Marketing Hipster

Even though we have not even hit Christmas, I have already begun looking back at 2010. It was definitely an interesting year with high’s and low’s. I have begun planning my 2011 professionally and personally and I cannot help but look back at this year to understand where I have been and to help me understand where I am going.

Here’s what I have taken from 2010:

The year has to start and end with the person who matters most to me in the world, my wife. We passed our two year anniversary in 2010 and I think this year was the year that we really learned what it meant to be married. How to live together, how to work together, how to communicate with each other and how to truly understand what love really is. I fall more in love with her each day and without her none of this would matter. I am so excited to see what 2011 brings for both of us.

If my wife is number one, second are my friends. I have some amazing friends. They make me laugh, they give me so much to think about and I know I can count on them. Unfortunately, I don’t believe I have been as good of a friend as I should or could of in 2010. I needed to put the extra effort required to ensure things like families and jobs didn’t get in the way of incredibly important friendships. As I have gotten older, it has become apparent to me that all relationships require work. I didn’t do as much work as I should of this year and for that I want to apologize to my friends. You guys are incredibly important to me and I promise you that I will do a better job with in 2011.

I would say that professionally 2010 was one of the most challenging years I have ever lived through. There were a number of times and I am sure I am not alone, when I asked myself, what the hell am I doing? Though each time I asked myself this, we would deliver some great work, a client provided good feedback or I would watch one of my team members grow professionally and I found the answer to my question. While I had my successes and failures this year, I am extremely proud of my company and the people in it. Our agency begins and ends with our people. I am going to leave 2010 extremely proud of a number of team members who I have witnessed first hand grow this year into absolute superstars. I am excited to see what we can accomplish in 2011. Specifically, I did not feel like I accomplished all that I could of this year. I have a number of objectives and I am going to accomplish them in 2011! (Eye of the tiger!)

As I was looking back, something that really made me smile was this incredible community I live in. This year I have met so many wonderful, smart and passionate people in the Triangle. There have been so many great events like the Triangle AMA, Media Leaders, Internet Summit, etc. I cannot say enough about the wonderful people in this community. I truly believe that the Triangle is and will continue to grow and flourish because of so many talented folks. I want to thank so many of you who I met and gotten to know this year. You not only have my respect, but you have my friendship.

I can’t end this post without talking about the albatross that I have been carrying around with me throughout 2010. Simply put, I chickened out on several things this year. I had several ideas that I wanted to pursue and because it might of taken me out of my comfort zone, I didn’t do it. I could make excuses like I did not have the time, too much going on, but simply put, I could of found the time if I wanted to. I simply chickened out and to be honest, it has been bothering me. In 2011, I am going to push myself to be uncomfortable. Great things can happen when you leave your comfort zone.

I want to wish everyone a safe and happy holidays and new year. I wish for all of us a better and happier 2011.

Cord