Out with the old and in with the new. See what 2022 had in store for us.
Wayne
Bring on 2023...Firstly: To sprout or not to sprout?
It depends on the chef! I’ll eat most things but I’ve never really liked sprouts. If they go straight from pan to plate it’s a no from me, but if they’re covered in bacon bits and honey, pile them on
Do you have plans over the Christmas period?
Time to relax. Firstly I’ll be spending a few days in Holmfirth with the family, where we’ll do plenty of walking, eating and drinking.
World Championship Darts and Premier League football will be the order of the day(s) between Christmas and New Year, when I’ll pile on an extra layer of warmth.
I’ll also be spending a few days in the Lake District with my wife for some R&R.
Describe 2022 in three words
Shift in mentality.
What was your personal highlight of 2022?
Not one in particular, but plenty of good experiences with my favourite people…
Seeing Foals at Usher Hall in Edinburgh with my wife was a particular highlight. It was the first of seeing Foals three times in about eight weeks. Millennium Square in Leeds on a red hot Friday evening being the best of the bunch, and sandwiched in the middle was the biggest crowd of them all; Glastonbury. Speaking of which, walking down from the campervan field and seeing the sheer vastness of Glastonbury Festival for the first time was a sight to behold.
Matt’s stag do at Finsbury Park in London – the sun shining through the trees onto the crowd while the DJ played an unknown track that’s still in my head four months later – was a memorable moment.
I’ll end this with a special mention for my dog Busby, who we lost suddenly in October. He turned 10 in March and my in-laws threw a party for him. There were dogs everywhere, it was chaos, and he loved it!
What was your work highlight of 2022?
Genuinely having a team that are all on the same page, working together better than ever before and seeing our output improve further.
We’ve produced some really visual websites, advanced web applications, and our marketing KPIs are hitting.
I’ll always demand more, but when I look back at our output this year, there’s plenty to be proud of.
What are you most looking forward to in 2023?
I mentioned a shift in mentality above and that relates to how I see the business evolving in the next 12 months. We’re in our eighth year now, and I’ve always been cautious with my mindset but that’s now moved away from ‘startup’ and towards championing ourselves as an established full-service agency.
Twilo’s end product is up there with the best and that has resulted in recommendations being our main channel of new business. We’ll continue to lean on that but with an added focus on outreach in the new year.
What big changes do you think we’ll see in the business in 2023?
The plan is to expand our presence in the South where we have a growing number of clients. We’ll see Twilo become more established in our target areas ahead of opening our second office. Whether that happens in 2023 or 2024 depends on market conditions, but it’s something we are working towards.
Additionally, we’re going to be a lot more vocal about who we are and what we do. I’ve never been one to blow smoke and our brand has suffered somewhat as a result. But now we have the right people in place to champion the business as it deserves, so expect to hear more from us!
Finally, leave us with an image that describes your 2022
Andrew
Big projects. Big year...Firstly: To sprout or not to sprout?
Absolutely no sprouts!
Do you have plans over the Christmas period?
Lots of food! My brother will be coming home from the army for Christmas weekend where we will be having Christmas dinner with our extended family. We’ll also be travelling to visit friends and family for Boxing Day which will involve tabletop games, plenty of drinks and nonsense chatter.
Describe 2022 in three words
Chaotic. Exciting. Infuriating.
What was your personal highlight of 2022?
I got my own VR setup with full body tracking which is something that I have wanted for years. This was as awesome as I was hoping for.
What was your work highlight of 2022?
This has to be working on some big Laravel projects and getting much better at it. Laravel is a very satisfying and powerful framework to develop with.
What are you most looking forward to in 2023?
I can’t wait for Company of Heroes 3 to finally release in February. If you don’t know, this is the third sequel to Relic’s WW2 real time strategy game that is going to be based in two campaign settings of Italy and North Africa. Being a big fan of both the first and second games, I am happy with the community involvement within the development and greatly look forward to giving it a go.
What big changes do you think we’ll see in web development in 2023?
With the big changes and controversy around Twitter, I think this opens lots of opportunities for competition. This could potentially lead to innovative alternatives to Twitter that might bring exciting new features but still provide the same style of platform that Twitter does.
Finally, leave us with an image that describes your 2022
