web developer, usability, analytics

It is official, I have accepted the role as Flash Developer for World Vision Australia and will be moving to Melbourne in the first week of January!!! I am very excited for this new role, the challenges/opportunities that it represents, and the chance to get to work with a team of really talented people that I have heard so much about.

It is fun to look back at my (almost) 5 years at World Vision US and some of the projects I had the opportunity to be a part of:

• Being told by our Information Architect that I should investigate ‘this Atlassian wiki software thing’, championing its usage from only myself & a small group of people, into an enterprise wide application that many groups depend on.
• Our first foray into web services, championing them to various groups in the organization to show how powerful they could be. (Now they are working on even more services to build other cool stuff!)
• The battles with Lotus Notes Programming (LotusScript, FormulaLanguage) in my early years; working my way out of that to be a part of one of the coolest new teams at the Vision, creating awesome stuff with Flash.
• Getting introduced to agile project management and programming… seeing how much more effective that is than what we had been doing. (Including what I was taught in college! Can I have my money back!?)

This wont be my first time in Melbourne as I had the chance to visit in 2004 when I was taking some time off after college to travel around the world. I fell in love with the city as soon as I arrived. The culture, the tastes, and the laid back vibe that permeated the place was exactly what I was hoping to find when I went to Australia. I remember thinking/feeling that when I left, I wasnt really leaving and would get to come back some day. I am so excited that I get to come back and work for an organization who’s vision and mission I strongly believe in.

My younger brother has been finding various ways of making money on the internet over the past four years. He has tried forums, blogs, and product review sites. He knows a lot about SEO, web analytics, and what works/doesn’t online. He has achieved what many people desire to do and that is to quit his day job and work from home. I am so very proud of him and would encourage you to check out his website at make money on the internet. I value transparency and openness and so does my brother. He posts his earnings reports, goals, and case studies of what he has tried.

Whilst doing some spring cleaning, I came across my notes from a talk that Monty Hipp did for a church function I attended a few months ago. It is about the benefits of being in a relationship with God. He made some interesting points such as people sometimes not seeing the benefits of a relationship with God and that quite often people have a hard time sharing about God unless the person they are witnessing to has a big problem. Read more

I actually really like my job and have no cause to complain but I thought this was kinda funny. Probably says more about our jail system than it does about office life…

I don’t think this would actually ever happen but thought I would pass it along in case others could prove that it could happen.  savetheinternet!