My 2013
My 2013 has been another big year. Oskar and I moved down to Brighton to live with Aral, I spoke at 13 events in 3 countries and worked with 13 clients on 20 projects. 2013 was the year of the podcast and I was a guest on 12 podcasts, most frequently with the lovely Andy Clarke on Unfinished Business. I also started writing a lot more, and now have my own column on A List Apart.
Like last year, I thought it would be fun to sum up my year in pictures. Looking back through my collection of photos, I’ve done so much that I’d forgotten half of it! But these are some of the best bits…
Oskar had a great start to the winter in the snow.
In March I spoke at Responsive Day Out. Probably the most nervous I’ve ever been…
I went to see Skunk Anansie with my sister, Nini. It was the best gig I’ve experienced.
Every year it’s harder to get all the family in one room, but whenever we do, it’s like this…
We went to Faenza in Italy for the excellent Kerning conference and ended up on an impromptu day trip to Venice with our new friend Nina
I moved to Brighton, and moved in with this nice man.
While Oskar loves Brighton, he wasn’t so impressed by the salty taste of the sea.
Winning the .net award for Brilliant Newcomer. That was pretty amazing.
I started Web Talk Dog Walk, a fortnightly dog walk for locals wanting to chat about the web in the great outdoors.
Then winning the Critter award for Next Big Thing just a couple of weeks later made me totally giddy.
We had a lovely holiday in the very hot North Cyprus
Oskar got big enough for cuddles to be like this…
I gave my first solo workshop in Barnsley to these lovely people
I sprained my ankle again and broke my toe a week later. I’m hoping this doesn’t become a yearly occurance…
I managed to convince the whole family to wear matching jumpers at Christmas…
Following goals for 2013
1. Keep saying yes to things that scare me
The amount of events I did this year was hard to manage; I was so excited at people asking me to speak at events, I said yes to too many. So 2014 will have to be a year of saying “maybe”!
2. Get a better balance of more client work and be more fussy about the conferences I attend (19 events in one year is too many!)
I was very fussy about what I attended, only going to the few events I really wanted to be at (and missing out on a few too…) My balance on client work was much better, and I had a more consistent year financially.
3. Be more efficient with my time
Must try harder in 2014…
Goals for 2014
Until I looked back over these photos, I’d not noticed how solitary 2012 was (there’s not so many people in last year’s photos!) And I want to make next year more sociable still:
- Collaborate more.
- Be more selective, say no more often.
- Challenge myself physically in a new way.
The third goal is because I missed the build-up and fun of the Spartan race last year. This year I want to try something completely different. It might be returning to ballet. Might be.