the agency’s Christmas gathering, Chuck held up a big sign saying: “Here’s the good news: we’re getting a new office.” Then another sign went up: “In Boulder, Colorado.” Chuck asked anyone who wanted to make the move to come and see him, guessing that around 60–70 would vote yes. Two hundred and seventeen people came to see him that day to say they were in. And when, in 2006, Alex decided to move, a large part of the creative department followed him. Bogusky’s charisma started to flourish in an outsize way in the fresh Colorado air. Meanwhile, they had made a deal some years before with a small Canada holiday company, Multi Destinations Club (MDC), and Chuck became more involved in that. He had a very simple message for Miles Nadal, the CEO: “You don’t know anything about advertising, I do. If you let an agency do its creative best, it will make you money.” At a high point, Crispin Porter + Bogusky was contributing 25 per cent of MDC’s profits. Chuck drove an expansive strategy for Crispin Porter + Bogusky. His first venture was to acquire Daddy, one of the new brilliant Swedish digital shops in Gothenburg. But he soon learnt that Europe is not the US: and that a challenger city strategy here was not appealing to clients. He needed to be in London. Other offices followed. And, for MDC, he assembled a kindergarten of Crispin feel-a-likes: Kirschenbaum, for instance, then 72andSunny. I think only a copywriter with legal training could have done it. And all the time he was protecting their own agency: buying it the resources and space it needed. Meanwhile, the Bogusky charisma continued to expand. It’s interesting to reflect on how completely he captured (or maybe seduced is a better word) the trade press. Appearing on the covers of Businessweek and Fast Company, he had good looks, a whiff of danger, and overwhelming self-belief. The Agency of the Year awards flowed. The myth-making became more about Alex: the move to Boulder his own invention; the agency revelling in its image as a street shark. Clients also succumbed: Brandon Berger, my digital partner of recent years, recalls the relationship between the Boulder Managing Director, Jeff Hicks, and Alex: “It was almost like Jeff was a drug dealer: bring Alex in, get them hooked on him, then take him away, and make them beg for more.” There was something of a cult around Bogusky. He chose his followers to be loyal