With a roaring celebration at the Munich office, our board member Tom Fehr said goodbye to the operative business after around 30 years at Ray Sono. The 4th floor became a big stage: cardboard doppelgangers, Tom’s first work desk, the 90s at your fingertips – a colourful collection of curiosities, a continuous reel of images. Numerous companions, old and new Rays, clients, friends and family members provided a buzz of voices, laughter and stories from the past. As a large black moth settled over the rooftops, our inhouse rockers RayC/DC took the stage with their first gig since the beginning of the pandemic and lit a 90-minute firework that turned the Isarvorstadt into the centre of rock ’n’ roll.
From intern to board member and co-owner – an remarkable career that is rare in the fast-moving digital business. What started in autumn 1993 at the agency then still known as MediaAktiv led to Tom’s appointment as co-managing director and co-partner as early as 1999. His boundless energy drove him on: According to his motto “learning by doing”, he continuously acquired the necessary know-how to always have the right solution at hand in the complex interaction with clients and partners. Whether as a digital business modeller, strategy consultant, digital strategist, project planner, online marketing guru, customer relationship manager, backend and frontend developer … Tom felt professionally at home wherever he could contribute his social and professional skills and, above all, make a difference as an entrepreneur.
Prepared long in advance, conscientiously and in constant dialogue with his Rays, Tom has passed on his knowledge, distributed responsibilities and left no questions unanswered – he has made sure that an emotional but not a professional gap has opened up. The foundation of the company stands. Tom remains associated with Ray Sono as a partner and Ray from the very beginning. His companion Thomas Helbing will continue to run the company as an operative board member. Together with board spokesman Sebastian Krüger and the two board members Ilona Kühn and Nicolas Escherich.
Dear Tom, you were always our cultural attaché, our rock in turbulent digital waters. There is only one thing standing in the way of your induction into the Ray Sono Hall of Fame: We don’t have a Hall of Fame. But we will treasure your work, your humour, your excellent book recommendations, your social streak, your professional genius. No one can replace you, but we as a “ray community” will carry on your mindset: We will remain alert, innovative, social and always keep our fingers on the pulse of the times. Your professional journey started in 1993 with a thing called the internet and a few positive crazies who recognized the enormous potential of this new technology early on. Today, it is the development of AI that demands foresight from us – and one of your outstanding skills: serenity.
Board spokesman Sebastian: “Tom is curious, always on equal footing, always up to speed, always going deep into a subject – simply an incredibly likeable guy and the perfect role model. I am very grateful for the time we spent together!”
Tom: “It was a great honour to be part of this company: as an intern, a graphic designer, a really miserable toolbook, HTML and PHP programmer, an ambitious and pretty cool 3D animator, an often-misunderstood conceptualiser, a conflict-averse project manager, a slightly introverted salesman and then, ultimately, as a managing director and board member who always cared about you. Thank you for 30 years here. I take my hat off to each and every one of you, dear Rays. It was an honour!”
For us too! All the luck in the world, dear Tom!
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