Hive Health

Wow what a year. As we tidied away our desks on the 23rd it gave me a chance to reflect on what has been a pretty whirlwind year for us at hive. In place of  a long state of the nation style post (NY resolution No.3) and having had my expense spreadsheet signed off by Jas and sat for our end of year figures with FD Angelo. I thought it would be good to review the year in numbers.

So here goes. 2009 saw;

1 patient centered strategic approach
28 early adopting brand managers, community liasions and communications managers
7 client companies
17 pitches
4 losses
12 wins
1 decision still missing in action
100% of clients retained
1 new technology agency born - ebee
1 new office in Soho, London
1 new office in New York
75 blog posts
16 cases of wine
2 biggie parties
250GB+ of data (new server just installed) 
22 dozen external meetings
19 workshops
10 great newbees
1 huge thank you to everyone we have had the pleasure to work with in 2009

Ps. Would it be to much to add in 4 caipirinhas, and one very wet brazil ? I write this from down the road from Rio, where I am seeing the New Year in with a bang. At last 1 proper holiday  

Have a great New Year, looking forward to catching up with you all in 2010.

 A stumbled across Hugh Macleod’s gapingvoid blog whilst looking for a book for a client’s Christmas presents. Hugh is a cut through illustrator specialising in cube grenades – little anarchic illustrations for businesses.

It features a lovely list for those of us who want to be more creative, in art, in business, whatever.

1. Ignore everybody.

2. The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be yours.

3. Put the hours in.

4. If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being “discovered” by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.

5. You are responsible for your own experience.

6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kinder garten.

7. Keep your day job.

8. Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.

9. Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.

10. The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.

11. Don’t try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.

12. If you accept the pain, it cannot hurt you.

13. Never compare your inside with somebody else’s outside.

14. Dying young is overrated.

15. The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.

16. The world is changing.

17. Merit can be bought. Passion can’t.

18. Avoid the Water cooler Gang.

19. Sing in your own voice.

20. The choice of media is irrelevant.

21. Selling out is harder than it looks.

22. Nobody cares. Do it for your self.

23. Worrying about “Commercial vs. Artistic” is a complete waste of time.

24. Don’t worry about fin ding inspiration. It comes eventually.

25. You have to find your own schtick.

26. Write from the heart.

27. The best way to get approval is not to need it.

28. Power is never given. Power is taken.

29. Whatever choice you make, The Devil gets his due even tually.

30. The hardest part of being creative is getting used to it.

31. Remain frugal.

32. Allow your work to age with you.

33. Being Poor Sucks.

34. Beware of turning hobbies into jobs.

35. Savor obscurity while it lasts.

36. Start blogging.

37. Meaning Scales, People Don’t.

37. When your dreams become reality, they are no longer your dreams.

I might paste this into my NY resolutions. Beats the hell out of “go back to the gym”.

Last week we went to Berlin for the Christmas party. It’s because last week was so outrageous that this blog is only being written now.

Jas toiled for weeks on the plan – Bratislava? Devon? Stockholm?, Soho?  Tim’s house? Guillaume’s Circus?….

….We ended up in Berlin. Leaving Wardour Street in the morning, 18 of us piled on to the bus. 18! It’s amazing to believe what a huge family we have become in such a short space of time. All bright eyed and excited, we set out on our German mission.

Arvinder Grewal, of new found fame in channel 4′s The Family just happened to be our chauffeur – we tried to be cool, but we were all starstruck, each requesting  a signed photo.

By the afternoon we were sipping Gluhwein in the Berlin Winter Wonderland, by the evening Jas was shaking booty on the dance floor. Michael had his first night in a legitimate hotel.

It was great to have the two new Claires, Bhupi and Krystal join us for their first Hive party. And, Bhupi in particular taught us how to party – so hard – that when the alarm went off at 7 to catch the bus home, he slept straight through. And when we knocked on his door, he slept straight through, and when we rang his mobile, he slept straight through and when the hotel reception called his room phone, there was still no answer and when our Ryanair flight took off from Berlin he was still sleeping like a baby.

Awesome night. And Bhupi now knows Berlin airport like the back of his hand.

Next year we’ll head to Bognor Regis.

We offered the use of our offices to Epilepsy Action early this year as a handy central location for their weekend chair meetings. In return, we’ve received some key insights from the team as to how patients can be helped to cope with the condition. Since then, we have become firm friends with Barbara, Janet, Marie, Mary, Phil and the rest of their London forum.

We had the pleasure of seeing the group on Saturday as they came to the new Hive offices to hold their end of year meeting. I thought it started well, arriving in plenty of time to let them into the offices…until I realised that I had left the office keys at home. A mad call to Kate hoping she was in town, a mad dash from Kate to drop off her keys! Thanks Kate. We all decamped to Starbucks next door in the meantime.

All dramas sorted, 14 people settled into our boardroom to hold their meeting. My husband Simon and my two boys headed to Hamleys for some hard core toy shopping. Three hours later, I rejoined Barbara and the gang for Christmas nibbles and drinks. It was great to see the guys again and we look forward to sharing our space with them in 2010.