And that means lots of hot dogs, plenty of gadgets and just a bit of shopping in the American winter sales..

As well as scouring the halls for the latest and greatest technology to write about for various existing cliens, I’ll be on the lookout for any new content opportunities with brands large and small.

But most importantly, I’ll be sizing up which stand has the best booth babes for my Sun column. There might even be a picture or two posted here as well as news from the show floor before I fly back to the snowy UK.

Not even a flood of biblical proportions, an emergency trip to the vet, a bout of flu - it was a real swine - and some crazy internet hosting shenanigans could stop us.

Some of you may have dealt with Ten14 Media before, possibly without realising it. It’s the company I founded back in April 2007 when I left The Sun after seven years to freelance.

In that time I’ve written for numerous national newspapers, edited blogs and websites, consulted with PRs to make their media relations easier, and developed a plethora of ideas on a daily basis – many of which are still in my notebook for a rainy day.

Ten14 Media was named after my birthday, which is today (no need to send a card), and I am celebrating with a new website, new direction and crucially new team members. It’s the same ethos, though, summed up by our tagline: Simple Words, Clear Ideas, Honest Conversations.

The power of words is often forgotten. Whether printed in the pages of a newspaper, posted on a blog, displayed in a booklet or spoken on a video, what you say, and how you say it, matters very much.

All change please

As the media landscape begins to change, journalists face a stark crossroads. But our skills are still in demand, more so than ever. Simple communication anyone can understand will never go out of fashion.

We’re trained to cut to the facts in the most entertaining, informative and engaging way. We strive to cut through confusion and allow the reader to form an opinion.

Brands now have the perfect opportunity to capitalise on that experience to reach their customers and users through real words they want to read. Not boring bland copywriting written by someone churning out buzzwords and marketing speak but engaging editorial in a myriad of ways through a range of mediums.

So that’s what we’ll be doing. It doesn’t matter whether you use old, new or social media – if the words aren’t right and relevant then you will just be talking AT the people you should be talking WITH.

Experts, experience and editing

At Ten14 Media, I’m creating a hub of talented writers, all experts in their own fields from technology to health and men’s lifestyle to food. Their strong background in newspapers, magazines and digital, alongside my editorship, will allow us to help brands make their words work harder.

It is the credit crunch, after all. We can’t afford to waste any words, and neither can you.

Whether commissioned directly from staff in-house or via PR and marketing agencies, we’ll use our experience to produce words and ideas that give the reader reason to sit up, take notice and engage.

We don’t spin, we don’t bullsh*t and we don’t use confusing terms. We simply help tell real stories through our writing, idea generation and consultancy.

They don’t start “Once upon a time…” either. We’re not into fairy tales. Our stories create trustworthy relationships between brands and consumers that this new age of media demands.

This is who we are

On our Services page you can read some ways in which we can do this. Our About page and the Ten14 Commandments give reasons why we exist. The Client pages show people who have benefitted from our work and then there’s the Team. They’re waiting by their keyboards with twitchy fingers. They might even use a pen and paper if I ask nicely.

And if you still need convincing, check out the Praise. Then maybe you’ll get in Contact for a chat about what we could do for you.

We’ll be blogging here regularly about our values, plans, the media and anything interesting involving words, plus adding more clients, team members and work examples to the site soon.

In the meantime, I’m off to revel in three words for the rest of the day: HAPPY, BIRTHDAY and CAKE.

PS: If you spot any dead links, bad words or browser compatibility issues on the site, please let me know.

They include former Shortlist Deputy Editor Matt Hill, pictured left, ex-Sunday Mirror Celebs on Sunday magazine Commissioning Editor Dina Behrman and health expert Helen Gilbert.

There’s also technology writers Alex Pullin and Andrea Petrou and well as many more faces you might just recognise on their way.

1. We only use highly-skilled professional journalists working to editors who have senior experience.

2. We have specialists in all fields producing high quality copy on everything from technology to travel, gaming to gossip and music to movies.

3. We work like a paper newsroom meaning every single story is subbed, edited and then checked again.

4. We never rehash copy – every client gets their own bespoke team creating unique content for them.

5. The reader is at the heart of all we do, to build direct trustworthy relationships that deliver a return.

6. We are always on top of the current trends in media, technology and communication.

7. Our plain-speaking and honest approach is key. We don’t use management speak, we simply tell it like it is.

8. We keep you informed at every step of the production process – to make sure our work matches your vision.

9. If you need us, we’ll be available 24 hours a day and seven days a week. That’s what our newspaper experience has taught us. We’ll even work Christmas Day if you provide the mince pies and crackers.

10. We only ever charge a fair and clear price for the job we do.

We didn’t even have to put on basketball shorts either, which was probably a good thing with JW’s skinny legs

Participating in a series of one-to-one and roundtable interviews with the hit film’s main stars, we were able to create credible Q&A transcripts that could be used for mainstream PR to attract coverage on blogs, gaming pages and fan sites.

Not only did this maximise the limited time available to Disney Interactive Studios for press interviews, it extended the reach of their campaign into areas they otherwise would not have been able to cover. It took their brand to important and influential niches.

We even got Zac Efron’s Xbox 360 gamertag. And JW was very excited. He might even have screamed. Like a little girl.

Working on a non-exclusive basis, Jonathan has helped media train staff, advised on the impact of potential projects in the press and developed ideas for coverage.

Client accounts we have assisted with include Play.com, Cineworld, Championship Manager, Robinsons, Comet, Duracell, London Eye and Intel.

Ben Padfield, Head of the Consumer Division, is the nice man behind the very nice words above.

As well as giving his opinion on the latest blockbusters, JW recently spent a week blogging about the new Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box title.

He even roped his girlfriend in to show how gaming is not just for blokes. She was actually better at it too, but sshhh, no-one needs to know that.

He’s also a Watford FC fan, but we won’t hold that against him.

Lee was born in an English supermarket in the 20th century and will die somewhere less glamorous in the 21st (he said that, not us!).

Over the course of 500 celebrity interviews he has worn out five dictaphones, been punched by two members of Green Day, drunk 9,000 coffees and been tickled by one third of Nirvana.

He’s been beaten at tennis by John McEnroe, beaten at football by David Beckham and beaten with a stick by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s security (well almost, it was more of a scuffle than an actual beating).

Lee secretly fears people will despise him for just name dropping like an idiot, but he’s gone with it anyway, just so he can point out he’s recently written world exclusives on Pete Doherty, Banksy and The Arctic Monkeys.

Lee currently writes for The Mail On Sunday, Rolling Stone, ShortList,The Observer, FHM, More, Q, and the Sunday Express among many others. He’s also has had his award-winning Q&As published in over 30 countries.

His specialist areas are football and music, although he has also written extensively on motoring, travel, food, technology and movies.

Prior to freelancing, Lee was Executive Editor at FHM magazine and he also spent several years in television production working on the likes of Band Of Brothers and Model Behaviour.

A key part of the site’s redesign, it enables fans to interact daily with the brand

Rather than simply rehash the newspaper back pages, we created a unique CM style and tone that as Roy Meredith, General Manager for Championship Manager, says above, encourages users to make their feelings known about the issues important to them.

With Jonathan Weinberg mainly taking the lone striker role on the writing front, Lee Coan provides plenty of support from midfield scoring plenty of wonder strikes with his own humorous take on the lower leagues. Lee is a Watford fan for his sins so writing about his woes is cheaper than seeing a psychiatrist.

As well as commentary on the current state of the UK’s beautiful game, the feed also features fun Top 10s, quizzes and pictures from the Press Association, marking Championship Manager out as the No1 community portal for supporters.