Dear 2012,
Your predecessor, 2011, is just about to depart, and for me, at least, this won’t come a moment too soon.
2011 hasn’t been a completely awful year — we hired some great people, brought home a bumper crop of awards for our client work and added some fantastic new brands to the roster. But it hasn’t been all gravy, either: we lost some dear friends in New York and London, and we endured disasters natural and manmade, and, in some of our markets, a nasty economic climate exacted every ounce of resilience and effort we could muster.
So bring on the new year, I say.
And while I’m usually not one for January resolutions, I’ll try anything to align the karmic rhythms and get the next 12 months off on the best possible footing. So if you’re listening, I HEREBY RESOLVE the following items:
- I will be more generous with time, attention and credit.
- I will keep my desk tidy and neat. This is more for Sarah, Helen and Maud than for me.
- I will uphold the noble cause of ending advertising value equivalency (AVE) as a measure of success.
- I will visit every one of our offices in Europe at some point before year-end.
- I will stand up for industry cooperation wherever and whenever possible.
- I will get fighting fit. Or as close as possible to fighting fit.
- I will rely less on email and more on direct conversation.
- I will win (well, encourage our account teams to enter and win) a Gold Lion at Cannes.
- I will drink less caffeine.
- I will get my own blog up and running.
- I will bring my dogs to work more often, but maybe not together as that gets a little crazy.
- I will do something significant every day outside of work – at home, in the community or with causes I care about.
So there you have it, 2012 – my to-do list to get in to your good graces. I ask for nothing in return, although a brief respite would be nice to get my head on straight for your arrival. Either way, I am eagerly anticipating your arrival.
