Welcome to Transformation 2011: Making It Happen. What an appropriate name for this year's conference.

Things are indeed "happening." Good things. Now I know that my arrival at the 4A's coincided with the onset of some tough economic times. And I swear that I had absolutely nothing to do with the recession.

All kidding aside, I am very excited to be the bearer of positive news this year. Not "there's light at the end of the tunnel" prognostications, but hardcore, positive "yes our industry has survived and is robust" news. Let me give you some examples.

I like bellwethers. The Super Bowl is one that I think we all look forward to each year. That Super Bowl mash-up reel that you just saw a couple of minutes ago marked the earliest sell out of ad slots in the event's history.

This year's game, which incidentally was the most-watched broadcast in history, had over 111 million viewers.

Why? Because there are more TV viewers than ever, with more options and more ways to talk about a live event as it happens, via live blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other social network tools. In fact, the Super Bowl was referenced 21 million times in status updates that day. And staggeringly, there were 4,064 tweets in one second during the final drive. The Super Bowl also saw a heavy presence from another bellwether--automotive, which has come back strong.

It's not just the Super Bowl. A 30-second spot on the Academy Awards was around 1.8 million dollars, the most expensive in the history of that awards show. And the demand for time was the highest since 2008.

It's not just television events.

Thank you, mobile, which should hit the one billion dollar mark this year. Apps are now centrally embedded in every aspect of our lives, giving added value to our industry's creative and technical offerings.

Everywhere there are reports of clients boosting spending on core brands and introducing new products ... CEOs being the most optimistic in five years and projecting increased sales, investment and hiring ... CMOs who are seeing revenue gains and better profits, and are also planning to hire. P&G and Kraft are boosting their spending. The Coca-Cola CMO believes the company can double its current 31 billion dollar sales within the next 10 years. The automotive and cosmetics industries are increasing spending.

So. I'm through saying that "the signs are all there." Now I say that we have stopped looking at "signs" and that we must trust to look around us, here and now. We've become gun shy about the positive, an outlook that's more reflective of post-9/11 anxiety than today's reality.

Let me say again, our industry is back.

"That which does not kill us makes us stronger." Nietzsche got that right. Our industry didn't die. Some might have once said that we were on life support, but we've revived. We've bypassed rehab and come back leaner, tougher, more creative and more productive than ever. Perhaps Charlie Sheen could take a lesson from all of us.

The 4A's is a reflection of you, and our agenda is your agenda. For the last three years, we took a lesson from you. Like you, we retrenched and reexamined and redefined our purpose and methodology.

You hold us to high standards and we have strived to meet and exceed your expectations. We have realigned ourselves in order to give you more. Let me just give you a few examples and call out our staff at the same time:

Laura Bartlett, our CFO/COO extraordinaire, has successfully guided us through this period of economic hardship. And by the way, she kept us on course and still made it to the World Cup last year without missing a beat.

Tom Finneran has led the 4A's Management Division and offered his group's expert consultation to many of you, particularly on compensation and client/agency relations. I think that attendees of yesterday's SAMS workshop will agree that this year's program was more impactful than ever before.

Tom is never shy about helping us to take a stand when necessary, as witnessed most recently in calling out the egregious behavior of Sears in their demand for agencies to give away their Intellectual Property during the pitch process. And, by the way, we can call them out, we can offer guidance ... but you have to say "no!"

And let me serve as Tom's booking agent for a moment: if you haven't seen his legendary new business presentation ... you should.

In the Agency Relations and Membership arena, Jennifer Seidel and her people have focused on and reactivated all 24 local 4A's councils, delivering training seminars, thought leadership workshops, senior management networking functions and much more. Jennifer's team has also revitalized 4A's involvement in the strategic and planning community, launching the inaugural Jay Chiat Strategy Festival last fall.

Dick O'Brien and his group have ably served as our DC watchdogs--ever vigilant, particularly during this political climate, to represent the agency business effectively and knowledgeably in all areas of national and state government policy. Our Washington's office is deeply involved with the privacy issues that are increasingly affecting us all.

Witness Ad Age's focus on the regulatory environment just this week. I know it's not a sexy subject and I know we all take it for granted. We can no longer do that. I urge all of you to actively participate in this discussion because without self-regulation, our creativity will be threatened and possibly stifled, I assure you.

Across the board, from technology to both new and traditional media, from research to talent union negotiations to increased passion for industry diversity, the 4A's staff has worked hard to deliver what you so rightly demand from us.

And I also ask that you take a moment to recognize yourselves. The 4A's was born out of the idea that we can work together, not against each other. Up until just recently, we had become fractious, in the way that has been more reflective of today's political arena, or perhaps an episode of Real Housewives or, worse yet, Jersey Shore.

However, these difficult times made us work better together, instead of further dividing us. Last year's inaugural Transformation Conference brought together the entire media and marketing ecosystem in one room. Transformation 2010 initiated a thoughtful dialogue that continues today.

Mike Donahue was integral to Transformation 2010, and his dedication to this year's program has been key to ... well ... making Transformation 2011 "happen."

Mike and his team have made sure that we have a dynamic lineup for you this year, and I know that we all want to get going, so now I'd like to introduce someone who doesn't need much of an introduction. Chuck Porter is entering his second year as our 4A's Chairman. We've appreciated his input and look forward to the coming year, as we continue to evolve.