Remembering Scott Kirkpatrick 1961 – 2018

We are incredibly saddened to share that we lost a dear friend, colleague, and fellow geek & creative, Scott Kirkpatrick.

Scott brought so much to our lives that can’t be described. He approached life with an energy that was unmatched. We will always remember what he did for each of us through the years of knowing him, which now, seem all too short. His ability to push us each to be the best we can be, his desire to always elevate what we deliver to clients, and his passion for those he loved and how he always put their needs over his own.

Scott’s five words ring so true today, just as they did the day we met him. We’re sure many of you experienced these through your interactions with Scott. Each one brings a story, laugh, and memory to mind that we’ll hold on to dearly.

Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and support.

We love you, Scott.

It’s fairly easy or common to seek distraction in one’s day-to-day even after such a great loss – after all, life inevitably goes on despite our shock, sadness, confusion. That said, there are so many reminders of Scott’s impact on our work and personal lives.

It’s harder to focus on those reminders and memories as they highlight the gaps we’re all experiencing in different ways. Sharing those memories and stories of Scott are sure to bring smiles to faces, as well as some tears – but all in all, help the healing process begin. We’ll keep adding more stories as we continue to reflect and remember our dear friend.

Tracy & I had a fantastic and very amusing call with Scott after his speech at the Governor’s mansion. He was so pumped up and proud, yet incredibly humble, about sharing his story of receiving the gift of life after his heart transplant. On top of that, his remarks about his interactions with Governor Walker were quite entertaining. He kept talking about giving Walker a big french kiss to make his story extreme and keep us laughing.

I remember the day Scott called to offer me a job at wisnet. I was at Six Flags riding roller coasters on a random day off and he thought that was so awesome. We talked about roller coasters more than we talked about anything else during that call – and it was a constant theme/comment when working together.

Countless whiteboard sessions in the Green Room – a.k.a. “War room.” Passionately arm wrestling with words and ideas … one day it got to the point that Scott stopped me and asked if we were arguing and if we were okay –– just one example of many where his care and compassion for people was ever present. No matter how hard he wanted to push for a big idea, he was always concerned about the wellbeing of his team and the relationships between us all.

I can’t remember what day it was technically, but Scott wore a batman mask practically all day – AND maintained talking in a low, deep, scratchy voice to stay in character. Cracks me up every. single. time. I think about it.

Scott’s laugh. Could hear it / pick it out of a crowd. ANYWHERE.

Every morning when I get into work, I usually play country music.  One morning, after Scott was here for a bit, he messaged me “to whomever picks the music… can we have less Country, please?”  I politely said I usually pick the music right away in the morning cause I like country. His response: “I like country… but when it’s over the top I will reach for my ear bugs… so I would like less…” My response: “I could play Christmas music instead :).”  Needless to say, every morning after this, I would make sure I listened to country music before he got in the office. In honor of him, every morning I can, I will play country music.

Scott hates the color purple.  Because of it, he had a hard time wearing his geeks & creatives shirt cause it was so close to purple.

Scott never told Carrie (his wife), but the first day he got his new car and was driving home, he got pulled over because he was swerving in his lane of traffic.  Truth of the matter was he couldn’t figure out how to change the radio station. The cop was super about the whole ordeal and let him off with a warning.

The entertaining & creative word combinations/creations of his email subject lines. Always dramatic about the creative process, but he had so much brilliance there. Examples: “Shitski! This is as far as I got” – “Scott babble” – “Throwing shit at the wall” – “logo farts” – “blurg!!!” – “meatballs are served…” (in reference to his “meatball surgery” idea combinations).

When I first met Scott, he asked me, “What’s wisnet’s brand?” Knowing that’s a big question and one that’s hard to answer (especially for a prospective employee, I wasn’t even hired, yet!), he just wanted to see what kind of a BS-er he might be dealing with.

I was working on a community project with a group of friends and a couple of us had the opportunity to present at a conference in Madison regarding our project. I didn’t ask him to come since I knew he was busy, but Scott was genuinely interested and wanted nothing but to support me and this presentation. So of course, he was there as our cheerleader and made the day even brighter, just because it was a nice thing to do.

On many occasions when I was having a crappy day or felt I was not contributing enough, Scott would always tell me “I will never lose faith in you, ever!!”

Many times when I would get an email or talk to him, it would start out with a “Hey Buddy!”  Always made me smile.

Scott ALWAYS wanted to do more for our clients. Not to get paid more, but to give more. To do more. Didn’t matter if he was already booked up with projects, he wanted to give each and every client that “lucky strike extra” so their branding could be that much better. Just because.

I was reviewing the schedule for the day and was covering the agenda for a client meeting that was coming up later. I mentioned that we’d have to ask if anyone had to wrap up by a certain time by saying, “We’ll have to see if anyone has a ‘hard out’ and needs to leave or if it can run long.” Either Scott misheard me (that’s my story) or I misspoke and said something other than “out.” Either way, he never let me live that down.

The first time I saw Scott after his heart attack and accident was at our Christmas party at Fat Joe’s.  We had a long hug and one of the first things he jokingly said was “you had to pick a place with stairs?” I guess I deserved that one. 🙂

Last year between Thanksgiving and Christmas,  we started sending anonymous superhero gifts to Scott.  They included a Superman Cape, shirt, Superman socks with their own little capes and a few figurines. He soon figured it was us and vowed to wear his Superman garb after his heart transplant, which he graciously followed through on.

Just last month, when I came to work after my mom died, he didn’t say anything, just walked toward me with his arms out and gave me a big hug. He was a “word man” but he also knew when words just weren’t enough.