Bridging The Gap

This weekend I finally got the chance to fly to Temecula, California and meet/hang out with Aaron Irizarry and Garth Humbert. While out there I was able to attend the 2nd ever Collekt meetup and finally meet, in person, a few others I have been connecting with lately on tinychat. Getting to meet everyone in person really solidified my reasoning for starting Chat Creative. The desire these other creatives had to interact with one another was amazing, so much to the extent that our friend Nicho drove two hours to be there.

On top of all the great connections I made, I was able to find time to relax with Garth and his family. We took a trip down to Coronado Island by San Diego on Saturday afternoon. Getting to smell the ocean air and feel the cool breeze as we walked the beach was a real mind-clearer. To top it off, after the beach we went and visited Temecula Wine Country for a little wine tasting and dinner. Here are a few photos I took while down there. You can see more over on my flickr page.

Coronado Typography

Temecula Collekt Meetup

First time to eat In-N-Out

Thanks again to everyone that came out to the Collekt meetup. I am so pumped for what the future holds for Chat Creative, and all the connections we are making right now. This is just the beginning of a new generation of designers working with/for each other, not against.

Why Are We So Blessed

Alone he walked up the downward slope, while steel and rubber passed him by. Not that good american steel either, but more of the foreign japanese/german kind.

What makes me different from this man I thought. Why am I afforded the luxury of air conditioning and not he? Are there certain choices we make? Is it a personal decision he had already made?

Often I think that no one else pays close attention. To the sky the birds or any simple pleasure. I guess that's why I noticed him today, and asked myself why am I so blessed?

What's Going On

This past week has been crazy busy. The Chat Creative website finally went live yesterday, and now we have our Facebook Fan Page up and running as of today. I am so excited to have FUEL Brand Network on board with us, supporting us. I can't describe how big of a deal this is. Also, we are hooking up with Design Community Twitter Hours to work together on helping build the design community.

I am really grateful to Chris Wallace for his help and WordPress skills to help the Chat Creative site come together in such a short amount of time. Also a big amount of respect is due to Brad Colbow for his awesome illustration he did for me for the site. I have already promised these guys a beer or two. So now we just have to work out a time to meet up.

But above all I have to say how awesome my wife is. Her patience with me while I spent most of my free time working on the Chat Creative website is a blessing. I'm happy to have a wife who supports me and all my endeavors. Plus she plays roller derby, so she's pretty much a bad ass. If you're not already doing so, follow her on twitter @Sweet_Baby_Jane.

Thank you guys for all your support with Chat Creative.

Wordcamp Dallas Day 01

The day started off with my alarm at 6 am. After meeting up with my brosephs Charles and Caleb at Starbucks we set off to the UTD campus for some early registration, an hour early to be precise. But I wanted to make sure we got great seats. Plus I was excited to meet some new people and hear from all the speakers.

Speaking of meeting new people, I had the pleasure of meeting Cali Lewis, from GeekBrief.tv. Cali started geekbrief.tv a few years ago with her husband to pursue her passion in new media. She was by far the best speaker at todays session. Her energy and passion for new media and building a community was very refreshing. Below are some of my notes over her presentation.

7 Rules for Building a Vibrant Community

What is it you want people to walk away from your blog with? Cali said that for geekbrief.tv it's a smile. I think for myself it would have to be a sense of belonging or that you learn something.

Rule #1 - Know thyself... Know they Blog! * This can take a while and plenty of practice to know yourself and what you have to say. I kind of feel like I'm still getting there, but am gaining traction.

Rule #2 - Start compelling conversation! * This is what I'm doing with chatcreative.com by attempting to bridge the gap for the design community, one step closer. This is what people like Aaron Irizarry, David and Marc Perel and others are doing with their blogs and videos.

Rule #3 - Be an asset! * Add value. Start a conversation. This pretty much ties in with the previous rule.

Rule #4 - Make Friends Not Fans! * We don't want to talk "at" our community, but rather talk "with" our community. Take Gary Vaynerchuck as the perfect example. Cali talks about meeting new media stars who treat their community as fans vs. friends. We don't need to separate ourselves as "unique" and "special" but just as ourselves... ordinary people who make mistakes. And when we have a great group of "friends" then they are much more forgiving when we make a mistake.

Listen to your community doesn't mean we have to change what we're doing.

Rule #5 - Show Appreciation! * Cali really hits the nail on the head about being responsive and thankful to everyone who connects with us. Setting up google alerts is a great way you can watch what people are saying about you, and then respond.

Rule #6 - Take Breaks! * This is something that I believe in whole-heartedly. Taking time to step away from the computer and get some fresh air, or whatever, is essential to regain focus. Take today for example, if we didn't have breaks every hour I would've gone crazy. There is only so long I can sit in front of a computer before I feel disconnected and burned out on ideas.

Rule #7 - Always Be Upgrading! * We all have to start somewhere. Don't be afraid to make those first steps. But also, don't get stuck in a rut of doing the same thing over and over, especially if it isn't working. And remember, we can upgrade more than just our equipment. Think about your technique, whether in writing or designing or video blogging, and also the depth of your content. I always like to think there is room for improvement.

Some Last Words

I really enjoyed getting to meet some new people today and hear what they do. Among them were two really talented young men, 13 year-old Jackson Fall of livingdigitally.tv and 16 year-old Clay Griffiths who is working on a new theme called Headway. I was able to get a sneak peek at the theme on Friday night and have to say it's going to be a game changer for all other theme makers.

The first day of WordCamp Dallas 2009 ended on a high note at Sherlocks pub and grill with friends, both new and old, and a few beers. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow and hearing from Matt Mullenweg.

Seven Eight Nine

Without further ado I'm pleased to announce the first ever tinychat design panel. I've been working out the details over the last few weeks and finally got word back from everyone on the panel, so I decided now is the time to let you all know.

I'm really excited about this, as it's different from other "design chats" in that we will actually be live via tinychat and will be able to answer your questions.

However, this is the first time I've done something like this, so I'm not expecting it to go perfect. But that's what living is all about, getting our hands dirty and learning by experience. So over the next few weeks we will be working out the details and getting everything in order. As of right now I'm not sure where we will be hosting the site. My initial thought was to embed it on my site, but there's also talk about creating a new site branded just for this event. I really like the way Mashable has set up the lounge on their website.

I hope you will join us and get even more excited about it than we are. Joining myself on the panel will be:

Confirmed: Aaron Irizarry - thisisaaronslife.com Chad Engle - fuelyourapps.com Chris Spooner - blog.spoongraphics.co.uk David Perel - from-the-couch.com Graham Smith - imjustcreative.com

Tentative: Adelle Charles - fuelyourcreativity.com Liam McKay - wefunction.com

Please use the hashtag #TCDP when tweeting about this event.

Let's Be Honest

Today I wanted to let you guys know about the Dallas Wordcamp that will be going on next weekend (June 27 and June 28). Please register if you haven't already, there are going to be a ton of great door prizes and some great speakers. Matt Mullenweg will be speaking on Sunday afternoon about the state of WordPress as well as a Q&A session. I look forward to seeing everyone there.

Also I touch on an all too common subject... being honest. More importantly about not being afraid to voice our honest professional opinion. We don't have to be a jerk to say how we really feel, but if we never speak up no one will know. There's no such thing as a mind reader.

Managing my client relationships is something I'm learning right now. And I have to say that I haven't always been the best at it. It's easy for me to be laid back and wait for them to contact me instead of being more proactive. But the more independent work I get the more I see how important it is to stay in touch with my clients and make sure their needs are being met. Putting just a little bit of extra effort in can go a long ways.

Please forgive the camera shaking. I was holding it by hand and didn't realize how sensitive it was. I need to use a tripod next time.

Links Mentioned

Caleb White - Thanks for lending me the Flip Mino camera Dallas WordCamp - Register now before it's too late Garth Humbert - Looking forward to meeting this guy

Defending Your Offense

I am not a huge sports fan, but I love the spirit of camaraderie that is found in a team. It's the need to accomplish something greater than ourselves that drives us to work hard. But sometimes all we see is the negative side of our work, and that really stunts our growth as designers. So what do I mean by "defending your offense"?

1. Know your strengths, but more importantly your weaknesses.

This past weekend as I sat on the sidelines at my wife's roller derby game, I couldn't help but notice how poor their defense was against the other team. Now granted they were playing last years undefeated team, there were still major holes in their strategy. But I didn't connect the dots as to how this relates to us as designers until I watched Joel Beukelman's new video blog, equality for brand and logos alike.

If we are really strong at creating logos, graphics or websites (our offense) and are weak at getting feedback, networking or speaking to clients (defense), then we will almost always end up with just a good (not great) product. And isn't something worth doing, worth doing well? A good way to examine what your strengths and weaknesses are is to make a list for yourself. Here is an example of a list I made.

Defense Offense Strategy

Defense Rating Scale

I know for me it helps to put stuff like this down on paper so I can visualize what I need to work on. If I didn't do this I would just toss the information around in my brain until I became too tired of thinking about it that I would forget. But now I've accomplished two goals; 1. Get my thoughts on paper and 2. Clear up space in my head for more important matters.

2. We need to take the time to build a strategy for success.

Making a list, and actually going by it, will help build a solid foundation for our success. Remember that it's hard to know where we're going if we don't know how to get there. And while it may be difficult to admit our weaknesses, because I know we're all perfect, it will help us create a "game plan" as to how we can improve upon them.

But lists are just the beginning. Getting it down on paper shouldn't be the stopping point. We need to put our words in to action. And that is the best part about this whole thing, we will each have a different plan of action that is unique to our situation. For me, I landed my current job a year and a half ago with just a small amount of knowledge about the web mixed with a willingness to learn, and now I am able to create fully customizable websites in more than one language and style it all up with some sexy css. But this is just the beginning for me. I am by no means close to the top of my game. But I'm here, I'm working at it and I'm loving the challenge.

If you are doing something that isn't fulfilling you, start doing what you love. Do it whenever you can. Paint in the evenings. Wake up an hour early and write in a journal. Stop wishing you had your camera by your side, and take it with you everywhere you go. Just stop wishing you could do more, and actually do it. There is plenty of time in a day to be creative.

3. We need to embrace, and participate, in the community around us.

Social networking has really re-defined what it means to network. I know that may sound redundant, but we are no longer limited to our local design meetups (even though I highly encourage you to do so). The major players like Twitter and Facebook are at our disposal. We are only limited by our imagination as to how we use them.

Twitter adds a whole new depth-of-field that never really existed before. Even though we are limited by 140 characters, it forces us to refine our message and say what really matters. This opposed to other new networks like tumblr or posterous (which are great) that act more like micro-blogs, and then you might as well just post on your blog anyways. But before I get off on a huge tangent, Twitter (when used effectively) is able to expand your network faster than any other service.

But don't get caught up in the hype of trying to outperform everyone around you. There will always be those people who are smarter, faster and stronger. We need to focus on our strategy and play to our strengths... and weaknesses. I like to think of what the tortoise said, "Slow and steady wins the race".