New Year’s greetings 2017

With this New Year’s greeting I would like to wish all clients, partners and sponsors, colleagues in the industry and other friends of Quantum, with whom I have shared many good moments this year, a very happy New Year and thank you all for the past year.

At the same time, my greetings offer a brief glimpse of some of the highlights of my year and a sneak peak at what is to come in 2018 just around the corner.

No Christmas cards this year

But first: Apologies that you did not receive a Christmas card from me this year.

I simply didn’t get them produced in time before I had to go to the hospital on November 28. for surgery. And following the operation the doctors ordered two weeks of complete rest and then it was suddenly too late to send out Christmas cards.

The surgery went well. The doctors had discovered a tumor in my thyroid (which is in the front side of the neck) but it turned out to be non-cancerous. Actually, my main concern was not getting the nerves to my vocal cords cut by accident, but the surgeon was fantastic and there were no complications.

I am recovering well and back to work full time, eager to start a new year with lots of fun challenges.

Christmas presents for placed children

Just as the previous years, I chose not to send wine or other gifts to clients this year but instead make a sizable donation to the charity “Operation Christmas Presents” (Operation Julegaveregn). They provide presents for children placed in orphanages and similar institutions.

Getting a personal present (something you wished for) picked by a friend or social worker who knows you helps these children feel more like everyone else during this season, and it is scientifically proven that this increased self-worth helps them avoid problems later in life.

It is a fantastic initiative and I am proud that Quantum again this year helped Julegaveregn reach their donation target and provide presents for all the children.

Speaking around the world

One of my great joys in 2017 was to be invited as a guest or keynote speaker to several conferences abroad. In February I was in Istanbul in Turkey, in April I went to Riyadh in Saudi-Arabia, in June I spoke at conferences in Belgrade in Serbia and in Bergen in Norway and in October I went to Norway yet again – this time to Oslo.

My trips abroad have been a mix of workshops, masterclasses and presentations on communication measurement and evaluation. It is a great pleasure to experience how our industry works in different ways depending on the local culture. Everywhere I went, I was met with friendly and curious questions and comments and a distinct interest in measuring the effect of communication.

Joining a speaker agency

2017 was also the year I joined a professional speaker agency – YouandX. They are disrupting the speaking industry with a new concept that cuts out the expensive middlemen and lets clients deal directly with the speakers. This makes entry-level speakers such as myself much more easily available for corporations and organisations looking for an inspirational speaker but not wanting to blow a year’s budget on a pricey ‘top name’.

The debut of my conference – Measurement Day

It cannot be argued that my greatest experience and challenge this year was organising and executing my first very own conference from the ground up.

Measurement Day 2017 was held on Thursday September 28. in Copenhagen. Almost 150 people attended and a further 100 people from all over Europe tuned in via our live streaming of the event.

This was only possible thanks to the support of a fantastic group of sponsors and partners as well as a kick-a** team of skilled and passionate speakers and panelists. I am deeply grateful for and humbled by the support I have had, while I struggled all year to make this dream a reality – THANK YOU ALL!

In the movie player below you can watch almost the entire conference (we are not allowed to show the interview with NATO Head of Digital Insights Franky Saegerman). The conference is partially in Danish and partially in English.

If you visit the Facebook page of Measurement Day, you can enjoy hundreds of great photos from the event and keep up with any future developments (of which there will be plenty).

E-book with measurement experts

In connection with the conference, I had the great pleasure of collaborating with 10 great measurement minds to create an e-book packed with great advice and perspectives. They are all AMEC members and the 30-page ‘Demonstrating the Value of Communication’ is available for free right here:

So, what’s next in 2018?

You cannot have a New Year’s greeting without also taking a peak into the coming year. And I have reason to believe and hope that 2018 will be a landmark year for my humble enterprise.

First of all, I am already busy planning for Measurement Day 2018, which will be held some time in the autumn of next year. The success this year has whetted my appetite for more, thus I am also exploring ways to take Measurement Day abroad to different cities. But more about that when the plans turn into something more tangible 🙂

I am also greatly looking forward to going to New York City in June, where I will be speaking at the Global PR Summit about communication measurement and evaluation. This takes place the week before the AMEC Summit in Barcelona, so I will be combining my stay in the two cities with some well deserved holiday time, ‘mixing business with pleasure’.

2018 also has other great prospects in store – one of which you will hear about very soon but at the moment I cannot say anything else because of contracts and that sort of thing. If you follow my updates here on the blog or on Linkedin, I am sure you won’t miss the news when they happen.

THANK YOU for reading this all the way to the end – and thank you for everything in the year that passed. I wish you a very happy New Year and lots of fortune in 2018!