For Blogging Out Loud...

It could happen to you, but lady luck decided she should throw a bit of the plucky dust my way this time.

After about 10 years of irresponsible UK football accumulators, gambling on 8+ teams in a twice weekly coupon, combining Blue Square North Half Time results with the asian handicap on Danish Superligaen games - generally making assumptions about teams that, for all I knew were completely fictional - the luck FINALLY came to me last week.

On March 4th 2009, an unnamed online bookie had a bug in their system that resulted in me being presented with Manchester United odds (in running at 2-1 up with 8 minutes to go) of 7/1 instead of 1/7!

Only when this was in my statement did I notice it, but luckily by that time they had verified and paid out on it. Happy days!

Credit to the competition where due, Razorfish have published an insightful Digital Outlook guide for 2009.

Discussing the new role of the agency in business planning, emerging media, new buying practices, the evolution of campaign measurement and a really in-depth look at TV (where it is, and where it could be by the close of 2009).

There's the customary focus on social media (as is the norm these days), and, not to feel left out, the economic downturn gets its warranted mention in "When the Going Gets Tough..." (p.174-)

Might take a while to load the PDF, and a little bit longer to trawl through (it's 180 pages short), but you are likely to learn a thing or 2 along the way.

Have fun...

Try not to mention it too much, for pete's sake...

When different becomes the same, where's the hope for the ambitious creative undergrad? If we catch a cold every time America gets a sniffle, Gawker offers us a little hope of how 2009 could pan out for the rest of us.

When media owners speak of "speeding up in a slowdown", and something along the lines of "...the way things are these days" dominating social conversation, it's a shame that, in an industry famed for breaking new ground, imagination has taken a back seat to playing it safe.

Optimism, you can never have too much...