It is good to be alive.
Innovation is happening again. Laughter is heard in the halls.
Clients are being nice to us; they appreciate our hard work (one client just told us that he's experienced a 1,500% increase in his inbound leads, thanks to SHIFT)!
Budgets are not what they were in the Bubble Days, of course, and there are always the 4Q Blues to deal with, but overall, damn, Life is Good.
I am even more encouraged when I take a minute to sniff out what's going on in the wider world. Check out this write-up about the "Million Dollar Homepage," by the Cool-News-Of-The-Day guru, Tim Manners. Then check out the site itself. Some kid in the U.K. is going to make a MILLION DOLLARS with this just-plain-silly idea. What fun!
Tim also piqued my interest with his write-up on Nike's drive towards "sustainable innovation." Apparently the design guru at Nike is urging his team to think waaaay outside the box in terms of the future of footwear.
Not only will they use less glues, resins and other toxic materials, but more interestingly, the design team is urged to get their inspirations by going to the zoo, to car shows, etc., for the plain and simple purpose of looking at lines, at sex appeal, at movement-in-nature. Someday soon, if all goes as planned, Nike sneakers will be more comfortable, and sleeker, and more eco-friendly.
Think about this for a second: it is the stated goal of a billion-dollar corporation to use better design and better thinking to positively impact the future, without sacrificing the "cool factor." And how cool is that???
We've got close to $2M bubbling in our pipeline as I write this, so I oughta be really h-a-p-p-y! - but, frankly, the only feeling that this causes right now is angst, because the burden is on us to impress a whole lotta people with our smarts, creativity, energy, contacts, etc., in the weeks ahead. Honestly, it's li'l things like the Million Dollar Homepage and Nike Considered that make me feel really good. These silly and sensible goings-on in the world around me are a true inspiration.