This year, it was all about, well, striking out. We spent a fairly raucous evening at Pinz Bowling Alley. Brett skillfully defended his title as bowling ace. Others (who shall remain nameless) did well not to injure themselves or others with the very heavy bowling balls. We all glowed a bit in the black light. We had a blast.

We also took time to sit back and reflect on 2009 – an amazing year of accolades, making history and wowing consumers on behalf of all the dynamic brands with which we work.

We are filled with gratitude, and look forward to what 2010 has in store. Some of us will be practicing our bowling skills.

Happy Holidays!

Before you start picturing some weighing-and-measuring torture contraption of Herculean proportions, let me assure you that The Pain Scale is actually designed to streamline communication. Or, at least, that’s how we’ll be using it.

It was actually devised to assist with pediatric protocols. Created by Dr. Donna Wong and Dr. Carol Baker, and known in the medical community as the Faces Pain Scale, it is commonly used to help children communicate their physical and emotional pain.

At A Squared Group, however, we’ll employ this visual barometer to determine whether to hit send.

This experiment will run through the summer and should be a fun challenge for all of us here at A Squared Group. As an added incentive to change our wayward ways, we’ve also come up with a prize. If the whole team follows The Pain Scale correctly, for an entire month, we’ll earn half-day Fridays during the following month.

We’ll let you know how it goes!