Torx’s Favorite Things of 2015

2015 has been an amazing year for Torx and we’re so excited to see what’s in store for us in 2016. Before we get there though, we thought we’d reminisce about what each of us enjoyed most in 2015. Here’s a list of some of our favorite things this year and why we liked them so much.

Chris:

1. The release of The Force Awakens. As a guy of a certain age who grew up with the original Star Wars trilogy, I am in complete awe that new movies are being made about the Star Wars universe. I still can’t believe [SPOILER] and the [SPOILER] with the [SPOILER]. I bet [SPOILER] will [SPOILER] with all the [SPOILER] [SPOILER]!
2. Becoming a pilot…. kind of. Torx dipped its toes into the world of quadcopters this past year, when we purchased a DJI Phantom 3. With a few aerial videography projects under our belts already, we’re excited to see where this new adventure takes us in 2016.
3. The Virginia Capital Trail finally opened this past fall. I love riding my bicycle (cue a certain 1978 hit song by Queen), but suburb-riding is kind of boring, and venturing out on busier roads is dangerous. The Virginia Capital Trail consists of 52 miles of fantastic biking between Richmond and Jamestown. My goal for 2016 is to bike the entire 52 miles… and then beg my wife to drive out to Jamestown to pick me up.
4. Torx. I still have absolutely zero regrets taking that leap of faith back in 2008, walking away from my (somewhat secure) full-time job to start this business with Jeff and Mike. Every year has been our most successful year, and I am very proud of all the talented folks we have here at Torx.
5. Did I already mention The Force Awakens? Oh… I did? Can I mention it again? Wooooooooooooo…. Star Wars!!!!! Pew pew pew!!!!! |-o-| <-o-> |-o-|

Jeff:

1. Learning new things.  I’m continually challenging myself to learn new things and this year was very productive in that regard.
2. All of the Back to The Future hooplah back in October. I loved seeing all of the news and social media coverage of my favorite movie series.  Even though it’s 2015 and I still don’t have a hoverboard, everything’s ok.
3. Working with more of our clients on a wider range of digital marketing initiatives.  We always feel that Torx is most effective for our clients when we can help them in a multitude of ways.  This year, more and more of our clients are enlisting us to handle their full digital marketing needs.
4. The proliferation of wearable technology this year has been fun to watch (no pun intended!).I think we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what is possible for these devices and I can’t wait to see where it goes next.
5. Finally seeing The Internet of Things taking off.  Sure, we all expected it to happen about 3 years ago, but I’m just glad there are so many connected door locks, thermostats, light bulbs, irrigation systems, etc.  I feel like we’re much closer to reaching “the future” that I’ve always dreamt of.

Luke:

1.  Attending WordCamp US 2015. It was an amazing experience and I met a lot of great people which has allowed me to directly contribute to WordPress and learn infinitely more about it.
2.  This year was the year I started working with Macs more, and I don’t think I could ever replace my Macbook with a Windows computer because it does everything I want it to do and more.
3.  Find Art Doors RVA was a fun project to work on and really pushed us to our technical limits. It was the first project we have used the REST API on, which was still in Beta at the time. Working on non-profit projects really gives you a sense of purpose as this site did.
4. Accessibility has become a central focus in the design world and it is great to see so many more people contributing to standards.
5.  Progressing my skills at ping-pong. It may seem silly to play a game like pong at work, but it makes a huge difference for morale, plus it can help get the creative juices flowing when you are stuck.

Sammy:

1. My job here at Torx – I started working at Torx in August of 2015 and It’s been such a fun and exciting part of my year. Can’t wait to learn more about the digital marketing world and rack in more memories with this fun team.
2. All the knowledge I’ve received on web development and digital marketing – Before stepping into this role, I was somewhat familiar with digital marketing, but mostly only in theory. Being able to see how actual websites come to fruition and learn the different ways to do that has been enlightening for me. Being able to actually edit a webpage, or see the AdWords campaign for a client and know what that means, as well as many other digital marketing tactics, have been super exciting to experience.
3. Having a creative outlet in nail art – In the past year I’ve learned more about nail art and harnessed my skills. While it may be a purely superficial skill, I enjoy having something fun and beautiful on my nails for me to look at whenever I need a boost. The fact that I created it is an extra level of excitement and pride. Especially since most other artistic endeavors are basically impossible with my lack of artistic ability.
4. TV shows worth watching – This year brought us some great new shows, and returning classics. Master of None was hands down one of my favorite shows this year. It’s funny, discusses relatable topics, and was on Netflix so I was able to binge it in less than a week. Game of Thrones was a returning show that brought us the ultimate question of “Is he dead or isn’t he?!!”. We’ll only find out in 2016, but most of 2015 was spent speculating how someone could survive multiple stabbings/come back to life.
5.  Living in Richmond – Even though I’ve lived in Richmond for over 10 years, I’ve really come to appreciate it within the last year. There’s plenty of great restaurants, bars, places to go and things to do in this great city. Having something like the UCI World Championships in Richmond shows that the rest of the world is starting to see how great this city is too.