It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about life (my recent posts here and at Van Patten Media have focused on technical tips and product announcements). It’s not that there’s nothing to report—in fact, there’s quite a lot happening. I thought tonight I’d take time to sum up what’s going on in my life lately.
WordCamp Buffalo
Certainly the biggest thing happening this week is WordCamp Buffalo. Incredibly, Buffalo has never had a WordCamp, but a small group from the Buffalo WordPress Meetup got together and decided to make this the year that changed. I’m so happy to be a co-organizer of the event (working with three other fantastic organisers), and so grateful to all the volunteers who have pitched in so far and will be pitching in on Saturday.
My primary role in WordCamp Buffalo was organising the speakers and sessions for the event. We’ve got an incredible lineup. I think Buffalo’s WordPress community will be pleased.
Speaking of WordCamps…
WordCamp Toronto
I am so thrilled to announce that I’ll be speaking at this November’s WordCamp Toronto for developers! I’ll be presenting a new talk called Developing a Client-Focused Admin Panel, a topic I touched on in a recent Van Patten Media blog post. Toronto will also be my first experience at a WordCamp on the other side of the fence (not organising) which will be quite fun.
Moving on up…
I ended college back in May, but have continued living in Buffalo. I love Buffalo and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities I’ve had here (and the many friends I’ve made in the burgeoning tech community) but I’m also eager to experience something new—or newish. That’s why I’ve decided to move to New York City in early 2013. Avid Chris Van Patten stalkers will recall that I lived in New York City during the summer of 2011; I’m excited to return now that I have more friends living in the city and an opportunity to grow Van Patten Media to new heights.
I spent a week in the city several weeks ago, which ultimately cemented the decision for me. Between my wonderful support network of friends in the city, fantastic clients, and all the shows and concerts and events happening, I’m hoping to be constantly busy and constantly inspired.
I will genuinely miss Buffalo, but this move can’t come soon enough.
In entertainment news…
I’ve also seen some great pieces of theatre and film lately. I don’t want to get too deep into reviews, so I’ll offer some brief thoughts.
- I saw The Master while I was in New York City. I very much enjoyed the film, and found it to be contemplative and chilling (in the best possible way). Joaquin Phoenix was masterful. Pardon the pun.
- I was also lucky enough to see Peter And The Starcatcher on Broadway. This was my first time seeing Celia Keenan-Bolger (sister of my client Andrew) on stage and thought she—and the entire production—was exquisite.
- One of the most moving films I’ve seen recently was The Perks of Being a Wallflower. While my high school experience was (in some ways) more subdued than the one in the film, I still connected deeply to the material and found myself choked up by the end. I’ll be making a return visit before it leaves theatres.
Van Patten Media
Finally, the thing that sucks up most of my time (free time or otherwise)—my business, Van Patten Media. I’m so lucky to have a wonderful set of clients who make the business possible. I was fortunate enough to visit with many of them while in New York City a few weeks ago (Linda, Lee, Olli, Jeremy, et al) and hope those visits become more frequent.
The biggest obstacle to Van Patten Media’s growth (to any company’s, really) is growing revenue, and I’m excited about several plans in the pipeline that will make that a possibility without forcing me to work 150 hour weeks.
We also just recently launched our first “experiment”, How I Booked It. How I Booked It—or HIBI—is a new site that interviews theatre professionals and learns how they got their start and shares their advice to those just starting out. It’s gotten a bit of buzz and I’m happy to see the site catching on.
Moving forward, it’s a big goal of mine to institute more standardised procedures around “the office”. We’ve moved to wpframe-based workflows on most new projects which help significantly, but I’d like to standardise all our workflows (CSS/Sass workflows, new server deployments, launch lists, etc.). The more concrete our process is, the less time we spend making decisions and the more time we spend doing the fun stuff.
So that’s that
I’m really quite excited about the next few days, few months, and the year ahead. There’s a lot going on and a lot to keep me busy, and I hope it stays that way for the foreseeable future!