
Ah, 2010. Judging by the time capsule, it was a busy 12 months.
I was given the opportunity to present at a number of pretty fly conferences all over the world. I got to spend my first real European vacation (or vacation of any kind) in over a decade, reconnected with two of my dearest childhood friends and much of my family in France. I met some of the best people and organizations on the planet. I enjoyed a cappuccino in San Remo, Nutella crΓͺpes in Paris, a flat white in Sydney, and tapas in Dubai. I sunburned in Monaco and ate pambagnats in Cannes with the fam and 5 lbs worth of chihuahuas. I had my picture printed onto elevator doors. I got to wear a gladiator costume for a photo shoot. I was interviewed for UAE television. I was turned into a velociraptor. I even learned – perhaps with some delay – that the BrandBuilder blog was listed in Ad Age’s Power 150. Out of the blue, my favorite author sent me his latest book with a very kind personal note. In an unrelated incident, an anonymous stranger mailed me underwear. A handful of people blessed me with the gift of chocolate-hazelnut spread. I got to spend an afternoon in the offices of my favorite magazine: Fast Company, in New York. Pearson – the publishing house that owns Penguin – offered to pay me to write a book on social media program development and ROI, effectively beginning the process of moving much of what we discuss here on a daily basis into bookstores. The first book – already available for pre-order – is scheduled to hit the shelves in March, and I have just begun working on the follow-up.
Of course, it wasn’t all croissants and puppies. My beloved golden retriever – Sasha – passed away. My parents had a bit of a scuffle with cancer. Many of my friends, some of the smartest, most talented people I have ever known, are still looking for a job worthy of their gifts. All the preparation and skill in the world don’t change the harsh reality that great clients are hard to come by. My schedule forced me to postpone most of 2010’s Red Chair social media training sessions to 2011. Several opportunities to further the integration of social media into the business world passed me by. I am still not working with some of the brands I want to work with, both in the US and internationally. There is still a lot of work to be done in the space, both in terms of fixing the broken programs developed by snake oil gurus and building social media programs outright, and those of us on the side of doing it right are still vastly outnumbered by a small army of self-serving hacks. My work here is far from done. 2011 should prove interesting. But overall…
… 2010. ’twas a good year.
Thanks to all of you for making it so.
Cheers.
Howdy friend and Happy New Year to you as well! It is my hope you and your family have a great year and we can find a way to catch up for a beer! ~BR
Middle of the image, just right of the Eiffel Tower ticket. Notice the pen? π
Beers in 2011. Done.
Cheers, Bobby.
I love the “time capsule” format and may ask permission to steal it. Keep leading, brother. We need more like you. Happy New Year and here’s to shipping and conquering The Resistance in 2011!
One of the highlights of my year was getting that little bit of mail from Mr. Pressfield. Thank you for that. π
Yeah… Inner and outer resistance won’t get utterly crushed in 2011, but I look forward to getting stuck in and putting it to them for 12 bloody months. At the very least, it’s good sport.
Cheers, buddy. π
Happy New Year Olivier!!!
You really had a great 2010 and I wish you even more fantastic 2011.
You know my favorite author sent me his latest book with a very kind personal note too, he is from US. And I met with Scott Gould in Islamabad. And did many other things too.
I look forward to have the honor of meeting you in 2011. Thanks for the great blog and all the fun. Pictures are good.
Looking forward to it. π
Olivier,
Olivier,
Great to see you in 2010. Hope to see you in 2011.
Eric
Hi Oliver and Happy New Year from Charlotte, NC! It sounds like 2010 was great and 2011 will be even better. It’s nice to meet you via Twitter and look forward to interacting more in 2011. I tweet about a bit of this and a bit of that. Nothing deep, but I have fun with it and enjoy reading the tweets of so many others. All my best, Carrie
Looks like I’ll be in CLT regularly this year. Looking forward to meeting you at some point. π
From my point of view, 2010 was not a year I’m going to be looking back on fondly. Lost several people I’d really like to have around, spent some time spinning my wheels, and all in all I’m glad the bitch is dead and buried.
But her last few weeks did set some things in motion that make me optimistic about 2011. And optimistic is a hat that I don’t often wear, so I’m enjoying that feeling.
Good to hear. (The 2011 stuff, not the 2010 stuff.)
Nice knife. π Happy New Year brother.
Isn’t it? π
Honored to see the distinctive pink bc, oddly reminiscent of a bar of soap. Thx for doing that thing you do, it matters. And thx for being #149. Itykwim.
I am Jack’s possum-eating grin.
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