Courtesy of RTNDA.org

Do you ever get moving so fast that you don’t take time to push pause and soak in the moment?

This moving at the speed of sound lifestyle is part of start-up culture, but I think it is healthy a few times a year to look back and take stock of what is being accomplished–by both your team and your clients.

I know that we don’t do this enough. I have a note on my mirror at home that reminds me to “soak it in” with my young sons, who are growing up way too fast, but as well as I try to do at home (and I don’t do it well enough), I also tend to fall short at the office (this is one of the reasons I’m so excited about Kevin Cashman’s upcoming book, The Pause Principle)

So, when I looked up from my desk yesterday and realized that is was June 1st, I knew it was time to take stock of 2012–the year that has been–and this blog post is a quick recap of some of the things that our team and our clients have been up to. It’s not meant to trumpet anything, but it is meant to push pause and take a look back before we gear up for the second half of 2012.

Here are some of the things we are most excited about from 2012:

One Thousand Gifts hit 500,000 copies sold. Ann Voskamp’s debut book, published by our friends at Zondervan in January of 2011, has been a life-changer for readers around the world. A few months ago we wrote about the impact this book having in Guatemala, but Ann’s recent #1000 Moms Project initiative extended that impact to new moms in Haiti. Ann’s great work in social media surrounding the launch of her book was actually featured in today’s New York Times. Have you read this wonderful book yet?

Websites. Our Web department, under Amber McGinty’s leadership and the hard work of Will Ruff, Allison Bright, Jeremy Strom, Richard Ricondo and Taylor Ballard, is kicking out some amazing new websites–truly proud of them. Here are a handful of recent launches:

• Steiner Ranch Info
• The Together Teacher
• Peter Ambrose Events
• Predictable Success
• What is Your Anything?

Bestsellers. In addition to One Thousand Gifts, which has spent 17 weeks on The New York Times list, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Messages From Heaven and Terri Blackstock’s recent bestseller, Downfall (Zondervan), we have worked alongside our partners at Cave Henricks Communications to represent several additional bestsellers, including Kevin Allen’s excellent debut, The Hidden Agenda (Bibliomotion) and Rory Vaden’s well-received title, Take The Stairs (Penguin).

Media coverage for our clients. We are proud to work with clients who are some of the most accomplished, passionate people in the world. Our publicity team, under the leadership of Shelby Sledge and hard work of Katie, Andrea, Travis and Susan have been very busy connecting them with top media contacts this year. Just a handful of our favorite hits include Huffington Post, CNBC, The Atlantic, WebMD, Open Forum, Reader’s Digest, BeliefNet and too many others to list.

Growth. From the agency’s starting point, we believed the best way to grow is alongside our clients–as they get bigger, we want to grow to serve them. We have been fortunate to add a number of new team members this year, expanding capabilities and allowing us to continue building one of the top full-service digital agencies in the country.

Social Media. We had a major presence this year at SXSW Interactive, from our annual Books & Bytes Party to the panel that Barbara Henricks and I organized on Discoverability and the Future of Book PR. We also saw significant growth for a number of our clients, including Chicken Soup for the Soul’s Facebook page climbing past 525,000 fans. Beth Gwazdosky, Shelby Janner and Richard Ricondo have come up big in this area.

Our partners at Cave Henricks Communications. CHC has has a tremendous year so far, with a number of bestsellers and national media hits. Their team, including Barbara Henricks, Jessica Krakoski, Kaila Nickel, Margaret Kingsbury, Kim Griggs, Megan Grajeda and Lew Campbell, is an absolute pleasure to work alongside.

Clients. What an amazing group of clients we are privileged to work alongside. Here are some quick hits that caught our eye from our clients this year:

• Dr. Julie Silver was named one of the most innovative people in Massachusetts by the Boston Globe (we agree!)
• Les McKeown snagged an ongoing column with Inc.com (his hit, not ours) and is already one of the best reads on the site.
• Jennie Allen, a name you will be hearing a lot over the next few years, spoke at Catalyst and launched her first trade book, Anything (Thomas Nelson).
• The one and only Sally Hogshead launched a truly revolutionary assessment, How To Fascinate, which is the first personality test to gauge not how you see yourself, but how others see you.
• A great mentor of mine and well-known start-up strategist, John Bradberry, snagged an ongoing column with Open Forum.
• Steve Denning continues to be one of the absolute best reads on Forbes.com.
• Chicken Soup for the Soul and Harvard Health Publications collaborated to launch a new health series.
• Neil Smith made waves with a wide-variety of media weeks before his forthcoming business book, How Excellent Companies Avoid Dumb Things, releases.
• Dr. Jon Lieff snagged a contributor relationship with Science 2.0.
• Dr. Larry Berkelhammer began work on a new, high-profile video interview series, which you can see very soon on his website.
• Our own Katie Schnack committed herself to finishing her forthcoming book amidst much nagging from co-workers (She’s not a client yet, but we’re hoping she picks us to rep her book).
• Ben De Leon, VP and Managing Partner at De Leon & Washburn P.C., was named an Outstanding Young Texas Ex by the Texas Exes organization (an honor he well-deserved).
• Dr. Jeff Brown helped runners make it through the Boston Marathon.
• Harriet Beamer went on a cross-country journey to promote her new book, by Joyce Magnin.
• Jim Silver wrote one of the most-shared articles of the year on The Atlantic’s Health Blog to promote his new book, Almost a Psychopath.
• Dr Stacey Vitiello followed her heart to champion the cause for breast density legislation.
• Rich Horwath brought business strategy to YOU.
• Dr. Diane Radford scored a story in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Here Comes the Bride.
• Caleb Pirtle and Stephen Woodfin partnered to write some great blog posts and begin a growing following for their indie publishing houses, Venture Galleries.
• Jim Moorhead launched a great new book and, along the way, helped people deal with crisis in their lives.
• Maia Heyck-Merlin planted her flag as the go-to resource for teachers wanting to get organized (keep an eye out for Maia this summer).
• Ed Stetzer put the church on notice.
• Our friends at Vermillion are getting ready to launch a very exciting new campaign for Ova1, which will extend to social media nicely.
• Ginnie Breen and her daughter, Elizabeth, brought down the house at TEDMED.
  

  Credit to TEDMED

• Anne Morriss & Frances Frei reminded companies why Uncommon Service makes all the difference.
• Karen Campbell continued to rack up bestsellers for her agency (and launched a new website).
• Ellen O’Neill took a stand for kids who often don’t do so.
• Mike Travis launched a new website and, more importantly, opened up to employers everywhere about how to find top talent.
• Geoff Smart challenged CEOs to the biggest leadership challenge of their career.
• Performics CEO Daina Middleton snagged a book deal (a name you’ll be hearing a lot more about).
• The business world benefited from the wisdom and experience of the one and only Dick Cross.
• Whitney Johnson challenged women to Dare to Dream.
• Meg Hirshberg gave an important gift of perspective (and the benefit of her own experience) to founders and their families with the launch of her book, For Better or For Work.
• Lisa Bodell made waves at SXSW with a tremendous speech, followed by this interview with our friends at genConnect.
• Robbie Vorhaus made a huge leap toward changing the world (stay tuned).
• Dr. Joe Shrand continued his life-changing work at CASTLE and moved closer to his book launch (we’re cheering for you, Joe).
• Dr. Richard Senelick continues to wow us with his great writing (though not his golf game).
• Dr. Adam Wolfberg caught the eye of the March of Dimes.

We could go on and on about our clients (and I know have missed many of them)–truly, they inspire us daily with their passion for impacting lives–but the rundown above is just a small taste of what they are accomplishing.

If you made it to the bottom of this lengthy post–thanks. Sometimes it takes a few hours on a Saturday morning to pause just long enough to look back on what has been accomplished.

But enough of the rear-view–2012 is young yet and we have work to do.