in an expansion of our US team. His extensive career in IT and working with CRM platforms is nothing short of impressive, and his passion for Microsoft Dynamics is undeniable.

 

You’ve lived in and around both the LA and Orange County areas for most of your life, have any of the LA teams caught your eye and drawn you to sports?

KP: I’m more of a spectator than a player, and there was a period where I religiously followed the NBA. I can honestly say I didn’t miss a single game of Kobe Bryant’s career.  If I couldn’t watch it live, I always caught up on the recording. I still follow the Lakers and Clippers to some extent but watching all of the games is time consuming!

 

Where did your love for technology come from?

KP: My father was an electrical engineer, so when I completed high school, I thought ‘that’s what I want to do as well,’ but as I went through college I began to question if it was the career for me.  After a few years in the field, I fell into technology by chance as I worked with a software company to help automate their new office. The owner of the company handed me a copy of Borland C++, asked me to try it out, and see what I thought. As soon as I put it in my PC I was hooked, I ended up becoming his IT manager.

 

What then was your first experience with CRM, and how did you end up in this space?

KP: After working in IT for several years, one of my colleagues from a previous job called and mentioned that he was working with a small consulting firm that was selling and implementing Onyx CRM, and they were looking for implementation consultants. I didn’t know much about CRM at the time, but I made the jump and I’ve never looked back.  I love it.

 

One of our Senior Consultants, Serena Galvez, referred you to us here at EngageRM, how did you meet her?

KP: In 2005 I began a contract for Outbox & Cirque de Soleil to build out their back office / CRM solution in conjunction with their up-and-coming proprietary ticketing solution, and that was my first experience with live event ticketing. As the solution matured and the years progressed, I eventually found myself working at AXS implementing CRM for sales and service for the LA Kings, LA Galaxy, and AEG Group Sales within STAPLES Center, and that’s how I met Serena. I worked with her for a couple of years setting up and maintaining her group sales team on the AXS/Outbox Onyx CRM solution.  Fast forward to today and she reaches out on LinkedIn mentioning that EngageRM was hiring.  It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.

 

What drew you to the EngageRM platform?

KP: Number one is that it is a Dynamics platform and I love the Microsoft ecosystem. I’ve moved away from it over the years and I’m excited to be back and using the platform again. The other factor was the space you operate in. I’ve worked in the sports and entertainment sector of 16 years, so I know some of teams and people EngageRM may end up marketing to.  The blocks kept falling into place and that’s as perfect as it gets.

 

Finally, what are you looking forward to at EngageRM?

KP: Learning the platform and what it can do.  I’ve been included in a few of the demos to date, reading up as much as I can, and so far, it looks amazing.  While I have implemented older versions of Dynamics CRM in the past, I have never had the opportunity to do so within the sports and entertainment space.  I’m looking forward to modernizing my knowledge of Dynamics 365, as well as the entire Microsoft ecosystem, and apply that to the industry I love the most!