2010

2010 has come in like a freight train for me and mine. In our world things have changed, and maybe they've changed forever. Since we are media centric the dwindling of the press, one magazine and newspaper after another are folding (if you haven't noticed), has certainly put a new pressure on finding ways to get our clients covered. The regional media tour has been turned on its head. If your client doesn't advertise they had better be worthy of a spread... Forget about the friendly morning show perk. BUT are we feeling down and out? Of course not. Because when we say we're creative and agile, we mean it. So that's where the freight train part comes in. We're on a roll!

In a new media landscape a good pr agency had better be able to work in a few worlds all at one time. You had better be agile, for real, and ready to carve a path that is at once strategic and a bit on the edge. That's what we do. And when I say we, I mean WE. The team at BBC is top notch, incredibly smart, incredibly dedicated and a lot of fun to be around.  

Now I'm plugging "us" but why not, why shouldn't I? This team is hot!

This week New York Magazine's cover reads: "00's The World Did Not End." Unfortunately, for some it did, but that's another story. In reading the article I was taken by a piece further in - "Ten Long Years Ago." I am quoting now, "To travel back in time to 1999, you have to start by shedding a few things, as though you're going through airport security. No iPod. No Smartphone. No YouTube. No Facebook. No Twitter. In 1999, the Internet was shiny-new and just out the box, and we still believed that its greatest utility was to deliver dog food to our door and packs of gum and cigarettes to us by hand."

Yep, that was us. Where did we lose our innocence? Yet another story altogether, I suppose...

So, as I sit on the eve of launching a business that will use the Internet as its hub, I have to thank this wacky new world. I have friends my age that get all up in arms about the "Big Brother" aspect of our social universe, and honestly I can't blame them for feeling a little freaked. But Big Bro, he's here to stay, so best make him your pal. All this to say 2010, bring it on. Enough of the 00s. And yes, we did survive and many of us thrived.

Oh, and if you were wondering, my guilty pleasure is rifling through the pages of New York Magazine. I love the photos! I love the kooky stories! I love the "finds"! It's all there. Check it out...

In business there is SO much posturing. Everyone is worried about not appearing smart, or buttoned up enough or “on the proverbial ball.” Honestly, it’s just silly. NO ONE, I don’t care WHO you are, can be that “on it” all the time. 

My motto for the end of 2009 (and it’s been an interesting year, hasn’t it?) is: TRY to lighten up a bit and keep it real. We basically do this anyway, but I think it’s going to be more important in 2010. Now, this does not mean fall down on the job, get sloppy and throw caution to the wind. But if you read my blog from yesterday, I think it’s a good time to BREATHE, assess reality (as you know it) and keep it real.

Example: I got a deck yesterday from an associate that was a bit “over thought.” Totally understandable, she is doing Herculean things and is in a perfectionist mode. I get it. But I had just heard that my grandfather had passed away and I now had to leave town in the middle of fashion week. So, instead of getting bummed about an edit job that I wasn’t prepared to do, I took a deep breath, remembered what it was like to be sitting in her seat, thanked God for her commitment to my business and got down to it. We kept it real and we now have an amazing deck. I sure do hope I can do that more often. Just keeping it real!