It’s been a while now since I last updated this blog. Between 2011 and through 2012 I found myself a full-time consultant with several side contract jobs in queue. It started with Amaratech, followed by Stanford’s R&DE, then Miramar Labs, then BMG, then Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences and finally Stanford’s ITS Web Services team.
All great opportunities that allowed me to learn something new and unique at each location. The fact that each, especially the Stanford departments, operated entirely different from one another I feel was a boon to my experience. From developer focused scrum meetings to 100% remote coordination with employees in different time zones, data the web…everyone interacts with it and it’s development differently, but at the end of the day it all comes down to the same goal of increasing users and increasing revenues.
While my own client base had grown and with it revenues, my time wasn’t my own and my social life was paying a significant toll. I felt as though my business was doing exceptionally well at the cost of my personal life. My marriage, friends and family need to take more priority at this stage in my life and that’s one of the main reasons behind why I accepted the opportunity at Smart Meetings.
Smart Meetings is my first “job” in over three years. I show up in the morning, I leave in the evening and while my days are filled with activity, I get to come home and be home. I don’t have a client calling me from New York at 6 am to upload some last minute materials to their ftp or late night evening conference calls. For me I get to have balance and right now that’s what I need.
In my spare time I may still write some MMO fluff for Examiner and MMOSite to keep a presence online, and while my neglected MGP tries to cling to life I imagine some day I may find the resources to make it into something more. But for now I expect little if any of my efforts to be spent on these hobbies. For today I’d rather just update my blog and then spend the evening playing with my dog before settling in for the night with a movie, show or some other activity with the wife.