Access Founder and CEO Susan Butenhoff
20 years ago I first opened the doors to Access Communications, a public relations agency that I wanted to be one of the first to focus on the nexus point between technology and the consumer and business markets. Our mission was to “translate bits and bytes into glitz and glamour” by bringing technology to the mainstream market and consumer media. Our first clients were: Broderbund, looking to educate its audiences on the value of CD-Rom products vs. floppies; and Intuit, where we worked with founder and CEO Scott Cook to educate consumers – primarily women – on the benefits of using software instead of paper and pen to organize and manage personal finances.
We started in a very small rented space in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood, which at that time was an inexpensive and slightly suspect location. Access consisted of rented furniture, one person I lured from my former employer, and a temp who didn’t know how to use a computer. Twenty years later, the Access family is now 100 employees strong, half of whom weren’t even in middle school in 1991, with a thriving office in New York that we opened in 1996.
Of course the world of technology has changed dramatically in the last 20 years. We have evolved from a world where Microsoft dominated the desktop to one where mobile rules the world with Apple’s iOS and Android the dominant operating systems. Twenty years ago “interactive” meant 64 bit gaming, Compuserve, Prodigy, chat rooms and bulletin boards; today interactive is defined through Twitter, Facebook and social networking tools. And now, CD-ROMs are joining floppies as quaint relics, as consumers begin to move their music, movies and games into “clouds” they can access anywhere at anytime.
Even as technology is now core to today’s lifestyle and business worlds, our journey to a $20 million firm has not always been along an easy path. We survived the dot.com boom and bust 10 years ago when many notable agencies such as Niehaus Ryan Wong and Applied became causalities of the market. Also, I am extremely proud of the fact that our team’s exemplary work and commitment to their clients has resulted in very strong double digit growth over the last three years despite the soft economy.
In the last 20 years Access and I have had the opportunity to work with amazing people and market-making companies including Siebel Systems, Apple, Sega, AT&T, YouTube, Google, Intuit, 2K, PayPal and Toshiba together with many others. I have also have been given the gift of working alongside so many talented and passionate professionals who have grown their careers and love for public relations at Access.
The latest chapter for Access is our ability to tap into international opportunities by virtue of our acquisition by Ketchum. I recently travelled to the Ketchum Pleon offices in London, Paris and Dusseldorf and am confident that with our global partners the next 20 years of Access will be even stronger and more successful than our first 20 years.
Happy birthday Access! The last 20 years have flown by.
Susan Butenhoff
President, CEO
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Congrats, Susan! Acess is a very proud accomplishment that we all are so happy to be apart of and help you grow.
Congrats Susan & Access. I learned so much during my time at 101 Howard and I can say without hesitation that the Access team is the smartest and most dedicated group of PR professionals out there. Keep up the stellar work and cheers to another 20!
So happy you made the decision to start Access Communications 20 years ago – I’m proud to be part of it and here’s to another 20!
Congratulations, Susan! You’ve always had a knack for finding good people and good clients. You continue to inspire me!