Life doesn't slow down. It keeps moving. It won't wait for you to catch up. And it never gives you a chance to catch your breath. In just the first half of this year, I completed my master's degree in information management at the University of Washington, a two-year program that culminated in a massive content auditing capstone project.
Ed. note: Each year, the UW Information School (where I'm a grad student) holds its annual Dean's Club Dinner to thank its donors and board members for their gifts and service. This year, I'm emceeing the event along with fellow iSchool students Amanda Jasso (MLIS, 2013) and Amado Robancho (Informatics & HCDE, 2013).
Just 20 slides, they said. Just 5 minutes, they said. It'll be fun, they said. And they were right! #is19 @ ignitesea - Jonathon Colman (@jcolman) February 21, 2013 Here are my favorite moments: 0:08: A big shout-out to "My introvert brothers!
One of my favorite words is Is it strange and child-like to have a favorite word? Then yes, I am strange and child-like. All the same, I want to show you why this is my favorite word. It involves a story. And the story begins as most stories do - with a book.
Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking at SearchFest by SEMpdx down in Portland, Oregon. I spoke on the "UX and Audience" panel with Susan Delz of Ion Interactive, moderated by Nathan Isaacs of 7G Media. My travel to SearchFest was partially funded by a generous grant from The University of Washington's Information School, where I'm currently a graduate student.
I've had a fun, challenging journey this year talking publicly about introversion and lifehacks for introverts. I started by helping introverts and shy people become better public speakers. Then I followed up by interviewing Beth Buelow, The Introvert Entrepreneur. And tonight I'm giving a talk at Ignite!
Beth Buelow has become a recent source of inspiration for me. She is the founder and CEO of The Introvert Entrepreneur, a company here in the Northwest that "offers services for introverts and those who live/work/play with them."
Since I left SEO, I've been getting a lot of questions about Content Strategy. What is it? What books and blogs should people read to learn about it? What conferences should folks attend and who are the experts in the field?
UPDATE: I was a speaker at Ignite! Seattle 19 and talked about How Introverts Can Survive in This Extroverted World. I presented five lifehacks that introverts can use to preserve and build their energy as they're trying to get along in a world that values extroversion.
In case you missed it, there's an Apocalypse out there, kids. And it's coming up soon: December 21, 2012 is right around the corner. Dammit, why does the Apocalypse always have to happen on a Friday? Stupid Gods, won't even let me enjoy my stupid weekend...
Introducing Dollar Shave Club I recently joined the Dollar Shave Club. You may remember their awesome content marketing video that went viral back in March. I loved it - after all, I'm just as susceptible to good branding and content marketing as anyone else.
UPDATE: Falcão Ruíz of WebMark SEO (follow him at @FalcaoNoMore) has translated this post into Spanish. How awesome is he for doing that? Extremely awesome. Gracias, mi amigo! While prepping to speak at last month's Content Strategy Forum, I reviewed a number of sites and blogs across the online production, design, architecture, and content strategy industries.
Update: I didn't mean for this to turn into an Oprah post ("You get a link! And you get a link! EVERYONE GETS A LINK!"), but way leads on to way... or so they say. Remember how way back in my first post I said that I made a list of people to thank, but it got too long?
NOTE: With a few recent weddings as well as REI's awesome announcement on marriage equality yesterday, I thought now would be a great time to publish my vows to I originally wrote and recited these wedding vows to her on Piha Beach in New Zealand on November 17, 2006.
Dear SEO... I've never written a letter to a concept before. Makes me feel pretty high-falutin', like Descartes or Foucault or that other guy. But it needs to be done because something's changed. Me. Oh SEO... How did it come to this? I'm not the shy, bashful kid you romanced and swept off his feet back in 2001.
