A lot has happened in the last year.  In addition to adding a new family member (a healthy little boy), I've seen Bank Director grow by leaps and bounds.  Already influential with members of the boards of financial institutions when I re-joined, our team has put into practice a number of ideas that bode well for the CEOs, CFOs, Chairmen and Directors that rely on us as their go-to information resource.  Let me share some of my favorites:

• We began to redesign the look and feel of the company's brand -- beginning with our efforts to prove one fish eating another really is a cool cover;
• We've taken social media tools like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook and grown pretty impressive communities around each;
• Released new apps for your iPad, iPhone and Android-powered mobile devices so you can read our quarterly magazine wherever and whenever you please;
• Invested big time in our data sets to become a truly data-driven organization;
• Moved into the cloud to manage client relationships and communications of our dispersed work force;
• Put together new conferences for CEOs and their boards -- and had them sell out;
• Established new business relationships with a number of prominent service and advisory firms keen to reach bank executives online, in-print and in-person;
• Met with CEOs of banks whose asset size & market share make me shake my head in positive amazement;
• Built BankBusiness.com -- the most extensive directory of qualified companies currently serving the financial community;
• Produced three-to-five minute videos that feature some of the bigger banks in the U.S.; and
• Created a new Analyst Forum to share macro-level trends with directors & officers of publicly-held banks.

Next week, we will introduce even more to our digital arsenal -- beginning with a live webcast from NASDAQ's MarketSite.  We will quickly follow that up with something I'm personally excited to do: "ring" the NASDAQ Closing Bell on Tuesday, December 6th.  I'll be doing so with our chairman, Bill King, to close our one-day conference.  While that will be really cool, I do wish we could have the whole Bank Director team up with me... so many talented people are working really hard to make 2012, 2013 and beyond spectacular years!

As a follow-on to my earlier post, a few additional clicks from Sunday morning.  Some subtle; others, like the one below, a bit more preening.

For my last post, I shared a few pictures that I took in New York over the weekend.  What follows are a handful of logos/slogans/brands that captured my eye and imagination.

With a tip of my cap to Scott Schuman (better known as the Sartorialist) and his exceptional blog, I'm posting a few pix I took during my three-day jaunt to New York City.  Each captures a certain "on-the-street" design that reflects my creative side.  Having cut my teeth in this city (from '99 to '05), coming "home" feels great.

Now, I love living in D.C., especially as government continues to spend big money to stimulate the economy -- which in turn, attracts really smart, dynamic and opportunistic people and companies to the mid-Atlantic area.  But try as we might, this city remains the heartbeat of east-coast culture, design and innovation.  Here's a few things that caught my eye as I braved the last few days' bone-chilling weather wondering around Soho, the West Village and the Meat Packing District.

New to me: Let it shine

Somehow, I missed it.  Honda -- yes Honda! -- ran on Vimeo maybe the GREATEST car ad I have ever seen.  No, nothing sleek and sexy like Jaguar's for its XF.  Something much, much more creative.  Don't believe me?  I've embedded the video that ran earlier this year below.  But for the full effect, please take a look at Honda Insight's "Let it Shine on Vimeo" page.  I know, not new to many; but certainly new to me.  In fact, the first comment posted on Vimeo perfectly sums up my feelings for the design genius behind this: "you guys trying to save Madison Avenue?"

New to me: Leveraging Google's Wave

Kudos to 40Tech.com -- billed as "Tech for Those Over 40, but not Over the Hill."  Now, I know I'm only 33 (I did the math, 2009 - 1976 = 33) and work for a software development shop known for building mission critical custom apps, so it is fair to question  my interest in a site like this.

Having stumbled upon the site by way of the Action Method's homepage (they linked to a recent post), I had no clue or context as to the quality of information or caliber of commentary provided.  I do know that I quickly agreed with their introduction to Google's Wave; hence, today's "new to me" entry.

Like Twitter before it, jumping into this beta release can be somewhat daunting.  Complicating matters, the ever expanding number of Wave resources out there (40tech cites The Complete Guide to Google Wave and Mashable’s HOW TO: Get Started with Google Wave) that discuss how to communicate and collaborate in real-time.  I've been using Wave for a while now -- and wish that I had these entry-level tips explained like the ones posted on 12/10:

1. Make a wave public;
2. Link to a wave;
3. Jump to the first new comment in a wave;
4. Jump from one blip to the next; and
5. Reply in the middle of a comment.