We held our first face-to-face, internal meeting on Jan 31, 2009. Five were present in person, one dialed in via iChat.

We set lofty goals and we got to work. This was the day that we started on the project that would become “Bowls”. We began to puts lots of infrastructure in place (message boards, CVS servers, weekly meetings, etc.) Basically, we got organized and started moving the same direction.

More importantly, we started having fun.

Two weeks after I was cut free from Autodesk, Oceanhouse Media was formed as an official California corporation. Choosing the name ended up being the hardest part of the entire process. I wanted something that inspired a beautiful image in my mind. I also wanted something that had spiritual undertones. Karen recommended focusing on the initials OM. We eventually zeroed in on Oceanhouse Media.

There wasn’t much to the company at this stage. We had a mantra (“Creativity with Purpose”) … and we had a name. That and $3 could have bought me a coffee at Starbucks. Well, that and $3.50 or $4.00.

Had anyone asked me on Jan 1, 2009 where I’d be working for the year, I would have said, “Autodesk, of course.” Little did I realize that the answer from someone in Autodesk’s HR department would have been different.

In the middle of January 2009, I was released from the company that I called home for the previous 4 1/2 years. I became one of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who lost their jobs that month.

It took me a few hours to remember that how I chose to react was just that…a choice. I decided that I eventually wanted to look back at that day as one of the best days of my life. I started to put things in place that would work towards that goal.