On this day in 2003, this blog was born.
It is hard to believe I made it from the experimental and unofficial start of this blog to the five year mark, but I did. It has been a result of many fellow deskers, customers, and bloggers providing great blog content and feedback, my employer being blog tolerant and open, and also trying to be diversified in topics from product tips to the tips or announcements to photography and even how to catch a piranha while I was blogging from deep in the Amazon Jungle of Brazil with my TabletPC.
There have been ups and downs, but all in all it is well worth it for me.
I have never really been a formal writer or punctuation expert but that's the point of a blog, it is a non edited and raw me. In five years things have changed so very much. I remember being the first CAD “blog” when the word blog brought stares and questions from people as blogging was not well known a few years back. Over the years blogging and RSS feeds has taken off with a vengeance from industry press to CAD users blogging from around the world about tips and tricks. Now you can read literally hundreds of CAD and engineering related blogs with great information.
My simple blog recipe to keep tens of thousands of unique blog readers a day:
- One part good information on Autodesk and Autodesk products
- Using my own words not highly edited print copy or press release speak. If mentioning a press release, ad your own opinion or view on it, not just copy paste and post as that is like a television channel with only commercials and people unsubscribe.
- This blog is not a covert tool or a sales or marketing delivery channel it remains true to the beginning goals of spreading information and tips and tricks.
- Pointing out and crediting other blogger's great posts and using trackbacks and not deep linking to their content
- One huge part off topic subjects to keep it mixed up and varied, never predictable.
- One huge portion of dedication as you cannot just turn of a blog while you are on vacation or sabbatical and must plan to post regularly else like a television channel people will turn off and unsubscribe to your fed.
- One part warped humor
- One part photos as they cross all languages and allow people to see other places through your eyes, even AU.
I follow about RSS 800 feeds now like a morning newspaper by scanning for ones I want to read as like a newspaper you normally do not read every story and I can do this in under 30 minutes instead of surfing web pages looking for new topics for hours. I even enjoy reading and learning from other CAD software vendors and users except when some companies try to use a blog as an easy to up web page PR delivery method which blogging is not. Blogging should be a conversation in your words and people responding in comments, and beneficial to both parties and last but not least fun as most of us do not get paid for blogging nor is it our job. Give a blogger a hug as most blog out of a of need to share knowledge and their take on things.
I am currently in Atlanta Georgia attending the IWF 08 show with Autodesk ISV and OEM partner Microvellum and presenting again today in booth 5013 at noon. I will finalize this blogs stats for the past five years when I get back to my home base this weekend as there is just too much data to mine from many sources of hits and RSS feed tracking as well as listing most popular posts and highlights like meeting Autodesk John Walker last year in Switzerland..
Please join me in celebrating the 5 year mark as some said it and blogging in general would not last 1 year. Please don’t forget to add you comments on what I should continue to do, stop doing or ideas on topics and things to do.
Madonna is now 50, but this blog is turning 5!!!
What do you get a blog for it’s birthday,well because I am in Georgia maybe a cold beer or sweet tea and a nice helping of pralines and a cup of boiled raw peanuts?
In celebration of the this blogs birthday I may drive down the freeway to a local swamp and anger a mother Alligator and sacrifice the infamous Matt Murphy Clay Head Sculpture, just kidding. Although the clay sculpture is looking pretty beat up from the world traveling and has now ben 3D scanned, I intend to get it to AU 2008 and besides imagine the damage to the poor alligator’s stomach that swallowed it. I have not been outside the Atlanta airport here in Georgia since a short stint at Fort Benning Georgia many many years ago. The only downside is the Hurricane / Tropical Storm Fay who has ben menacing South of here and expected to turn up partially into Georgia but hopefully after I depart tomorrow afternoon. I have always heard the sunsets near a hurricane are very beautiful and if so I will be out photographing them perhaps a drive down to the Southeast of Georgia area.
Going forward there are so many things I want to do like the localized language versions of this blogs by having guest bloggers translate my posts as well as post their own to spread the blog to far more readers. I am always looking for guest authors to post on topics readers of this blog would enjoy, so if you are interested, please email me.
Thank you everyone for reading and commenting as this is what keeps me doing this this blog.
Sincerely,
Shaan Hurley
