10 years at FCB

No gold watch. No streamers above the desk. Nope, everyone just forgot that I had been with the company for 10 years. And so, on my own anniversary day, I found myself addressing four other colleagues who had not been forgotten, as an unknown jubilarian. Well, it's forgiven, because they made up for it a week later, with embarrassment on their faces, with bitterballen and white wine.

Ten years at FCB Amsterdam. Ten years as director. Well, director... officially, the Americans had given me the title of 'president'. And since the business cards were already printed, there was no escaping it. Adformatie simply headlined 'Jos Vis new boss of FCB Amsterdam'. In the FCB network, however, I was the president. But within the walls of our office, with our clients and colleagues, I was the hands-on leader. And with rolled-up sleeves, we've developed FCB over the past ten years into the agency it is today. A merger, a relocation, dozens of pitches, a name change, and by far the biggest change: independence.

This happened on October 1st, 2019. Just half a year before Corona would turn our world upside down. Only four years ago. Four years as an independent entrepreneur, and therefore officially no longer employed. And certainly not as 'the president'. So, I must forgive them. Forgive them that the date of November 1, 2024 wasn't at the forefront of their minds. I simply have been removed from the staff-records not being an employee anymore. But in practice, I'm here every day. Ten years have passed. So much has happened, yet it's gone by in a blink. Here's to another ten years, as far as I'm concerned. And they can last a bit longer as far as I’m concerned.

Jos Vis