I took up blogging at the suggestion of my friend Cory Doctorow when my job responsibilities had been whittled down to five minutes of actual work per day. What started as a way to break out of boredom turned out to be a life-changer: I made many new friends, got a couple of TV appearances, landed a couple of jobs, met my wife and even dodged a bullet. In this presentation, I'll regale you with stories about how I made my life better through blogging, share what I've learned over the past seven years and give you some tips and tricks that I've found useful. And yes, there will be prizes and a rock and roll accordion performance, too!

2. Internet Explorer 6,
Windows ME
and Comic Sans:
The Holy Trinity of the Web
Joey deVilla
Developer Evangelist
Microsoft Canada

3. Better Living
Through Blogging
Joey deVilla
Developer Evangelist
Microsoft Canada

5. Who am I?

18. ―Since it’s now
fashionable to
laugh at the
conservative
Academie
Francaise, I have
remained a rebel
by joining it.―
-- Jean Cocteau

19. The Take-Away

20. Outliers: The Story of Success
(Malcolm Gladwell)

21. How to Make Luck
(Marc Myers)

22. There is a formula for success

23. Ability alone is not enough

24. Effort alone is not enough

25. You need opportunities
along with ability and effort

26. You need ways to create opportunities

27. The Accordion

28. May 1, 1999 (daytime):
Queen’s Park Cutback Protest

30. May 1, 1999 (nighttime)
Sanctuary Vampire Sex Bar

34. November 30, 1999:
New York City

37. December 1999:
Chapters Online Holiday Party

38. ―I have no idea what you do, but I want to hire you!‖

45. ―The street finds
its own uses for things.‖
(William Gibson)

46. ―The intention of users has more impact
than the intention of the designers.‖
(Clay Shirky)

47. The accordion doesn’t scale

49. Blogging is Accordion 2.0

50. Blogging is Accordion 2.0

51. Blogging
is
Accordion 2.0

52. A Blogger is Born

63. ―The word blog
should be an acronym for
Best Listing On Google.―
(Will Pate)

64. ―Tools don’t get socially interesting
until they get technologically boring.‖
(Clay Shirky)

65. Friends

68. B-Harmony

69. ―Internet dating
is a web of
lies and obesity.―

76. Blogging Saves Lives

92. Work

93. Heather ―Dooce‖ Armstrong

97. 77% of recruiters surveyed say that
they use search engines
to check out job candidates.

98. 1 in 4 hiring managers say that
they use search engines
to research potential employees.

99. There may be have been up to
50 million proper-name searches
in 2006.

100. ―Over time, the lack of a Web presence
— particularly for IT professionals —
may well turn from a neutral to a negative.‖

101. ‖If someone came looking for
a senior-level job and had left no mark
on the Internet, I’d see that as a big
negative.―

102. Tucows
(July 2003 – November 2007)

103. ―The fact that he had a blog was
absolutely a factor.
His weblog really gave us insight
into how he was a great communicator,
how he has a gift for the gab,
his understanding of technology and
his writing talent.
It enabled me to drill deeper
and get a better look at the kind of person he is.‖

104. [Well-funded, badly run startup]
(November 2007 – March 2008)

107. b5media
(March 2008 – September 2008)

112. Microsoft
(October 2008 – ???)

114. Writing

115. 10,000 hours

117. Self

120. Exposure

126. Money

127. $132,994.97? Really?

129. Accordion Guy, April 2008 – April 2009
2.7 million hits, 2.1 million uniques

130. Global Nerdy, April 2008 – April 2009
1.4 million hits, 1.1 million uniques

131. How Much?

134. 4 jobs

135. 6 years of employment
at a decent to great
programmer’s salary

136. From laid off to
Sith Lord
in 3 weeks
during the econopocalypse

137. A call from
a New York
Book publisher

139. Where do you
find the time?

143. Consumer:
A gullet that lives at the end of
the distribution system’s
conveyor belt,
who gulps down products and
craps out cash.
(Jerry Michalski)

145. ―When you don’t create things,
you become defined by
your tastes rather than ability.
Your tastes only narrow and
exclude people. So create.‖
(why the lucky stiff)

148. Thank You

149. The Adventures of
Accordion Guy
in the 21st Century
joeydevilla.com
Global Nerdy
globalnerdy.com
Canadian Developer Connection
blogs.msdn.com/cdndevs
Contact me!
joey.devilla@microsoft.com / joey@joeydevilla.com