It’s that time of year again when we count our blessings and give thanks for the people who have made a difference for Kane Consulting.

2012 was a year of big change for us (Likely, 2013 will see more of the same.) And, it was our professional and personal support networks who helped us ride through that change and gave us inspiration to dream bigger, reach farther and try harder.

To the people below — and to our many friends on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn and G+ — we’d like to say, thank you.

Truly, you are the people who help make this crazy adventure totally worthwhile and keep us hopping out of bed each morning, excited to see what the day has in store.

Mark Schaefer

Mark Schaefer gave us two gifts this year. First, he Skyped in to our KaneCo business book club to chat with us about his book, Return on Influence. Then, he invited Jen to guest blog on his awesome blog, {Grow}. Mark has always been kind to us and generous with his time and insights. (He is ridiculously nice.) We couldn’t be happier to see his star rise in our industry.

Jason Falls

Jason’s Social Media Explorer tour came to Minneapolis this year, and Jason was kind enough to give Jen a speaking spot on the bill. It was great to have so many big names in social media in town and get a chance to meet them face-to-face. Many thanks, Jason, for taking a quality educational show on the road and for giving us the opportunity to be part of it.

SMBMSP

The Twin Cities’ chapter of Social Media Breakfast just celebrated hosting its 50th event. Watching their anniversary video, we were struck by two things. First, it was at an SMB event that we first got the social media bug back in 2008. Second, because of this organization, we’ve been able to meet a ton of amazing people. So, thanks for the memories, SMBMSP. Best wishes for many more bacon-filled mornings.

Ian Fitzpatrick

Ian was responsible for redesigning the KaneCo website this Fall (on which you reading this very blog post.) Not only did he do a lovely job, he was a delight to work with. (Seriously. Jen would hire him to run her entire life, if she could. He’s fast, efficient and never frazzled.) If you want to connect with him, your best bet is to visit his website.

Kay Roseland

There has been many a time when we’ve made a blog post live and thought, “Well, at least Kay might read it.” Blogging is hard work. And, when it seems like no one reads what you’ve written, it seems like pointless, hard work. Even an audience of one can make a world of difference. So thank you, Kay, for reading the blog, commenting and spreading the love. We really appreciate you for being our audience.

Kellee O’Reilly

Kellee makes the list again this year (Since she got married recently, and now has a new last name, we can pretend it’s her first time) because she’s been a rock to lean on during difficult times and a great supporter of our work and events. Hopefully, we can return the favor soon for her company, Monkeybar Management.

Stacey Hood

Stacey is the best girlfriend a girl could ever have…’cept for the fact that he’s a guy, and we’ve never actually met him IRL, (We formed this perception solely based on our digital adventures with him.) In spite of being crazy well-connected, Stacey takes the time to make sure each one of his friends feels special. And, for that, we’re thankful our paths have crossed with his.

Amanda Sandford

This year, our business book club award for participation goes to Amanda Sandford, who has been regularly showing up and sharing her thoughts and charm with us for THREE YEARS. Not only that, she’s just a stellar human, in general. Thank you, Amanda, for your support. We’ve enjoyed getting to know you.

Our clients

We tend not to talk a lot about our clients publicly. Often they’re still finding their voices, so we try to be discreet when we’re called in to help them start using them. That’s not to say that we don’t love and appreciate our clients, though. We’ve been blessed to partner with many great companies on many great projects this year. And we’re thankful to each and every one of them for the opportunity.

Our families

Social media never stops — 24/7/365 – and there is probably no one more aware of this than our families who signed on for this crazy lifestyle when we did. So for every time we ducked away to tweet, post, or manage an emerging social firestorm, we’d like to say again this year, “Thank you,” and, “We love you.”