I gave up on a holiday letter or cards a few years ago; however, last year I started doing a year in review post, and it seemed to work pretty well. Here’s the 2008 version …
Let’s start with the negative.
What did I want to do in 2008 that didn’t quite make it?
- Didn’t quite achieve 501(c)(3) status for Legion of Tech. The paperwork is nearly done and will be submitted in January.
- Didn’t get the O’Reilly Art of Community book published. For too many reasons to list here, we finally decided to can the project.
- Didn’t do anything spectacular enough that it prompted someone to write a Wikipedia article for me.
Now on to the fun part.
2008: A year of change
- My biggest change by far was deciding to leave my steady employment at Jive Software to become an Online Community and Social Media Consultant. I am very happy with the change, and despite the economy, things are going pretty well.
- Redesigned my blog with a better look and feel.
- Helped organize events like BarCampPortland, Ignite Portland, and more as the co-founder and chair for Legion of Tech.
- Ignite Portland was featured in the Oregonian resulting in mayhem, overcrowding, and a new LoT policy of no mainstream media coverage prior to events like Ignite and BarCampPortland.
- Spoke at a bunch of conferences: OSCON, Community 2.0, Innotech, BlogHer Business, Web 2.0 Expo, Ignite Portland, Love@First Website, a few BarCamps, etc.
- Attended too many local Portland events to count.
- I took my mom on a vacation to Maui where we spent time lounging on the beach and drinking fruity drinks out of pineapples.
- I joined Portland-based startup, Shizzow, to manage the Shizzow community (as a side project, since we are currently bootstrapping). We were also honored to be guests on the Strange Love Live podcast.
- Became obsessed with Yahoo Pipes resulting in a video podcast series with Yahoo Pipes demos.
- Began writing for GigaOM’s WebWorkerDaily.
My personal hopes for 2009
- Grow Fast Wonder Consulting into a more successful business with a few more clients.
- Achieve 501(c)(3) status for Legion of Tech.
- Continue to help organize more awesome events in Portland.
- Finish my eBook about Companies and Online Communities.
- Learn more about Yahoo Pipes.
- Continue mission #GetOffButt to get healthier, stronger, and in better shape.
- Again, I want to do something spectacular enough that it prompts someone to write a Wikipedia article for me.
Another thing I’m excited about for 2009
- The Portland tech community. I rave about it almost constantly, but I do expect the Portland tech community to continue to produce exciting new companies, projects, and community organized events to become even stronger in 2009.