Life Through the Eyes of Periods and Commas...

2001.  The year that TOMA Advertising was created.  In the world of advertising this type of longevity is a rare accomplishment, and one to be extremely proud of.  As I sit here typing away on my Mac (if someone from the future would've time machined their way back to 2001 and told me that I'd become a 'Mac' person and would leave my PC ways behind - I would've told them they were crazy)  I begin to reflect.  My eleven year anniversary with TOMA is coming up in December, and my how things have changed!

When I was younger, change scared me.  Change meant a major disruption in my comfort zone, having to adapt to something unfamiliar.  It meant no longer being good at what I already knew, and having to start from scratch.  Because so much of my life revolves around the need to write, I often relate my life in terms of punctuation.  My life in 2001 - a period.  Definition courtesy of thefreedictionary.com:  Period - a punctuation mark indicating a full stop.  The 2001 version of me (Kristy 1.0) would've been perfectly happy if everything had stayed the same, if time had stopped and I never had to learn a new skill, a new format, or a new program ever again.  But as the years went by, in a field that revolves around the latest and greatest in technology, change crept up on me. It became easier.  It became essential (I like to think that I grew up, but in reality, to be the best I could be both professionally and socially, change was something I had to accept).  As part of my reflection on the past few years, I decided to create my own version of “Back to the Future,” and fly myself back to 2001 via the internet (and a good imagination).

2001 - The Year That Top of Mind Awareness Was Created

2001 in the Media - (just for fun)

Emmy award for Outstanding Comedy -  "Sex and the City" (Also nominated: "Will & Grace," "Frasier," and "Everybody Loves Raymond")

Emmy award for Outstanding Drama - "The West Wing" (Also nominated:  "ER," "The Sopranos," "The Practice")

Highest Grossing Movies - "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (the first one). The first "Lord of the Rings:  The Fellowship of the Ring."  The first "Shrek."  The first in the "Ocean's" series, "Ocean's Eleven"

Best Super Bowl Commercial - Budweiser:  "Cedric"  In case you don't remember:  Cedric the Entertainer is romancing his date, and decides to grab two bottles of Bud Light from the fridge.  He dances his way back to his date, shaking the bottles in the process.  It all ends badly when he opens the bottles of shaken beer and they explode all over his date.

2001 in Technology

TV's - We were still watching our shows and commercials on CRT TV's. Sony WEGA was a higher end "flat screen" TV.

Sony WEGA Flat Screen

Cell Phones - Nokia was the leader in cell phones with the Nokia 3310.  Sony Ericsson also released the T68i, just in time for Christmas.

              Nokia T681                                                       Sony Ericcson 68i

Video Games - Microsoft introduces Xbox and Nintendo releases GameCube, to go head to head with Sony's Playstation 2.


Music - Apple releases the first generation iPod!

Social Media - Pretty much non-existent.  2001 saw the launch of Wikipedia.

A Lot of Learning To Do...

Reading over my 2001 flashback makes me realize how great change can actually be.  Technology has made our lives more convenient and enjoyable (although some may disagree).  I've also learned that in order to have long term success in business you need to stick with the times.  It's hard to imagine a world without social media, streaming video, and smartphones.  We can't live without them now, but somewhere along the way we were forced to learn them and incorporate them into our daily lives.  Trends in social media and technology are extremely important in the world of advertising, and those who don't adapt or are unwilling to embrace it don't last.  As I reminisce back to 2001, I still remember having to send mp3 files over dial up internet.  We were shipping all of our TV spots on Beta SP, each tape needing to be sent FedEx or UPS overnight to individual stations.  When we wanted to showcase our latest SPEC ads to clients, we had to ship VHS tapes to each store owner.  Fast forward a few years and shipping tapes became electronic shipping via companies like DG Fastchannel.  Beta SP became mini-DV and DVC Pro.  VHS became DVD.  And where do we find ourselves now?  2011 is all about a tapeless society, where footage is stored on cards and hard drives.  Clients view proofs via the internet or their smart phones.  I can even feel services like DG Fastchannel becoming non-existent, with the posting of TV spots directly to station servers is the norm.

Although 2001 wasn't that long ago - it's a millennium away in the world of technology.  Through time, TOMA Advertising has walked toe to toe with the ever changing world.  While I've compared my life to a period, I like to look at my time at TOMA  Advertising (Kristy 2.0) as a comma.  Definition - a punctuation mark indicating a slight pause, followed by a move forward.  Translation - sometimes change brings new challenges. These challenges may keep you at a temporary standstill, forcing you to pause momentarily and learn something new.  Once you adapt and gain the knowledge you need to conquer the task at hand, you are free to move forward to the next challenge. One of the best parts about this job is that the field is always evolving.  Clients come to us everyday with new ideas, new projects, new technology, and it never gets boring or monotonous.  It's like waking up to a new job everyday, and I can't wait to see where the future goes!   There's still so much to learn.