Category: Uncategorized

I’m a consultant. I’m typically hired to perform a task or service based on a deep subject-matter expertise that I bring to the table. Increasingly however, I’ve been working with other consultants who have clients of their own and need my services. This represents a completely different dynamic because there a whole new set of factors:

• Is the consultant in a jam and needs some assistance ASAP?
• Will the client know about me or do I need to be invisible?
• Is there budget to bring me in or will the consultant be paying out of pocket?

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Kind of a big deal.

I’m a huge proponent of making introductions. If you’re familiar with Malcolm Gladwell’s work, you’ll know what I mean when I say that I’m a connector. Often I’m able to make an introduction that leads to someone getting a job, doing business, or generally reaching a goal.

The latest product of this habit apparently assisted with the logistics behind bringing LessConf 3010 to Atlanta: My friend Allan Branch wrote a post today on what he learned from planning LessConf.

It’s a great feeling to help great people do awesome things by doing what comes natural.

Complicated doesn’t mean dull, nor does technical imply boring.

The Google Chrome team released version 5 of their already lightning-quick web browser today. The post accompanying the release delves into some technical details that likely interest only a small subset of software engineers and the technically inclined.

This post could have been (and almost was) written off as the standard “technical press release” in the form of a blog post, but the team is obviously very serious about getting the word out about Google Chrome:
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Just a quick note to let my readers know that I’ve published a guest post on Art of Blog. It’s called Using WordPress Pages like a Pro and walks through a few examples of how established professionals and Internet Marketers are using Pages on their site.

Check it out! I’d love to know what you think.

Saying it makes it so, doesn’t it?

Speaking into existence. Power of intention. Call it what you will. It works. There are two general rules of thought when it comes to sharing desired goals: keep it to yourself and tell others.

Both sides make compelling arguments, but I don’t know that the approaches are mutually exclusive. I might share with you that I’d like to quit my job, but not necessarily that I’d like to spend a year living in Buenos Aires.
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Hey guys, just a quick note from my friend Desiree about a Haiti relief effort in the Atlanta area. Read on for details.

Volunteers are needed to assemble emergency shelter kits April 7–10 and April 12–15.

About the Effort

Habitat for Humanity is planning a multiphase response strategy in Haiti that includes early recovery and mid-and long-term response. As part of the early phase, Habitat for Humanity put together over 10,000 emergency shelter kits, designed to help families make immediate repairs and construct emergency shelter, in February.

This work was possible thanks to the dedication of volunteers like you. For those of you that helped with the first round of kits, we are grateful for your support. Now, we are asking again for your help to assemble 13,250 more recovery starter kits. Funds for these kits have been provided by The American Red Cross and CARE.
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I can’t help but wonder if I’m being coached covertly.

Pam Slim “is a seasoned coach and writer who helps frustrated employees in corporate jobs break out and start their own business.” She’s the author of Escape From Cubicle Nation (both the blog and the book) and has, over the course of this past year year or so, become a friend of mine.

It started with a tweet, turned into several purchases of her various information products (I jokingly confessed at her Atlanta workshop that I’d buy pretty much anything she put out…which was actually true…), and is now turning into even greater things:

I had the pleasure of attending two events this week in Atlanta, both centered around how to use WordPress as a marketing platform. The first event was a roundtable discussion organized by Mike Schinkel and hosted by Matter in their gorgeous Midtown studio. In attendance were the following WordPress experts:

• Ash Arnett of Matter (Principal and owner)
• Jarrod Skeggs of studiod.tv
• Barb Prebble of Moonstone Media
• Marna Friedman of Writefully Inviting
• Chris Jordan of Atlanta Insurance Live
• Jeremy Dost of Sharpdot
• Carol Shepherd of Tech Zest Advisors
• Christopher Altman of Matter (Lead Developer and Designer)
• Joshua Chase and Nick Ali of Run Level Media

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I have never fit cleanly into any particular category. I’m not a social butterfly, but I’m definitely not a loner. I’m not a designer, developer, or server administrator…but I’m known to be any or all of those things in any given week. When I was younger, it used to bother me that I was so unlike my peers. It was as if I missed the conformity indoctrination growing up—I was just different in hundreds of tiny ways.

Now that I’m older and growing into the man I’m going to be for the rest of my life, I take comfort in being unapologetically, consistently, and uniquely me. It’s liberating feeling. I’m much more at peace enjoying a meal by myself in a crowded restaurant full of commotion than I used to be. I’m completely ok with not knowing anyone at an event that I’m interested in attending. I’ve become accustomed to people trying to categorize me mentally when meeting me…and failing miserably.

I take comfort in the fact that I’m uniquely suited to fulfill my destiny here on earth based on the person I am. Not the person that I feel like I should be. Not the person I envisioned myself growing up to be. Just me.

Just me.