About Jake McKee

I’m Jake McKee, aka: The Community Guy. I am the Principal at Ant’s Eye View, a customer collaboration strategy practice based in Dallas. I help clients understand and implement the best ways of to create real, honest-to-goodness relationships with customers. From developing social interaction systems in Web sites, to training clients to better speak to and interact with customers (both B2B and B2C), to creating Web tools to help people connect, we do it all.

In a past (work) life, I spent 5+ years as the Global Community Development Manager for the LEGO Company. My primary function was as a liaison between the company and the adult LEGO hobbyists. I worked on projects and activities that helped to integrate the adult fans in the daily operations of the company.

I was part of the Community Development Team, a group we lovingly called an “incubator for where projects go to be born”. The group was spread over no fewer than 5 countries, and covered a wide range of projects including the LEGO Club, and of course the adult fan relations. We worked to change the company’s approach to one of marketing with consumers, rather than marketing at consumers. (I talk about this in past tense only because I’m no longer part of the team)

Oh, and I’m a LEGO fan myself, with a very large LEGO collection of my own! I even wrote a book on the subject, Getting Started with LEGO Trains, and helped design two different LEGO sets.

I went to school for traditional 3-D product design, but in 1994 I found the Internet. I soon realized that the concepts of product designs applied, but in a brand new way. A few days after graduating with a Product Design degree, I left Oklahoma State U. to move to Dallas and start with i.con interactive, a rising Internet development agencies. One of the agencies, NVision Design, was responsible for the email viral game Elf Bowling. If you know it, you know it well. If you don’t know it, you missed out.

I’ve lived all over the country, including NYC, I travel frequently, often to Europe, and mountain bike a terrific riding trail across the street from my housing community. If you’re interested in finding out more about my work experience, check me out on LinkedIn:
What’s this? http://www.linkedin.com/in/jakemckee

I’m married with a lovely wife, a fantastic baby, a dog and a cat, and more gadgets than you can possibly imagine.