Looking Back 2009

After couple clicks away, I was able to pull out the first blog entry of the year. Like I have suspected, it was about the new year's resolutions type of entry.

Beginning of 2009

My Goals in 2009 Was...
There were specifically 5 things I really wanted to accomplish or at least improve upon. They were...

• Writing skills . ( I think I have improved slightly by default)
  
• Speech ( I had more presentation opportunities, also I had chance to finish Presentation Zen in the beginning of the year)
  
• More real world practices with users - nope. not enough.
  
• Documentation skills - I still need to make sure that every work I produce need to be documented in a way that I can market my skills using the recorded document.
  
• Information Architecture - I have learned few tips here and there, yet, I need to finish learning Visio.
  

Looks like these are going to be my on going weaknesses.

Books I've Read
Because of the long distance relationship I am currently in, I spend at least 6 hrs on the road driving every other week. I have been reading audio book while I'm driving, and I think it is probably the smartest thing I have done in years. What are some of the books I have read this year?

• Presentation Zen
  
• Tipping Point
• Blink
• In Search of the Obvious
• Made to Stick
• Never Eat Alone
• Strategic Intuition
  
• A Whole New Mind
• Yes!
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
• The Dip
• On Intelligence
  
• The Ten Faces of Innovation
• Tuned In
• Hey Whipple! Squeeze This
• Advertising Age
• Communication Theory
• What I meant to say
• Web Form Design

That's lotta books.... but like someone said, "To learn and not to do, is not learning. To do and not to learn, is not doing." I have read so many books yet I have not produced much content nor practices of my own. I am not a scholar, I am more of a practitioner... I need to remember that.

School

• I started well with 3 A's, but I ended this semester with B+ and B and I am not happy with it at all. I should have continued my steak...
• I got into creative sequence, and also advanced to portfolio
  

Work

• I am finally in charge of planning and executing interactive marketing for FGSQUARED
• UX process are documented and it has now become a solid part of FGSQUARED's Services
• $20.09 campaign was successful from PR perspective

Final Grade for Year 2009
I still have 13 more days to go and there are still couple things I would like to add on this list. I hope to get Google Analytics Certification by the end of the year and finish reading another book by then. I am also in the process of starting Student UX Group, so let's see what happens ... but just to give myself a grade, it would be....

B -

Let's kick butt the rest of 13 days to move up to B! Share