This week we wave goodbye to 2020, and celebrate the beginning of 2021! This year has been a unique learning curve for many of us, as we have navigated new territories with work, travel, and our personal activities with friends and family. We admit the changes have forced us all to adapt, however the journey of adaptation has been one that has made us grateful for the memories and hopeful for the road ahead. There is no “perfect way” to adjust to the world around us, but we can find a human and common denominator across the globe—we are all in this together. 

To start the year, our event staff worked many wonderful indoor and outdoor events and trade shows. From a nationwide boat show tour, to motorcycle and off-road demo rides in Canada and the United States, and the PBR circuit and World Finals, to name a few, we sure kept ourselves busy!  Despite the pandemic starting in the spring, we were able to squeeze in a number of large scale events, and did continue to staff several outdoor smaller scale activations, safely, during the summer months.

Radical at first, the aspect of social distancing and quarantine seemed to most something out of a science-fiction movie. We listened from our homes to news reports of how to adjust our social gatherings, travel plans, and even grocery shopping habits to fit a safer way. Many of our hometowns implemented safety protocols on what we should wear as well, which has now become a fashion statement and form of self expression for many. No seriously, we have made masks a unique declaration of our personalities, favorite sports teams, colors, and even coordinating them with our clothes.

Even how we learn and communicate with others has changed in 2020. Our home kitchens have become our restaurants—inciting some to take online cooking courses, crackin’ open new cook books, and even “upping” our cooking level with new gadgets. Our living rooms became our entertainment hubs where we watch new movies and binge watch our favorite tv shows. As live sports came back into play, and live racing thundered back to life our excitement with all things entertainment right from our sofa came back to life. 

Time spent at home increased, and so did our love of wearing our button-up shirts with pajama pants to work meetings as well. Seriously, if you haven’t done that in 2020 you need to try it! Our conferences changed from heels clicking down the hall, to now locking our home office doors to keep the cat out of the video background. We set up our home office desks with photos of family trips, finally put our college diplomas in their frames, and assembled our desk chairs to prepare for the new remote work frontier. 

Most of all this year we celebrate the conversations with friends, communication with our coworkers, adventures with our new hobbies (or igniting the love of old ones!) and most of all our ability to adapt, together. We are grateful for the memories we have created each month, and as the seasons change we can reflect on things that bring us joy. At the end of the day we may reminisce about things we felt we missed out on, however there is no denying the challenges and problem solving we have all grown into this year. The human spirit is undeniably strong, and as each month in the new year unfolds we will all grow. At Backwoods Promotions we wish you the best in 2021, and we look forward to the journey together!