My favorite event is usually the one I’m working on at the moment. We’ve had a very busy January — here are some highlights:

We launched extremely cool, Samsung LED TVs at the CES show in Las Vegas. These screens are less than the width of a pencil! The week after we designed and produced the LG Mobile Worldcup in New York City, a competition that had 26 contestants from 13 countries vying to be the fastest texters in the world.  And the week after that…we helped one of our top clients launch their new brand across 9 global sites… simultaneously!

Teams from 13 countries compete to become the world's fastest texters.

So, needless to say, we’ve covered a lot of territory in this whirlwind kick off to 2010. I’m grateful for that, especially when I think back to just a year ago when we were making tough decisions about weathering the storm of 2009.   Thanks to our incredible clients for trusting BKA with these events.

Last night, in typical BKA fashion, the entire team gathered to celebrate January with frosty margaritas and Mexican food.

Special thanks to our friends at BizBash for the great coverage of these events. Click here to check out the stories and see some more images:

LG Mobile Worldcup

Samsung CES 2010 Press Conference

He had a smile that lit up a room, an impeccable wardrobe, an infectious laugh. He was well traveled, hard working and incredibly charming.

When I heard that he was 50 — I was stunned. He looked much younger and had the energy of someone half his age.

When I heard of his sudden passing — I was even more stunned.

I had just seen him. We caught up at a wonderful industry event that Doyle Hotels hosted. Thomas was there — lighting up the room, charming his colleagues, letting us hear his magical laugh.

We talked about getting together. We wanted to find a weekend where we both weren’t working so that he could come visit us upstate.

But being perpetually busy New Yorkers with hectic travel schedules — it didn’t happen.

I will miss his Swedish accent and the way I could make him laugh with my extremely limited Swedish vocabulary.

I was honored that we got to work together.

I wish I got to know him better.

Life is a series of events and for those of us that plan them, we end up with few free evenings and weekends for social time. If you are reading this blog, please take a moment to plan an “event” with someone you’d like to spend more time with. Get a date in the calendar.

Let them hear your laughter and see your smile.

Good night Thomas Gran.

On Project Runway (yes, I’m a reality show fan), host Tim Gunn says, “Make it work!” I love that mentality. Do the job — just figure it out — get it done.

But how about making it fun along the way?

More than ever, making it fun shouldn’t be a nice to have. It should be a requirement of any work environment.

When you are under pressure, don’t you naturally seek out the people who make you smile at work? “I need a good laugh,” is a common request of anyone who has had a tough day at the office.

I’ve been writing lots of recommendations lately — for past interns, employees, colleagues on Linked In — and it’s so much easier to write a recommendation for someone who makes the work experience fun. These are also the people who get better results. There’s a lot to be said for a good attitude.

Years back, I asked a treasured client of mine who is an expert in performance evaluation for some tips on putting together reviews for our staff at BKA. He said, “you can have all the measures you want, but in the end, you can sum up any person’s review by checking off two boxes. Are you good at what you do? And, were you enjoyable to be around when you were doing it?”

Life is a series of events. I hope your events are flawlessly executed by people who make it fun.