It would seem all I have done recently is write about colleagues of mine buggering off to new lands.
Connie … Mihika … OK, so it’s not too many I suppose except I now have to announce another two: Bazza and Freddie.
Now because Bazza is going to be earning a fortune as Steve Jobs [yes, THAT Steve Jobs!] personal ‘consumer trend advisor’, I’m going to brush over him till he buggers off some time in March 2008 … so that just leaves me with the sad task of saying goodbye to my favourite ever planner, Fred*.
After being my right hand man in Asia for the last 24 months or so, Fred has been poached by TBWA to be Planning Director as well as run [strategically speaking] the global account of the greatest airline in the World [after Virgin, ha!] … SIA.
I’ve said this about a billion times before, but as sad as I/we are to see Freddie go, there’s also a genuine sense of pride because it means we helped him develop his talent to the point where a load of great agencies were all tripping over themselves to hire him.
In the 2 years we’ve worked together I can honestly say I’ve done some of the best planning work of my career … planning work that has helped lead to creative that very few people ever gave us a chance of achieving … and as much as I was often the media spokesperson for the ‘thinking’, the real praise was [or should have been] aimed at Fred, because without his intelligence, ingenuity, conscientiousness, and all round good nature, much of the work would never have seen the light of day.
How Fred managed to put up with my loud mouthed, opinionated gob for so long is testimony to Swedish ‘calm’ so all that leaves me to say is thank you Fred for everything – you’re a great planner, colleague and friend and I look forward to the day when I can come and steal you back again!
Knock ’em dead … stay true … see you soon!
[* Who comes from Sweden. Lives in Singapore. And is called Fred]