Last week marked the end of an era for Big Communications. And by era, we mean the end of our year as reigning champion of Ad Age’s Small Agency of the Year for the Southeast.

On Thursday, our compatriots at Bohan in Nashville brought home the Southeast Gold for 2014; to them, we respectfully and earnestly tip our hats.

But as most of us in the advertising world understand, awards are just motivation to improve continuously the work we already love doing.

To be sure, the honor of being named Southeast Small Agency of the Year has impacted Big Communications as an agency. As our time with this particular award has concluded, we thought it prudent to examine this past year and answer the question “so what?” with much-needed reflection.