2018 is only a few hours old and it already feels different to me. Ignoring the fact that I am still sitting in my front room writing a blog post right before it is “due”, and ignoring the fact that this will be the first time in 5 years that I haven’t taken a two week vacation during the holiday break, things really do seem different.
This is the time of year when everybody is feeling good and full of positive energy … and most people are busy making their New Year’s resolutions. I am typically not a fan of making resolutions as I outlined 4 years ago in the post “Goals versus Resolutions“.
Goal: noun \ˈgōl\ : something that you are trying to do or achieve
Resolution: noun \ˌre-zə-ˈlü-shən\ : the act of finding an answer or solution to a conflict, problem
So are you ready for me to tell you what my non-resolutions will be for 2018? I think some fairly substantial things will be changing this year for me professionally and personally and if you read this blog with any regularity, some of these items will affect you. When I started this blog, it was a result of feeling that I was not changing with the times fast enough, that I had become settled in my ways and as a result, my intellectual development had stagnated. Guess what? I am feeling that way once again and if history tells me anything, I will do something about it.
My main goal for 2018 is to improve my knowledge of technology in general, but more specifically, how I can use technology to advance and better position my firm in the marketplace. We’ve already made the move towards implementing virtual reality into our design process, but that should just be the tip of the iceberg. I am about to start researching conventions and conferences, regardless of where they might be in the world, that I can attend so that I can learn anything and everything I can about the various sorts of technology that I could implement into my office and into my projects. If from your personal experience you know of any that you think would be beneficial to me, please let me know – I’d be grateful.
I have a few commercial projects that we’ve been working on which represent some wonderful design opportunities and I am looking forward to sharing them with you. I know that I haven’t done a very good job sharing “the journey” of late and I am trying to figure out ways to improve how I curate, prepare, and share information on this site. Case in point, I wrote and published 49 blog posts last year, which is the lowest total in 8 years. Here are post totals by year for comparison:
- 56 in 2016
- 65 in 2015
- 106 in 2014
- 123 in 2013
- 106 in 2012
- 159 in 2011, and
- 181 in 2010
Did you happen to notice the trend? In the beginning, I wrote about anything and everything. Some of those posts were terrible, but some of my favorite posts were written in the beginning. Blogging in those early days was a lot more fun than it is now – mostly because everything was an adventure since I didn’t know anything about what I was attempting to do, and that’s what I am going to try and recapture this year.
I will be in Orlando attending the NKBA Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS) as well as the NAHB International Builders Show (IBS) this January 8th to the 12th. If you are going to be there let me know – it’ll be another chance for me to say hello.
When I return from KBIS and IBS, almost immediately I’ll get on another plane and fly up to the cabin project we wrapped up last summer and finally get some professional photos taken. I’ve been keeping an eye on the weather forecast because it’s been in the -20° to -30° range lately and let’s be honest … I live in Texas and I simply don’t have clothes for standing around in the snow taking pictures. And speaking of taking pictures, that’s something else that has been weighing on my conscious a bit – the lack of professional photography for the projects that I’ve completed over the last few years. You might be surprised to hear this, but some of the people I work with do not want me to discuss their project on the blog. We’ve done some beautiful work and until we can take photos for the company website, as far as anyone is concerned, they don’t exist.
Finally, I will be doing a lot of traveling this year – some for work and some for pleasure. My travels will bring me to Ireland (all over the place) twice, France, Sweden, and just about every corner of the US (Washington, California, Florida, Wisconsin, New York). All of this travel will be in support of achieving my technology goals, lecturing, giving presentations, and taking what I will assume will be some much needed holiday time.
So there you go – a look ahead at my 2018. If there’s a chance, I’d like to hear from more of you here on the site. I typically hear that the comment section is the best part of these posts, and I’d tend to agree.
Here’s to a fruitful and productive 2018 for us all.
Cheers,
