Executive suite: 'Tech guy' Kevin Kelly, Melville

As a former music recording engineer and producer, Kevin Kelly says he was "the technology guy" behind the big console.

Viewing the Internet as "a new opportunity to do something creative in a technical space," he launched a Web development company 14 years ago. Melville-based BigBuzz Communications is evolving from a project-based ad agency into a full-service firm.

Kelly, 43, serves on the Long Island Works Coalition board. He played football in college and heads his company's softball team. Previously a drummer in a band, Kelly married the group's guitarist. They have three children.

What are your plans for growth?

"The power of marketing really comes from when you integrate all the plans. If you have a digital strategy, and then you have a print strategy, then you have a TV strategy and they're all isolated in silos, they're so much less effective than when you integrate them. That has been a real growth opportunity for us, and that's where we've seen our major growth."

How has the recession impacted business?

"Fortunately, we were in a growth mode - there were less clients, but we were doing more work for the clients that we had."

What qualities do you look for in hiring?

"I rarely hire the resume. I hire for the passion and the personality. Of course, the skill set has to be there, but that in-person interview is really telling. You've got to come through the door here every day loving what you do. You have to be able to speak up with ideas - great ideas can come from anywhere. They can come from the intern, they can come from the executive vice president of creative. I look for that creative spark. "We ask, 'What gets you most excited about what you do?' Is it the spark of the idea, is it bringing someone else's idea to fruition, is it teaming up with another team member to create something greater than he or she [could] individually? I look at that answer and see where it lands."

What's your management style?

"Certainly leading by example. I wouldn't ask anyone to do anything I wouldn't be willing to do. One of the things I [was striving] so hard for in the first dozen years of building the company was to create a culture of creativity, of independence and empowerment. The ability to fail - we have buttons that say 'Do something stupid.' Unless they know I'm OK with seeing something really dumb or ridiculous . . . we're not going to uncover that really incredible, unique insight or potentially viral execution."

How do you get people to do what you need them to do?

"I give them ownership, let them run with their ideas. They don't have to be pushed or threatened. Everybody just knows their part and comes forth with a full willingness to fulfill our clients' goals. Nine guys show up to a baseball game, they all know the goal. You don't have to tell the first baseman to catch the ball."