Happy birthday to us. We celebrate our first birthday today. Right in the middle of recession hype, on August 12th 2008, I put paper to pen and Aaron+Gould was born.

One year later I realise again than one is too small a number to acheive significance.

One is too small a number because one year isn’t enough to do what we want to do. We believe in experience, we really do, and the frameworks that we have built contain the type of thinking that is needed not only in businesses, but in charities, churches, families, cities, orphanages, and the rest. Memories matter. And memories are made from compelling experiences. Families need to make memories. Churches need to make memories. Orphanages need to make good memories, to balance out the bad ones.

In our work with young people we find that all too many of our nation’s children’s are over exposed to abuse, drugs, alcohol and gangs – but they are under exposed to opportunity, the reward of work, culture, and even their own potential.

And so we believe the market for experience is as large as the human race.

One is also too small a number, because I didn’t do this year by myself. I signed the papers, but my team has worked tirelessly with me. But even we didn’t do this by ourselves. We did it with you. Every Exeter Twitterati, every friend from around the world, every person who comments and encourages me on this blog, every person whose had coffee with me – every one – we did it with you. And we intend to do the next year with you too.

Today at 12:00 BST, to say thanks, we’re giving out some birthday presents. I’ll be doing a Qik to announce it, and then the blog post will appear on the Aaron+Gould blog. It’s only little, but it’s well worth being there.

So, again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.