Happy New Year! I hope you’ve had a great holiday season and are looking forward to all that 2015 will bring.

2015 is a special year for us at ARTÉMIA as it marks our 20th year in business. We are looking forward to celebrating it with a series of activities and initiatives that speak to the core values of sustainability and diversity that have guided us since day one. Stay tuned for more news!

This anniversary also presents a natural moment to pause and reflect on the journey we’ve taken over the past two decades. Since we opened for business, we rode the wave of the first dotcom boom and bust, hunkered down through the worst recession since the Great Depression and are now navigating our way through another tech boom.

Technology, as is the case with many other industries, has changed the way we work completely. In 1995, the World Wide Web was in its very nascent stage, fax machines still beeped and buzzed away, and there was no daily onslaught of emails to contend with. Also, no smartphones. Ditto, social media – Facebook and LinkedIn didn’t come along until 2004, Twitter in 2006. Now we have the ability to create highly detailed, strategic marketing and communications plans that follow our target audience throughout the day and from device to device.

But what hasn’t changed is the importance of the message, of creating a compelling brand story. Such is the pace with which new platforms emerge, that there is often the danger of forgetting the message and focusing on the method. My advice is to stay on top of new developments, but remember the old (new) adage that content is king and that not every new technology will be right for you and your brand – and that’s ok.

While technology has been the great catalyst for change, what has remained a welcome constant over the past 20 years is the support of the WBENC community. Whenever I read about WBEs I always come across the word “resilient” and rightly so. Women’s success in business and contribution to the economy – particularly when the going gets tough – is something to behold. According to the American Express / OPEN 2014 State of Women-Owned Business Report, “between 1997 and 2014, the number of women-owned firms grew at 11?2 times the national average, and revenue and employment growth among women-owned firms tops that of all other firms – except the largest, publicly traded corporations.” I strongly believe organizations such as WBENC and Astra Women’s Business Alliance (the regional partner organization providing WBENC certification in Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska) are a key factor in the WBE success story and greatly look forward to remaining active in the community for many years to come.

So here’s to the next 20 years! With the sincerest thanks for the support of our clients old and new, we look forward to continuing to provide you with the best in marketing and communications services as we innovate and grow.

Wishing a happy, healthy and sustainably-sound 2015 for us all!