Jon’s 1.5 is dead.
It was time.
It’s not like I was running out of things to say but the original reason for the blog and the number of voices needed to tell that continuing story has evolved.
Kirk or Picard? Ok, I'm really done now.
A lot has happened in the world of PR, social and digital in the three years of Jon’s 1.5 and a lot has happened at Hodges during that time. The initial journal that the blog was started to chronicle is over. Think of the difference as the original Star Trek and TNG. You might debate Kirk over Picard but the voyage continues and the characters change but the Federation’s prime directive is the same. Okay, I’ve really pushed the geek envelope here.
So Jon’s 1.5 (the next generation, okay I promise to stop now) is now the Hodges Blog. You likely noticed the changes in recent posts.
We not only have a new look and feel, also soon be seen in a slight tweak to our agency identity and a major redo of our website, but also in the number of post authors. Don’t worry (for those who were really losing sleep over this), you’ll still be hearing from me on a regular basis. But you will also be hearing from all the Hodgers. The subjects of the posts will range from our culture (Tony’s recent post on our coffee issues) to our work (Elisabeth’s post on our growing luxury practice) and share our expertise (like Sonali and Casey’s collaboration, a social media cheat sheet for Facebook Timeline for Brands).
We will continue to feature our work like today’s media relations successes for CarLotz in Fast Company and Snagajob in Time, or social media campaigns or mobile app development. But we will also feature the people behind the work and what they do (and how they do it) to be successful for our clients.
A mentor of mine taught me a long time ago a simple lesson about our business that I try to practice and repeat: The key to business success is to hire people who are a lot smarter than you and let them do what they do best. The Hodges Blog will showcase them and by extension show how smart Josh and I were to bring them on board in the first place. 🙂
It is now their time to shine.
So please enjoy the Hodges Blog and try to keep your emotions in check about Jon 1.5. I hope it served you well. I know it did me.
Hodges Blog 
Mary Fletcher Jones
/ March 28, 2012I have enjoyed your blog posts so much, and I’m looking forward to hearing these new voices, as well. I like how much thought you have put into your “new” blog’s direction and also your very cool attitude about letting the people on your staff contribute and shine.