What a difference a year makes
Posted by: Carl Smith on Friday December 21, 2007
As we were leaving the office last night, we started talking about how calm everything was for this time of year. No crazy all-nighters to get everything done before the break, no clients calling 10 times a day with wacky new requests, nothing. It started dawning on me that 2007 has truly been evolutionary for us in so many ways. And through a series of small steps, some on purpose, some forced and some accidental, we are truly in control of our future.
Getting our act together
A big part of 2007 was about improving how we approach every project. This year we decided to document our process and identify the pitfalls projects normally fell into. The result was the Client Guide and it was an instant hit.
Our new site was well received and we could see a difference in the type of leads we were attracting within weeks.
Using simple web-based tools gave us a new level of control over the business side of nGen. Blinksale, Tick and most recently Pulse have been huge timesavers and provide us big picture knowledge and peace of mind.
Hosting has always been an issue and our move to Rackspace was nirvana. Not only did we get our lives back, we improved our bottom line.
Investing in ourselves
2007 was also a year of spending money on ourselves. We bought new equipment and upgraded a few things here and there, but the biggest investments we made were packing up the shop for SxSW and redesigning the office.
The week we spent in Austin invigorated us and made us smarter about how we approach the business and the work. Equally important, we started meeting other people in our industry.
And after talking about it for over a year we finally fixed up our digs. There’s something about walking in the door now that just makes it easier to get INSPIRED!
Meeting our industry
While we were having fun with Happy Webbies, we were introduced to a new audience and made some new friends.
Perhaps the most fitting end to 2007 from an industry perspective was getting asked to work on some of the graphics for Web Directions North. Not only did we say yes with a big smile on our faces, we bought tickets to Vancouver. Snowball fight!
A different type of recognition
This year we had some fun things happen, like being recognized by CSS Glance , having one of our designs finish in the top 5 in a monstrous battle for design supremacy and having a knucklehead in the Yukon say we are one of the top 10 interactive agencies in the world. (Yeah, he caught some heat for that which may have been what he was after.)
Finding our clients
Looking over our project list from 2006 there really isn’t anything stellar that brings back fond memories. In 2007 though, there have been a lot of cool clients and great projects. This month alone we began working with Klaus Heesch, Dave Shea, and Obie Fernandez. It’s pretty awesome to work with clients who really get it.
So we can only wait to see what 2008 will bring, but something tells me great things aren’t on the horizon. They’re already here.
Filed under: Business, nGen News
Garrett Dimon
12.21.07 at 12:25pm
It’s been great watching ya’ll evolve and grow. You’re definitely doing some great stuff, and I’m sure it will only get better.
Scott Jehl
12.21.07 at 1:17pm
Great year indeed. Cheers nGen, excellent work as usual!
Blake Coglianese
12.21.07 at 3:17pm
Congrats on a successful year. Hope next year is even better. You guys deserve it. Happy Holidays.
Geof Harries
12.21.07 at 5:47pm
Yukon knucklehead? I’ll take that as a compliment :)
Seriously though, I only wanted the agencies I admire most to be recognized for the outstanding work they produce and the inspiration they provide to us lil’ guys who are just starting out.
Ah, who am I kidding…the traffic and response weren’t half bad either!
Carl Smith
12.22.07 at 11:18pm
@Garrett Thanks. It really does feel like we shifted over the fast lane. I am so excited about 2008. Are you going to Web Directions North?
@Scott Thanks to you also. Writemaps is looking very sweet. I’ve been thinking about taking it out for a spin.
@Blake Thanks. You need to drop by the office after the holidays and play some Rockband!
@Geof In warm climates “knucklehead” is a term of endearment for sure. Lil guys? You’re well on your way sir. Next June nGen turns 5-years-old. Pretty crazy.
Brian Gray
12.24.07 at 2:08pm
I have notice you all for a while but have never popped into your website. I have to say..i love the style that you all have. Its clean, artistic, animated, and just overall cool. I think you all have a great cutting edge design. Keep up the cool work! I also have had a very succesful year in my art work and design. It feels great to get noticed for all the hard work you do so, i thought id drop you all a line to say keep up the great work and good luck in 2008!!!-B.
Carl Smith
12.26.07 at 10:23am
Thanks Brian. BTW, I dig your work too. I’ll keep an eye out for you at art walk.
Sean O'Shaughnessy
01.04.08 at 3:47pm
I have been reading and keeping up on the work and what you all do for quite some time (Josh Hallett first told me about nGen Works), and although I never comment (I’m pretty shy I guess), I love the work, the design, pretty much everything you all do up there! Congratulations to you all on your successes in 2007 and I wish you continued success in 2008!
Carl Smith
01.07.08 at 9:16am
Thanks Sean. Josh just keeps running his mouth about us, that nice fella. We’re ready for an awesome 2008!