What goes around comes around

I went to lunch with someone from Momentum yesterday and it was nice to catch up. I found out some news that kind of made my day, too, and reminded me of more reasons why not moving to Chicago was still a good choice. Momentum unexpectedly lost a lot of Kraft business in late 2008/early 2009 and most of the team was laid off or they quit. The group creative director there, the one and only person I honestly disliked at the company and the person that put me (and many others) on the chopping block, was laid off about a year after me. As far as the person I went to lunch with knew, no one kept in touch with him or was sad to see him go--and he didn't like us, either.

Out of curiosity, I looked up some other old Chicago team members on LinkedIn. Only one person that I recognize on the creative side is still there and I don't know what became of the others. It's probably a combination of things, but my guess is that there were more layoffs than anything else. The girl that took my place on the team in Chicago lasted an entire 6 months, April-October. I can't say for sure why, but it makes me wonder if that would have been my fate, anyway. I can guarantee that she didn't even get to the real crazy parts of that job, though. Toolkit season started in late October! Now I'm pretty confident they really were screwed on that monster project, quite possibly the biggest and most expensive project of the year. It must have been easy if a peon like me was put in charge of it, though, right Mr. Pompous GCD? Surprise!

Getting laid off turned out to probably be one of the best things that happened to me, but I think it came about for the wrong reasons (the GCD's ego, for one). I get a tinge of satisfaction knowing that the Kraft team in Chicago imploded after it's St. Louis counterparts stopped coming to the rescue, anyway. I never wish bad things on people, but I just hope the group creative director got what he deserved. That seems like a fair statement. I hope I get what I deserve at this new place, too. At least, I think I do...