A Look Back at 2016
Saturday, December 31, 2016
A year ago, if someone had told me that I would speak at a conference, become a Microsoft MVP, and meet a bunch of people I look up to, I would not have believed them. But in 2016, all those things happened, and more! It was easily the best year I've had so far in my career.
Microsoft MVP
In January, Shaun Luttin messaged me out of the blue and offered to nominate me for a Microsoft MVP Award. That simple message was probably what started a chain of events that led to this amazing year.
Through some hard work and help from a few people, I received an MVP Award in Azure in July. The recognition and free stuff were great, but my favourite part about being an MVP so far has been the awesome people I've met and the friends I've made. I'm so honoured to be a part of this community.
Conferences
I used to go to conferences once every couple of years. In 2016, I went to 7!
- NDC London and PubConf
- Polyglot Unconference Vancouver
- DockerCon Seattle
- .NET Fringe Portland
- Seattle Code Camp
- BuildDirect Partner Summit
- Microsoft Global MVP Summit
Speaking
I had presented a couple of times prior to 2016. This changed in a big way in 2016 when I gave 6 talks.
- ASP.NET Core (with Shaun Luttin) - .NET User Group BC
- Deploying .NET Core to App Service - Vancouver Azure
- Build a Bot in 30 Minutes - Polyglot Unconference Vancouver
- Social Media for Tech Professionals - Vancouver Technology User Group
- Docker All the Things - ASP.NET 4.x and Windows Containers - .NET Fringe Portland
- Docker All the Things - ASP.NET 4.x and Windows Containers - Seattle Code Camp
Speaking is a great way to learn new things, share knowledge, and meet people. Sometimes, it's also a chance to attend conferences for free. It's hard work but I hope to do it again in 2017.
Blogging
I wrote 28 blog posts in 2016. Many hours go into each blog post; but I really enjoy writing them. And I'm really surpised how many people I run into at user groups and conferences who recognize me because of an article I wrote.
Page views on my blog also went up 60% in 2016. That's going to be tough to beat in 2017.
Hackathons
I did a few hackathons this year, some as a participant and some as a mentor. I really enjoy going to them. I hope there'll be more opportunities to hack in 2017.
Channel 9 Videos
Having videos on Channel 9 is also another thing I'd never thought I'd do. Thanks to the MVP Program and my buddy Shaun Luttin, we have 3 videos on Channel 9!
- Getting Started with Azure Search
- Vim with Visual Studio Code
- Build a chat bot with Azure Bot Service
User Groups and Meetups
I went to a lot of user groups and meetups in 2016. It's a lot of fun. I'm also happy to be one of the organizers of the Vancouver Azure Meetup.
A year ago, if someone had told me that I would speak at a conference, become a Microsoft MVP, and meet a bunch of people I look up to, I would not have believed them. But in 2016, all those things happened, and more! It was easily the best year I've had so far in my career.
Microsoft MVP
In January, Shaun Luttin messaged me out of the blue and offered to nominate me for a Microsoft MVP Award. That simple message was probably what started a chain of events that led to this amazing year.
Through some hard work and help from a few people, I received an MVP Award in Azure in July. The recognition and free stuff were great, but my favourite part about being an MVP so far has been the awesome people I've met and the friends I've made. I'm so honoured to be a part of this community.
Conferences
I used to go to conferences once every couple of years. In 2016, I went to 7!
- NDC London and PubConf
- Polyglot Unconference Vancouver
- DockerCon Seattle
- .NET Fringe Portland
- Seattle Code Camp
- BuildDirect Partner Summit
- Microsoft Global MVP Summit
Speaking
I had presented a couple of times prior to 2016. This changed in a big way in 2016 when I gave 6 talks.
- ASP.NET Core (with Shaun Luttin) - .NET User Group BC
- Deploying .NET Core to App Service - Vancouver Azure
- Build a Bot in 30 Minutes - Polyglot Unconference Vancouver
- Social Media for Tech Professionals - Vancouver Technology User Group
- Docker All the Things - ASP.NET 4.x and Windows Containers - .NET Fringe Portland
- Docker All the Things - ASP.NET 4.x and Windows Containers - Seattle Code Camp
Speaking is a great way to learn new things, share knowledge, and meet people. Sometimes, it's also a chance to attend conferences for free. It's hard work but I hope to do it again in 2017.
Blogging
I wrote 28 blog posts in 2016. Many hours go into each blog post; but I really enjoy writing them. And I'm really surpised how many people I run into at user groups and conferences who recognize me because of an article I wrote.
Page views on my blog also went up 60% in 2016. That's going to be tough to beat in 2017.
Hackathons
I did a few hackathons this year, some as a participant and some as a mentor. I really enjoy going to them. I hope there'll be more opportunities to hack in 2017.
Channel 9 Videos
Having videos on Channel 9 is also another thing I'd never thought I'd do. Thanks to the MVP Program and my buddy Shaun Luttin, we have 3 videos on Channel 9!
- Getting Started with Azure Search
- Vim with Visual Studio Code
- Build a chat bot with Azure Bot Service
User Groups and Meetups
I went to a lot of user groups and meetups in 2016. It's a lot of fun. I'm also happy to be one of the organizers of the Vancouver Azure Meetup.