Ryan MacMillan

Dear friends, some brief, disjointed and trivial reflections and forecasts on my last day at R*M.

*sobs

It is often casually said that time flies when you’re having fun but that’s not the whole story. This last year since I started working here certainly has flown for me but equally it feels like my first day was much longer than a year ago. And it has been fun. In particular, I’ve greatly enjoyed working in the strategic, early stages of marketing projects, which have such great impact on the final creations. I’ve picked up some good habits too, not least due to working within six feet of what must be, singularly, the most organised being in the universe! Also, beyond all of the varied projects we’ve engaged in, just having a reason to immerse myself in social media, the wider web and the latest technologies, has been immensely rewarding. If I could name one regret, it would be that, with such a load of client work and admin to manage, I did not lever in more time for research and communication outside the remit of our regular work, out there in the social web.

Looking ahead to the near future, I have been thinking about survival tricks in lean times. As the western financial machine overdoses on its ego, I wonder how the successful members of our industry will toughen up through the winter, and am inspired by the victory for mammals and birds over dinosaurs during the K-T extinction 65 million years ago. The bloated, resource-heavy lizard monsters couldn’t cope with the catastrophic climactic conditions and soon became mantlepiece ornaments for geologists. Likewise, most truly digital, truly social businesses should consider how they can remain lightweight, with just enough fat and fur for the colder months. Then, as the dust clears from the sky, just as mammals the size of pigs soon grew to become vast elephants, digital businesses should be able to expand to meet the increasing demand. How? I’m not sure but I suspect it will have a lot to do with crowdsourcing, open-source technologies and community relations.

But, after all, as my hero Einstein said, “the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion”, which is really helpful. Thanks Albert. Wierdo.

One more thing: thank you. Iain and Leo especially, thanks for so much support.