Spring Cleaning: A Look Back at Awesome Things

Spring is a great time to look forward. To clean and prepare for the rest of the year. To pull the cover off your air condenser, and to take the bikes down from the garage ceiling. In Spring, however, we also find ourselves looking back and reflecting. As we wake up from the winter chill, we're often left thinking about what went well last year and how can we make this year better.

This year I tasked everyone to come up with two things that they thought were awesome from the last twelve months. Below you will find joy in past accomplishments, and sincere lessons. But most of all, you'll see a sense of hope for this year and the great things we can accomplish together.

John Shoemaker

Creative Director

1. Bringing a feature length documentary to completion after nearly 3 years of work will be a very exciting achievement. Although not technically released yet, this year was the primary editing and finishing year where all the pieces come together into the final story.
2. I did much more writing this year which was very satisfying. Although I'm proud of all of the work, I'll put the spotlight on Upper Iowa University who took a chance on an out-of-the-box creative direction with us and saw great success in their campaign.

Ryan Freng

Creative Director

1. Kickstarting our blog and digital marketing efforts with our new digital strategist Madalina was a major victory. We took the bull by the horns and you now get 2 blogs a week (usually) as well as a vlog every week!
2. Working on a TV Pilot in LA. Directed by our good friend and actor TC De Witt, this was an opportunity to see how the other side of the country does things. I'm happy to report, in many ways, we're ahead of the curve!

Scott Pfeil

Business Director

1. Catsuit.  Being in a musical and really singing (a line anyway!), who would have thunk it?
2. Deepening relationships with some great new clients and a few veterans.  Seeing our idea of a partner relationship resonate and come alive between clients and Backflip, leading to more awesomeness.  : )

Philip Hetue

Lead Designer

1. Seeing the new 12-pack for Karben4 come to life was pretty cool. Getting to update all of the packaging for Karben4 has been really rewarding.
2. Our new business cards had been talked about and thought about for so long, seeing those through to the end was great. Helped that they turned out as killer as they did.

Jeff Bell

Lead Editor

1. Writing/Editing MGE Meter - Given the chance to write an 80's inspired short film for MGE and edit it was an amazing opportunity to let my creative nerdiness shine. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvugMtCk0iI)
2. Designing/3D Modeling a set for the AVID Awards - Having never done set design before, but given the opportunity to try and create an ESPN style news desk complete with onscreen graphics behind the client and seeing my 3D model be actually built and come to life on set was something I'll never forget.

Madalina Zimmerman

Producer/Digital Strategist

1. Creative Art Direction/set design opportunities - Worst Elf Ever, and Meter Things for MG&E
2. BKF 25 days of Christmas social contest. Though, I wanted to throw in the towel, I am glad I was convinced otherwise. Turned out to be a successful social campaign!

As you scrub out that mildew, and dust off that hard to reach shelf, what are you thinking about? What from last year makes you reflect on how you can make this year better? Will it ever stop snowing? These are all important questions I'd love to hear more about.