Ten years ago on September the 11th I was bound to Nice on a flight to see my family. My partner had returned empty-handed from the Bally concession – apparently the Internet was down in the terminal and they couldn’t sell anything. Strangely, all the televisions were off too. Sat in a bar, I received the first text. “Small plane hit Twin Towers.”

By the time we had walked to the departure gate, I’d received a second text.

We decided to fly. Many didn’t. I later found out the airport shut as our flight departed. When I landed, my shocked and tearful family met me. I hadn’t comprehended the enormity of the atrocity that had befallen the United States on my departure. And given this happened in 2001, I hadn’t seen it on you tube or the bbc iplayer either. People still watched TV then. In fact, my parents lived in a little French hill town without cable or satellite TV, so I experienced the unraveling of the attack and declaration of the War on Terror in day-late imported newspapers. I distinctly remember how odd it felt to be so disconnected from the rest of the western world as it shared the experience that would define an age – and this without Facebook or Twitter!

Ten years has seen so much change for us all, some of it as a direct consequence of the attack itself and the seemingly inevitable response to it. I was in a tube at the exact time that my train’s power failed due to an alleged ‘outage’ in the network. That was on 7/7.

We’ve seen the dot com bubble burst but the resurgence of the web – as version 2.0 – and rafts of digital entrepreneurs – many of them kids in 2001 means we are now enjoying truly revolutionary change, especially in ‘digital’. Think about it, this decade gave us mp3 players, smartphones and the tablet device. We carry more compute power – and possibly cables – in our bags than sent man to the moon.

I’ve watched my two children arrive and grow up in a digital age. Like most parents of young children, I’m amazed at their adoption speeds and tenacity. Did they get Apple patterns of interaction genetically programmed in? Give it another 10 years. And like you, I’m both delighted that their world will be more open, accessible and connected but fearful at some of the evil and lack of respect that this can perpetuate. I only hope that they have learnt tolerance and forgiveness somehow while playing angry birds.

The last ten years has also given me the opportunity to work alongside so much creative talent. I’m proud of so many of their achievements in the worlds of branding ecommerce, marketing and information distribution and the friends that have developed as a consequence. The world has become networked since 2001 and I appreciate the power and pleasure of the bit I’m in. I’ve also enjoyed privileged position with my clients – enjoying the trust and transparency that are tenets of consulting. I love the ‘behind-the-scenes- insights we are exposed to.

Have I done enough with my life to date since 9/11? Have I made a difference? Perhaps, depending on your measures. But as we reflect on this tragedy and how it affected the world for the years that follow, I’m going to think about making the most for the next decade. Celebrating life – and seizing it. Pushing any team I work with – and myself – to design a safer, better, humanitarian world. I boarded a safe plane on 9/11. But by the grace of god go I.