As we close out the books on 2009, I thought it would be a good idea to wrap up the year with an account of the best, and a few low points. As we all know, the economy was particularly bad for most industries. VIA Studio definitely had it’s ups and down, with the months of March and April being particularly bad. We survived however, and ended up having the best year ever in terms of gross revenue. It’s not the growth we were expecting at the end of 2008, but it does bode well for the future.

2009 was a year of firsts on both sides of the spectrum. Hopefully we can build on the good and learn from the bad. I think they were all necessary to our long-term growth and maturity as a company.

In terms of client work, we were able to push ourselves harder than ever, building some amazing tools and cranking out beautiful designs. Some highlights include:

• Winning 2 awards at the Louisville Graphic Design Association 100 Show
• Building a cohesive site that integrated both Magento and Wordpress
• Writing custom Wordpress plugins, including an extensive Event Management system (more details on that one to come!)
• Travel photography and video. Something I hope we’ll do more in the future
• Getting involved in some really fun and engaging video production work
• Making great strides and seeing huge sucess in Search Engine Optimization

Some of the downsides to 2009:

We fired our first client.
New ownership combined with unreasonable expectations led us to ask a client we loved to find another agency. This is the first time we’ve had to do this. I know that in dealing with clients and money, things can quickly turn south. I hope I never have to do it again, but I’m glad we went through it. There is power in the word No.

We let 2 employees go.
This is the first time I’ve had to let someone go, so doing it twice in one year was stressful. I wish these people the best in their careers and am extremely sorry it didn’t work out.

We won some great bids and picked up clients that I know we will continue a great relationship with, but we also lost some RFP’s that I know we should have won. One of my resolutions for 2010 is to be a little more assertive on the sales end. I know we have the knowledge and talent to do most any web project, but I’m more of a soft sell guy. “Here’s what we can do. Let me know if you’d like to work with us” should become “We’re the best in the region. We know this will be a win-win relationship for all involved.” Although it could be said that losing bids is a good indicator that our industry is healthy. I know we’re the best, but it’s great knowing that others are doing well.

Here comes 2010!

As 2010 gets underway, we already have much to be optimistic about.

We’ve taken on two extremely talented people to our staff at VIA (bios and pictures to come). Welcomes all around to Amber Glisson who is joining us as a designer and front end developer. She has a wealth of agency experience and design knowledge, and is a fellow board member with the Louisville Graphic Design Association. Jason McCreary joins us as a Programmer/Developer. He’s previously worked at Humana as Lead Front End Developer and will be helping us in all areas, including mobile apps!

We have a few projects in process that I can’t wait to announce. One is a subscription web service that is sure to be amazing. I need to keep my lip buttoned on these projects until we’ve moved ahead a little more.

Deck! As you may know, our offices are at Butchertown Market on Story Avenue. Our favorite landlord is currently building a deck on the roof of the building so we can watch the boats pass by and the fireworks light up. I’m glad it’s not built yet, because it’s freaking cold outside!

Anyway, onward and upward for VIA Studio. We’ll be checking in more often this year. It’s a resolution, so it has to happen… right?