2007 in Review
Before I get into the full swing of 2008, I wanted to take a look back at the past year to see just where I’ve been, what happened, and what things I want to change. On the whole, probably one of the most exciting years of my life to date, for several reasons.
On the Personal
Probably the most exciting part of this last year has been watching the growth and development of my son Jackson. The transition a child goes through from months 7 to 19 is amazing, and seeing it happen every day was fascinating. I can’t wait to see what next year will bring.
2007 also brought travel to Austin for SxSW, Athens and Ios Greece where I spoke at Greek Blogger Camp, and my first trip to New York City.
One very important milestone for me was also the celebration of my 5 year wedding anniversary with my wife, Carrie.
Business and Professional
This last January I made the leap to full-time freelancing, and it’s been the best professional decision I’ve made to date. Not only has it provided me the opportunity to spend more time with my family, but also to stretch my skills into areas I couldn’t flex by working for somebody else. It’s been a very successful year in business, and I feel very blessed.
Shortly after going solo, I teamed up with Dan Rubin, Bryan Veloso, and Jonathan Snook to form Sidebar Creative. One of my only concerns about becoming a freelancer was the lack of other people to talk to and keep you at your best. The guys in Sidebar have been that for me, and I can’t thank them enough. In addition to client work through Sidebar, we’ve launched a few of our own inventions in My Mile Marker, Snitter, and Overheard.it. I won’t say much about it here, but look for more exciting things from Sidebar in 2008.
I also had a chance to write a few chapters for The Art & Science of CSS along with some other great people. The book has been extremely successful, and I learned a lot about the book-writing process. Despite the extra workload, I’m already working with Apress on a new book targeted at entry-level and higher-education audiences.
Lastly, I’ve had the opportunity to adjunct a few classes at the University of Notre Dame dealing with web-related curriculum. It’s been a great learning experience, and the eagerness I see in the students has given me even more passion to push for better education patterns in this area of study.
Things to Improve
As always, I look for areas of improvement. While by no means comprehensive, here’s a short list of some of the more obvious in my mind.
- Write more. Writing for books takes a lot of energy, and I don’t feel much like writing in this blog. I want that to change.
- Manage my Inbox. There were times, especially earlier in the year, where I had to purge my inbox without looking or replying. I hate doing that, and I really want to get better at dealing with mail as it comes in.
- Speak more. I’ve realized through teaching my classes at Notre Dame that I really enjoy helping people learn. I want to get more into speaking, be it conferences or workshops, in 2008.
- Excersize more. Yeah, yeah, so does everyone, but I need to write it down.
Coming Up in 2008
Just a few things to mention that I already know will be hitting in 2008. First, I’ll be speaking on a panel at SxSW in March. I’m already excited to see what the fickle audiences of South-by have to say about our talk. Also, I’m trying to fuguire out if I can make it to FoWA in February, so we’ll see what comes of that.
On a personal note, Carrie and I are expecting our second child in mid-June. Hopefully things will go smoother than last time. We’re very excited, and nervous, about the addition to our family.
My family and I have a lot to look forward to in 2008, but we’re trying to take one day at a time. I can only hope to have as much fun this year as last.