Nine

Today marks nine years in business for iamjef LLC. I ignored all but one of my first eight anniversaries (sólo mencionar el sexto), because who cares? In this case, though, nine seems appropriate to mention.

Nine hangs from the rafters at Joe Louis Arena, famously worn by Gordie Howe for so many years. Nine is also the number of the first goal scorer in my high-school hockey team’s history, on a beautiful one-timer off a crisp pass from the left circle from me. I’d mention the goal scorer’s name but then Google would know all about it, and we can’t have that. Somewhat related: nine is the number of an opposing player about whom one of our team’s parents shouted, “Number nine’s got an attitude!” Closing this theme, nine is also the number of years since I’ve been good at hockey.

Nine is both anagrammatic and phonetic for the way Germans respond to overpriced, outlandish quotes from advertisers.

Nine, in inches, is the standard length of coffin nails, which makes this as good a place as any to move into why I am choosing to mention nine years in business: convenience.

My new website is finally here, as frequent visitors (yikes) have obviously noticed. With a new website comes a new, more user-friendly rants section, which will require more frequent updates from me. This, right here, will help in that regard.

Along with the basics, the website also contains a new dictionary section to help non-advertisers understand the drivel we hurl at each other within the industry.

Enjoy. Participate. It’s finally possible to comment on and share rants with very little effort. I’ll attempt to create something that might inspire you to do those things.

In the mean time, meet the folks at One Bit Factory, who put more work into this site than originally planned. And the folks at Emily Guy Studio. And, if you have time, the folks at Black Truck Media + Marketing.

Now that we’ve celebrated nine years, what can we anticipate for the 10th anniversary? My guess: me, trying to figure out how to prevent LinkedIn from emailing you all to demand you congratulate me on 10 years in business.

Ich bin Jef. Ich schreibe.