Happy New Year!

2009 is coming to a close and for many of us in media, marketing and advertising, it’s a time to be thankful for our very survival. Cheers to that!
No doubt, the stormy economy hurt a lot of our businesses and cost people jobs and income, but it also forced people to rethink some old assumptions and retool for a lean, but prosperous and sustainable future. Personally, I chose to leave the security of my director-level position at BFG Communications a year ago today. Some might see that as a poorly timed move, but people who start businesses don’t think like that. People who start businesses are optimists, pure and simple.
Shawn and I started this media business 62 months ago and we’ve worked hard to improve our product and our business practices every day since. We’re both pleased with the progress–over 6000 subscribers by RSS; 2800 unique visitors a day; and 1.5 MM pages views this year–but we’re even more excited about some of the behind-the-scenes work we’re doing to bring you better content, online and off, in the coming year.
The optimism doesn’t stop there. Not by a long shot. While we have every reason to believe AdPulp will continue to be a profit-generating enterprise for years to come, this site and its various spokes is but one side of the marketing communications coin. The other side of said coin is Bonehook, the creative services firm I started in Portland this year.
On the Bonehook front, I’d like to thank Tara Ackerman at Marsh Inc. in Cincinnati for putting me on Steak ‘n’ Shake’s in-store communications needs; Cathy Solarana in Omaha for the chance to work on another cool project for Creighton University; Daniel Wood at PMSI in Portland for bringing me in on their Air New Zealand RFP (that they won!); Annie Regnier at Columbia Sportswear in Portland for providing interesting projects to work on like Columbia’s first iPhone App, “What Knot To Do”; Andrew Mottaz and Blake Johnson of ProtoShare in Portland for providing office space in return for creative services; and my old friend Bill Woolston of Danville Services in Salt Lake City for trusting me to help build his new hospital brand.
I feel fortunate indeed to have partnered with so many great people in 2009. In July I got married to the greatest partner of all, Darby Strong, so right there 2009 is one for the record books. I think it’s worth noting that Darby’s job helping to create sustainable practices in the built environment provides her challenging work, and our family a steady income, plus health insurance for both of us. Clearly, Darby is helping make my quests for independence possible. She’s a great woman!
On the AdPulp front, I’d like to thank Talent Zoo for their continued financial support, and Steffan Postaer, Todd Davidson, Vinny Warren, ProtoShare, The BeanCast, Corporate 3 Design, WebVisions and MediaTemplate for their valuable support. In addition, I want to thank Bob Hoffman, Tom Asacker and my mom for their wise counsel. It’s heartening to know so many people, locally and throughout the nation, are aligned with our mission and that we can in some small way help to advance their missions.
Finally, on behalf of Shawn and Danny G., let me thank you once again for making AdPulp part of your media diet. Your comments, @replies, emails, shout outs, suggestions and tips are all greatly appreciated.
Happy new year! And here’s to achieving great things together in 2010.