new year, new goals, same old blog...

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So, I've been kind of a slacker on the whole blogging front. I pretty much took 2010 off from blogging, not necessarily on purpose of course, but I was doing a lot of tweeting and I guess after condensing things down to 140 character bites, I didn't have much else to say here.

Unsurprisingly, I've grown bored with Twitter. (I find the busier I am, the less interest I have in what everyone else is doing... go figure.)

So, I need a good outlet to talk about the things I'm working on and what I've been learning, etc. So it's back to blogging. Maybe one of these days I'll find a good way to balance tweeting and blogging, but but for now... I'll stick with what worked for me in the past.

Last year, I made a resolution to do better at less, meaning I would try and focus my efforts on few things and do a better job at them. Overall, I think I accomplished that:

• I wrote a book on Windows Phone 7 and XNA 4.0 (which you can order here: http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Windows-Phone-Game-Development/dp/0470922443) with fellow XNA MVP George Clingerman.
• I moved across the country, back to South Carolina from Minnesota.
• I organized and delivered a speaking tour of 14 cities (THE GREAT SOUTHERN WP7/XNA TOUR)
• I write a bimonthly community column for CODE Magazine
• I published a Silverlight app (GuestList) to the Windows Phone Marketplace
• Served on INETA Board of Directors and revamped the Speakers Program into something useful.

Speaking of INETA, one thing I discovered this year is that while I love the Developer Community, and I really do, INETA isn't one of my priorities anymore. So... I won't be running for a spot on the board in the upcoming election. I've been involved with INETA in one form or another for about 6 years now and I'm really ready to do something else with my time and energy.

So that's more or less it for 2010. What does 2011 hold?

I've got a few things on my plate already, but I'm trying to clear it off as fast as reasonably possible. Here are my goals for 2011.

• Writing:
  • I'm doing a proof of concept for another book idea I have. This may or may not go anywhere. We'll see.
  • I'm still writing for CODE Magazine, doing a mix of Community and Techie articles.
• Speaking:
  • Conferences: Codestock, TechEd and Devlink
  • User Groups
  • Code Camps
• Business Growth:
  • Growing Magenic's presence in the Carolinas. This is a big priority for me personally.
  • Leading Magenic's mobility practice. (iOS, Android, WP7)
• Personal Growth:
  • Running more 5Ks (I have one scheduled for Feb)
  • Finishing my weightloss (17 more pounds to go)
  • Maintaining my Diabetes (~90)
• Personal Business:
  • Launching a new game store: Big Robot Games
  • Finishing my WP7 game: Chief Engineer
  • Finishing my XBL game: EDAKTBYD (I've decided to reboot this project. more on this later.)

So, that's my list. Funny how I planned to do less in 2011 than 2010, but the list is longer. I guess that's just the way it goes.