Brightest Young Things will cease operations on January 20 so its principles can concentrate on Exactly Agency, a transition that the collective has been working toward for two years, BYT honcho Svetlana Legetic says in a letter to BYT’s community Thursday.
BYT began life on Legetic’s Myspace page in 2005, and evolved to a calendar of things to do around town, then a standalone publication. “The goal was to always feel like a friendship” with readers, Legetic told Washingtonian in 2018. Brightest Young Things began throwing parties and helped to popularize after-hours museum events. It grew an events business, which eventually included the Bentzen Ball and the true-crime festival Death Becomes Us, and attracted clients like REI, Red Bull, and Lululemon.
Exactly will have offices in DC and London offer branding, design, events, and experiences services to its clients, Legetic writes. After all, she said in 2018, “Everything is content, right?” As to its own events, Legetic tells Washingtonian in an email that Exactly is “definitely leaving the door open for certain special projects (namely and especially Bentzen Ball, which I hope lives in one shape or form forever),”
BYT’s archives will remain live, and Legetic asks anyone with fond memories of the collective to share them here.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
