Rix Bits

Well, we’ve closed the books on 2010. :)  As I reflected back, I thought it would be nice to look at all the kool geek stuff I’ve been able to be a part of this year.  2010 marks the beginning of my journey into full-time SharePoint consulting, but there were also some other memorable techie moments as well.  Let’s see….

SharePoint: In 2010 I decided to do all SharePoint, all day, all night. :)  And it seems like that was a great decision.  SharePoint has been fun, and I’ve been able to help several clients maximize their SharePoint investment this year by doing things like building document management solutions, integrating line-of-business data through the Business Data Catalog and the Business Connectivity Services, automating business processes using InfoPath and Nintex Workflow, and leading SharePoint Health Check sessions.  All that, plus I was able to do some public speaking and still keep up on watching Seinfeld re-runs. (Happy Festivus, by the way)  :)  I’m expecting big things in the SharePoint space in 2011.  Not to mention I’ve got 2 speaking engagements coming up in 1st quarter – more on that later.

High School Computer Competition: This year provided me some great opportunity to volunteer by leading the web app development instruction for this year’s BDPA HSCC program.  The team did great, and I’m looking forward to us doing even better in 2011.  Thanx to BDPA Columbus for giving netbooks to each of our student team participants, and thanx to Microsoft for giving them Xbox games.

Moofing tech: What do you mean “what the heck is moofing?” Didn’t you read my post about being ‘mobile out of office’?  :)  Well, in 2010 I enjoyed some great tech that helped me with my moofing.  I started the year out as a Windows Mobile fanatic with the Touch Pro 2.  I waited patiently for Windows Phone 7 to get to me this year, only to be disappointed.  So I’ve gone Evo 4G for the moment (and I’m not too mad about it either – great phone).  I also started the year off with an HP 2710p convertible tablet PC.  I ended this year by ordering the HP Slate 500, and although I won’t receive it until this month, I still consider it a 2010 tool.  Top that off with the Xbox Kinect and the Nook Color (okay, I got that one for my wife, but still…), and you’ll have to agree that 2010 had some nice gadgets in it.

Social Media: Although I started messing around with social media in 2009, 2010 was the year that I, and social media in general, took it to the next level. I was very active in Facebook/Twitter/Linkedin this year, and was even able to speak on the topic publicly a few times.  All of these tools had some pretty major updates this year – no telling what we can expect in 2011.

So what geeky topics am I keeping my eye on in 2011?  On the fun side, I think the Xbox Kinect will smash the competition this year once more games and practical applications start to surface.  On the business end, I think cloud computing and software-as-a-service will finally get some very serious attention in 2011 – this might be the year that the whole game changes. ;)  I’m also anxious to see what the entrance of new PC-based tablets into the market does for the enterprise – hopefully business will see the greater business value in tablet PC’s (eg Slate 500) over tablet appliances (eg iPad).

I’ll check back with you in 2012 to see if my predictions are correct.  Until then, Merry New Year!