About Us
Adventures in Communication is about bringing communication best practices to business professionals and organizations who want to
- Influence and connect with their audiences – employees, customers, and communities.
- Increase visibility and stand out in a crowded marketplace
- Leverage technology and media to make meaning and gain understanding
- Build powerful relationships and bridge differences
- Educate internal and external customers about your products and services in a memorable way
- Be heard, recognized and remembered
How do we do this? Mari Pat Varga and Steve Zagata share not only their experience and expertise as long time communication consultants but also by tapping into “expert guides, timeless wisdom and exceptional resources.” Through their blog and video interviews you will hear from established authors, gurus, successful business leaders and everyday folks who will present ideas, strategies, tips and tools to help you be more successful in your communication.
Who are Mari Pat and Steve?
Mari Pat is the talent in front of the camera and Steve is the talent behind the camera. Their individual perspectives, collective experiences and collaborations come together in this blog: Adventures in Communication.
Working together for many years, Mari Pat and Steve have partnered on a wide range of projects from concept and scripting to planning, production and post production.
Together, they’ll share their ideas while tapping into the thought leadership of many talented professionals, corporate leaders, business owners and customers they have met along the way.
Founder and Managing Director
Varga & Associates, Inc.
For more than 20 years, Mari Pat Varga has supported businesses and individuals in building organizational cultures and robust communications practices that engage people, customers, and communities while driving profitable results.
With career roots in radio and television broadcasting, Mari Pat’s perspectives and practices derive from her varied professional background. Now she offers her communications expertise to leaders in diverse settings. She has been an internal collaborator, working with airlines and the banking industry, as well as a consultant in leading corporate and not-for-profit organizations.
Banco Popular
Most recently as the Head of Communication & Leadership for Banco Popular North America (BPNA), Mari Pat was responsible for all internal and external communications, along with overseeing the Banco Popular Foundation and community outreach efforts for the bank. During her tenure at the bank, employee engagement – as measured by Hewitt Associates – increased by nearly 20 percentage points and employee participation in company-wide satisfaction surveys was 95%. In 2007, the Banco Popular Foundation granted over a half million to 43 organizations with 60% of employees contributing – a dramatic shift from 12% contributing in 2005.
Her team developed and implemented all strategic communications that supported the bank in meeting the goals around its four pillars – Performance, Customers, People, and Community. Her team also led BPNA’s Customer Service Vision initiative that introduced a bank-wide strategic plan, including process alignment and people engagement, designed to create a culture of superior customer service. Customer satisfaction – as measured by J.D. Power – rose significantly during her time as the bank.
Honors and Awards
Mari Pat and her team were instrumental in supporting BPNA as it achieved such prestigious honors as the 2005 FORTUNE Best Companies to Work For and regional Best Company awards in Orlando, Chicago, South Florida and St. Louis. In 2006, USA Today Make A Difference Day Award for Community Service. Most recently, BPNA was named an honoree for the 2007 U.S. Chamber of Commerce Corporate Stewardship Award. Communication & Leadership’s monthly newsletter, Popular People, was honored in 2006 and 2007, recognized with silver and gold Inspire Awards recognizing Popular People as among the nation’s top 100 company newsletters.
Culture Builder, Communication Consultant, Educator
From both inside and outside these organizations, Mari Pat has provided expertise as a culture builder and communication consultant, coach, educator, speaker, and trainer. With her guidance, individuals and businesses have increased their leadership acumen, customer loyalty, and employee collaboration through excellent communications and culture-building practices.
Mari Pat has also served as a visiting faculty member of both Columbia College and DePaul University in Chicago. She serves on the Advisory Board of A Silver Lining Foundation and the Alma Dance Company in Chicago. She is a member of the International Association of Business Communicators, the Executive Club of Chicago and the Organizational Development Network. She is the author of two books (Great Openings and Closings and The Presenter’s Journal) and has authored a number of articles on communication excellence. Mari Pat received her B.A. in Communication from the University of Dayton.
Steve Zagata
Video Active Productions, Inc.
Entrepreneur
International Videographer
Editor & Storyteller
Steve Zagata is the owner and creative director for Video Active Productions, Inc. He has worked with hundreds of corporate clients producing powerful video and film presentations that include:
- Corporate Storytelling
- Customized training videos
- Executive videos
- Video newsletters
- Podcasts
- Interviews
- Web Conferencing
- And much, much more.……
Steve’s process in creating media that sells, promotes, educates and motivates is to listen intently to his client’s needs – understanding fully the story they want to tell – and then bringing together the talent and tools necessary to develop and create a compelling product. He has worked with individuals from CEOs to frontline team members to the Marketing Team and Human Resources Group and knows how to unearth and highlight the stories they need to tell.
LAUNCHING VIDEO ACTIVE
Video Active was founded in 1996. The digital age of video production was just beginning and Steve quickly decided to use his movie making, musical, writing and computer skills to join the video revolution. He bought the best equipment available to offer the highest quality to his soon to be clients. He expressed his desire to exceed the expectations of his clients with a short hand written note he placed on his editing desk.
“Creative, high quality productions, produced at a reasonable price
and delivered on time.”
A PASSION TO IMPROVE
Steve quickly realized that technology was changing constantly and there was a great need to continuously learn new skills and network more efficiently. When he found no local video association in the area he decided to start one. The Illinois Videographers Association, or IVA was born. Steve was president of that association for many years and is still an active member.
DOCUMENTARY FILM-MAKING
Steve has worked on various documentaries, traveling to many foreign locations including, Egypt, South America and Mexico. His footage has been shown on the history channel and he continues to collaborate with other production companies.
LEVERAGING VIDEO ONLINE
Online video was getting better, faster and cheaper. For a videographer, the potential was clear. Steve produced many internet videos for his clients but soon recognized their confusion with the slew of options the internet offered. Steve discovered the need to provide guidance in such technical areas as compression settings, formats, lighting, delivery, and cameras.
ADVENTURES IN COMMUNICATION
When Steve met with his long time collaboration partner, Mari Pat, he discovered her desire to provide guidance and support by venturing into this digital realm. As they discussed their individual ideas they soon realized that by combining their unique perspectives they would be able to provide a diverse wealth of resources that would enable a greater number of people to power-up their communication skills. It would also allow them to create an online resource that would feature articles and interviews from some of the most exciting and successful communicators in the business.
THE JOURNEY AHEAD
Steve continues to partner with his corporate clients, traveling and producing documentaries. He writes for his blog and is also working in the studio recording his original music. He is certain there will be extraordinary, life changing advances in communication technology in the years to come. He looks forward to those changes and challenges and is eager to participate in that adventure.
