Dear friend,

Today was an amazing day. And it came out of a mess-up on my part. I'll give you the good part first, and then the mess.

We launched the first scene of Playr1. When I started this project I could never have imagined another company with a "1" in its name walking through the gate — and the B1ueprint is now wound so tightly into The Country C1ub that it's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. Interesting how things come together. There have been signs of strength on this project every single day, and every one of them says the same thing: we're on the right path.

Now the mess. I was exhausted. I tried to pull an all-nighter to make the members' meeting, took what was supposed to be a short nap — and slept straight through it. I missed the meeting completely, and a lot of members were counting on me to be there.

Here is what happened without me. The members came together anyway, and talked for hours. Craig put up a new link, and the room carried on as if nothing was missing.

I have said from the start that I wanted a c1ub that doesn't rely on me — one that runs on the systems, and on the members working together. This time I got to see it happen. It might look like a small thing. To me it was an awesome moment: members from different parts of the world, different backgrounds, different interests, covering all kinds of topics and enjoying each other's company. Nobody needed me in the room for that.

I don't plan on missing another meeting. But I know now that the c1ub is in good hands — and it only gets better as we keep improving it.

It sparked new plans, too, to keep pushing the ball down the road. Playr1 is a great feature — and the bigger question it opens is how we help every brand that walks in here get exposure and grow, one way or another.

And one more thing, the same day, out of nowhere: an unexpected interview while I was getting coffee. It went very well, and it ran twenty-five minutes.

All these little things make a big difference. I'm excited to get the ads back on.