September we looked forward to celebrating Heritage Day, with a braai-day. It also marked Spring Equinox and the imminent arrival of summer! Getting back from the Loeries in Cape Town, it also offered us a welcome respite before returning back to work on Wednesday.

It struck me this year that Heritage Day has definitely gained momentum as a truly proudly South African moment, and the symbolic “braai” has become a tradition uniting us. It felt good!

It also got me thinking about heritage and roots. Before Twisted Toast we spent 20+ years in publishing magazines, which definitely helped shape how we do business at The Toast. Relationships forged over many years continue and have taken on new forms as we move Twisted Toast from a “start-up” to an established business.

This month we’ve had the privilege of doing work for media agencies we used to call on as “media consultants” many moons ago. We’ve also been commissioned to create an infographic to promote the second edition of the World Digital Media Factbook for the London based worldwide magazine media association FIPP. Then there’s the Pica judging…

So, even though we have truly moved on from the world of magazine publishing – we have an established skill set and print experience that stands us in good stead to develop our fledgling hybrid marketing agency.

Which brings me back to the Loeries. It’s the first time we attended the awards as an agency, and although it was an excellent weekend in Cape Town with fabulous industry friends – not much has changed. I say competition could be a really good thing.

Our own TTD custom of brewing beer was recently re-ignited and as I write this we have a light summer Mexican beer – Cerveza Tostada in production. We’ve also got something truly special brewing for Xmas. Spicy!

As we enter the last quarter of the year, we look forward to pitching for new business, executing exciting new campaigns and finishing long-standing projects – making hay, while the sun shines.

But, before we get there – if anyone asks – we need to do a spot of fishing (35th Fish River Canoe Marathon in Cradock 27-28 September).

See you on the other side!