Our program this past week was a Classification Talk by new transfer member Randal Southam. We learned that Rand likes donuts and beer so he will fit in well. Born in Denver, and moved a year later to Richland, Washington where he grew up, he worked for the Forest Service following high school and then met his wife, Lin, at the Northgate Red Robin in Seattle. They married in 1986, a son arrived in 1988, and they adopted their second son, James, several years later.
Rand was fortunate to be hired by Xerox when he was young where he received world-class sales training. He then started his first business in the late ‘80s and has been self-employed ever since. In the late ‘90s, Rand led a team of 3,000 engineers working on embedded chips in the lead-up to Y2K, followed by a successful IT company delivering projects on the Microsoft CRM platform. Rand sold that business in 2011 and founded his current company, Digital Face Media, in 2013. The company provides communications and media services to both the public and private sector. His team worked with Sam Low in 2019 on a project to achieve funding for the Finish 522 campaign. His team continues to work on projects for the cities of Arlington, Marysville, Monroe, Lynnwood, Edmonds, and entities like the Port of Everett and the Economic Alliance Snohomish County.
A member of Rotary since 2013, Rand’s team produced a large joint district conference for Rotary in 2019 which resulted in a line of business that makes up about 20% of the company’s revenue. His team produces Rotary District Conferences, Rotary Zone Institutes in the Western US, PETS, and is currently working on the Rotary International Convention in Melbourne.
Rand has been a Club President (Shoreline Rotary), a district public image chair, a Foundation President, and a full-year host for three Rotary Exchange Students, two from Germany and one from Italy. His family looks forward to hosting more exchange students in the future. Rand is also president of Arlington Fly-In’s SKYFEST event that draws over 10,000 people annually to the Arlington Municipal Airport. Welcome to the Rotary Club of Lake Stevens Rand!