3 Goals for 09

I thought about recapping last year... but that seems redundant and trite. Its all here. Just start at the first post and work your way up. :)

I think what is more important and interesting is what I am striving for in 09. I have many things buzzing around in my head that I would like to achieve. Many of these things are somewhat vague and hard to measure, such as develop and grow as a leader as the basement grows. And although these types of goals are good and important, I want to focus this post on three goals that are easy to quantify, will make a large impact on my life, and will make a large impact on this blog.

1. Start a Flash Platform Users Group in Indianapolis. The online community for Flash is fantastic, but Indianapolis is currently lacking a local/personal community of its own. I would love to be able to sit down with other developers and share our ideas/experiences. We've been planning this for awhile and have an exploratory meeting coming up. I'm really hoping it takes off and brings some developers out of the woodwork... I know they are out there hiding somewhere. If you are in the area and are interested in participating, dropping by, or even speaking... please feel free to send me a message. mark [at] thebasement [dot] tv

2. I would love to give teaching a shot. During the Fall of 09 I hope I get a chance at an adjunct position. This goal will be tough because it will be mostly determined by others' decisions. However, I will do whatever I can to put myself in a position that will offer students something of value. And if I do in fact get a position, then that adds a second part of this goal: to help students find their passion while giving them the tools to reach it. OK OK, sounds cheesy. But seriously, I want to show people how fun and rewarding interactive media can be and at the same time I want to help them understand how to get their foot in the door and how to complete work the right way, in a manner that matches the real world. Sure, I realize this paragraph probably makes me sound extremely green, and maybe I am. But I feel as though I need to give it a shot. And I feel as though it would help me grow as a developer/leader and could also be extremely rewarding.

3. Expand my developer knowledge outside of Flash. Obviously I want to continue developing and growing within Flash as well, especially with projects such as the Side Scroller Engine. That is a given for any Flash developer and shouldn't need to be said. But I also would like to venture outside of my bubble and comfort zone. I would like to write some Expression scripts for After Effects. I would like to read a book on game development in another language (probably C) and if it goes well I may want to pick up C and test my luck on something like Unity3D. I feel this will be important to help keep me fresh and flexible. It should also make me a better developer and more valuable asset to the Basement team.

So those are the big three. I feel pretty good about them. I will need some help to get them done, but I have confidence that they can and will happen.