2009 Looking Back on a Big Year

In the grand scheme of things 2009 has been my biggest year ever.

I got married

Which reminds me I haven't uploaded all the photos from the wedding. Here's a few Ervi picked out.

I converted to Muslim
A few days before getting married I said the Shahadat, signed the papers, shook the hands and become a 100% Muslim

I bought an investment property
It's 2 doors down and the exact flip of my apartment

I bought a LCD TV
I held out long enough and can now watch stuff on a screen that doesn't make an annoying buzz sound.

Started Running
Running 3 times does count as starting :) Here's me on Nike+

Got the rest of my Wisdom teeth out

Photos here for those interested

I went on a Detox

Although I've slipped back into bad eating habits I am drinking much more water. As Rob noted "I've seen you pee at work now! WTF is up"

Auditioned and failed for Gruen Transfer
Need to up my cheeseburger talk. It did help Soap get the guest spot on the show though.

I sold my WTFcostumes blog
When it did 3 million visitors in October I kinda wish I had kept WTFcostumes but I had too many things to update as it is

Did a lot of Travel

Not as much as 2008 which was nuts but still pretty hefty
Married in Indonesia.
Judged at One Show in NY and went to a stopover in LA
Spoke at AGIdeas in Melbourne
Spoke at MADC in Melbourne (thanks to Bob at Host for pulling out to make room for me :)
Spoke at PADC in Perth

Shot a Real Gun

Tick that MOFO off my life todo list. I did this in LA and the Gold Coast.

Got my head scanned in 3D

While small I'd wanted to do this for ages! This was at the GDC in San Fran which was interesting seeing the gaming industry struggle and ask the same questions as the advertising industry.

Contributed to a book

Well I drew some cocks but hey that's the fine print no one will read. Tick that off the life todo also.

What about Soap!

And all of this is personal stuff. Soap itself had a huge year and even with the GFC (which did affect us) we had one of our best years ever creatively. There's still ups and downs, miscommunication, assumptions, egos, rivalries, enemies, friends, emotions, wins, losses and all the other stuff that comes from helping run an agency with 2 offices and 30+ people.

In some ways the quite month and half we had this year was good for us. We were able to put 4 developers onto iPhone R&D which has already begun to bear fruit.

We were named Highly Commended by B&T for Digital Agency of the Year coming runner up to Deepend. It was tough to not win again (this is our 4th finalist but no win title across B&T and Adnews) but you can't hate on Deepend they do nice stuff. We're still wondering what that magic formula is that wins you an "Agency of the Year" title.

The Meeting Game cards.

We finally finished them! They were in the works for over 2 years and it's finally done! Complete and better than I imagined. I wish I could find the original docs or trace back what date the initial idea came up in as it'd be an interesting look at the timeline.

2010 will be a big year for us at Soap. New staff, new clients and the US office at a place where it can stand on it's own.

Blogging for 2010
Looking back at my blogging on here for 2009 it has been pretty sparse. I used Twitter much more this year and also Flickr to dump my images. I didn't see the need to blog that much. Factor in updating Sleevage occasionally (Alex has been keeping it alive for me) and Bannerblog every few days it took all my blogging juice. Also having a game console at home didn't help either.

Next year will mark 10 years I've been blogging. O F'n G I know. Here's me talking about Social Media in 2004 if I need to lay down some more creds.

Not that getting into something earlier makes you any good at something.

I look forward to 2010. There's plenty of things/people/situations I wish I could change but overall I've netted out with a good deck of cards.

In the grand scheme of things 2009 has been my biggest year ever. I got married Which reminds me I haven't uploaded all the photos from the wedding. Here's a few Ervi picked out. I converted to Muslim A few days before getting married I said the Shahadat, signed the papers, shook the hands and become a 100% Muslim I bought an investment property It's 2 doors down and the exact flip of my apartment I bought a LCD TV I held out long enough and can now watch stuff on a screen that doesn't make an annoying buzz sound. Started Running Running 3 times does count as starting :) Here's me on Nike+ Got the rest of my Wisdom teeth out Photos here for those interested I went on a Detox Although I've slipped back into bad eating habits I am drinking much more water. As Rob noted "I've seen you pee at work now! WTF is up" Auditioned and failed for Gruen Transfer Need to up my cheeseburger talk. It did help Soap get the guest spot on the show though. I sold my WTFcostumes blog When it did 3 million visitors in October I kinda wish I had kept WTFcostumes but I had too many things to update as it is Did a lot of Travel Not as much as 2008 which was nuts but still pretty hefty Married in Indonesia. Judged at One Show in NY and went to a stopover in LA Spoke at AGIdeas in Melbourne Spoke at MADC in Melbourne (thanks to Bob at Host for pulling out to make room for me :) Spoke at PADC in Perth Shot a Real Gun Tick that MOFO off my life todo list. I did this in LA and the Gold Coast. Got my head scanned in 3D While small I'd wanted to do this for ages! This was at the GDC in San Fran which was interesting seeing the gaming industry struggle and ask the same questions as the advertising industry. Contributed to a book Well I drew some cocks but hey that's the fine print no one will read. Tick that off the life todo also. What about Soap! And all of this is personal stuff. Soap itself had a huge year and even with the GFC (which did affect us) we had one of our best years ever creatively. There's still ups and downs, miscommunication, assumptions, egos, rivalries, enemies, friends, emotions, wins, losses and all the other stuff that comes from helping run an agency with 2 offices and 30+ people. In some ways the quite month and half we had this year was good for us. We were able to put 4 developers onto iPhone R&D which has already begun to bear fruit. We were named Highly Commended by B&T for Digital Agency of the Year coming runner up to Deepend. It was tough to not win again (this is our 4th finalist but no win title across B&T and Adnews) but you can't hate on Deepend they do nice stuff. We're still wondering what that magic formula is that wins you an "Agency of the Year" title. The Meeting Game cards. We finally finished them! They were in the works for over 2 years and it's finally done! Complete and better than I imagined. I wish I could find the original docs or trace back what date the initial idea came up in as it'd be an interesting look at the timeline. 2010 will be a big year for us at Soap. New staff, new clients and the US office at a place where it can stand on it's own. Blogging for 2010 Looking back at my blogging on here for 2009 it has been pretty sparse. I used Twitter much more this year and also Flickr to dump my images. I didn't see the need to blog that much. Factor in updating Sleevage occasionally (Alex has been keeping it alive for me) and Bannerblog every few days it took all my blogging juice. Also having a game console at home didn't help either. Next year will mark 10 years I've been blogging. O F'n G I know. Here's me talking about Social Media in 2004 if I need to lay down some more creds. Not that getting into something earlier makes you any good at something. I look forward to 2010. There's plenty of things/people/situations I wish I could change but overall I've netted out with a good deck of cards.