• by December 27, 2001

I’m in the process of moving apartments and whilst packing up, I came across so many reminders and remnants of a year and era gone by. Moving is kind of like where we are right now in the New Media industry: with the closing of one chapter in our lives, comes the beginning of a new one. Unique memories (both good and bad) associated with a previous domicile and the promise and hope of only good things in the new location.

Part of moving apartments includes the opportunity to thoroughly spring-clean and completely overhaul one’s accumulated possessions. It’s not too dissimilar from leaving one job for another. Suddenly what seemed important becomes prime shredder-material, as we revisit our priorities and decide what we really need and what we can do without.

In packing, I came across a plethora of business cards I amassed over the past few years. Business cards today have essentially become defunct, with so many people having changed jobs either by choice or by management decision. A personal cell number or an Instant Messenger handle are probably the most important details on a card these days.

I also became the brutal judge, jury and executioner of chachkes of days gone by. Chachkes were a vital tool in terms of getting a passer-by’s attention and luring them to an exhibition booth cluttered amongst many others. This year, my department actually contemplated having a secret-chachke event, instead of the more mainstream secret-Santa gift giving.

I also weeded out a ton of publications. From Upside to Fast Company to Industry Standard. Fast Company contained the DNA and blueprint of the New Economy architecture: The New Way to Work; How Fast are You? The New Company; The Free Agent. I kept all of these articles as sacred scriptures. They’re now archived downstairs in the trash compactor.

Industry Standard on the other hand directly mirrored the crazy stock valuations of the period of the Bubble. It’s uncanny how closely the size of the magazine followed the fortunes and misfortunes of so many Internet companies. At one stage it was so large, it looked more like a novel. At the end, it looked more like a leaflet.

Finally, I came across all the letters addressed to Joseph Jaffe, Founder and President of Optinal (I made the conscious decision not to put in the .com at the end of the name – clever, huh?), my entrepreneurial attempt at professional glory. But it was not to be.

One of my core beliefs is never to look back in regret. And so when I look back at the chachkes, business cards, magazines and letterheads, it isn’t with regret, but rather with gratitude and warm regard to a period which I was fortunate to have been a part of. There’s no doubt in my mind that these lessons learned, no matter how painful, will stand us in only good stead as we continue to establish ourselves, grow our companies and strengthen the brands we represent.

As we approach the end of 2001, we’ll all look back at the year with mixed feelings. Our industry has seen so much upheaval and change in a tumultuous time, when the predominant color has shifted from red to pink, with corresponding stock valuations resembling dieting success stories, miraculously transforming from 3-digit portly figures to more anorexic single digit net-worths.

But perhaps the most encouraging point here is that any weight loss that occurs too quickly, almost always returns to some kind of equilibrium. I guess that’s my wish for all of us in 2002 – a return to equilibrium (or normalcy).

Victor Hugo said, “there is nothing as powerful as an idea whose time has come.” 2002 will be our Time. Happy New Year to you and your families!

- Joseph Jaffe is Director of Interactive Media at TBWA\Chiat\Day in New York, where he works with clients including Kmart, ABSOLUT Vodka, New York City Public Schools, Embassy Suites and Sci-Fi. His primary focus is to highlight interactive's value and benefit in meeting his clients' integrated business and branding objectives.