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2012 – A year in review

Wow, what a fantastic year 2012 has been! So much has happened and so much has changed in just the last 365 days that I can barely believe it, and all for the better. A quick recap is in order, just so that I can reflect on all the many things that have transpired and affected me and my family for the better.

Information Overload and Email Overload

  • It was just one year ago that I came upon the idea of “fixing email” for my masters capstone project, and wrote my first post about it, “Email is broken and it’s time to fix it.” I launched head first into the fascinating world of information overload, email overload, technostress, user interface experiments, and so much more.
  • Interestingly, a few months later I wrote “Email is not broken, we are,” the most popular post on the blog that was carried to #3 on Hacker News and represents in a (very small) nutshell how my attitude toward email overload had changed.
  • I attended Overloaded 2012, a conference focused on information overload hosted by the Information Overload Resource Group, and met so many great and interesting people there, all engaged in trying to help solve this problem. This was a huge launching point for me and has resulted in so many great connections, ideas, and relationships.
  • In fact, I was very honored to be invited to participate on the steering committee of IORG, and am now helping to organize Overloaded 2013, set to take place February 9, 2013! It is going to be a banner conference, so come and attend!

Education

  • After five solid years I graduated with both my masters and bachelor degrees in Information Systems, from Brigham Young University. Absolutely fantastic program (ranked #8 nationally) that gave me a very good mix of both business and technical skills. The BYU IS program is incredibly unique among MIS programs in the United States because of it’s elevated expectations and very strong technical emphasis. I graduated with a business degree from a top B-school, and also have technical skills higher than many, if not most, other IS graduates, and on par even with some CS students.
  • Was in the top 10% of my class, and selected as the Outstanding Student of the masters program by the faculty. The credit, however, does not go to me—it goes to the professors who offered me exceptional opportunities and took special interest in helping me develop my talents and passions. It also goes to my God, who has given me everything, and to my wife, who was so amazingly supportive.
  • Was able to participate in the planning and first stages of execution of a research project examining behavioral adjustments when justification is required. This was a very neat opportunity for me to put the skills I had learned taking pre-Ph.D. courses to work, and furthered my desire to eventually pursue doctoral work.

Personal Life and Career

  • Our little boy went from barely being able to roll over on his stomach to a little guy who is running left and right in our house, only ever sits still for three seconds at a time, and has a speaking vocabulary that is expanding past 20 words! Holy cow! Carson, what an amazing 16 months it has been, watching you learn and grow.
  • We are now expecting our second, a little girl, and we are so excited. I have no idea how to raise a little girl, and it scares me, but I’m going to do my best and love her so much.
  • Started a great job as a technology consultant with Pariveda Solutions. It is amazing to be able to work with creme of the crop people every day, people who are smart but also care about helping out anyone in the firm who may need a hand. It is rare to find so many people of this sort all in one organization.
  • Moved to Denver, had a great time, and now moving on to Houston. Wow, two major moves in less than a year, crazy! But all for the best, and great opportunities.
  • Got to see my wife’s blog, The Game Gal, grow steadily over the year, and have her very first 10,000+ visitor day on the last day, New Years Eve. It is very interesting to see the people that she is able to help through her blog, especially ESL teachers and students, and those working with children. She has such great content, and she does all the art herself, I am so proud of her!
  • I set a goal/New Years resolution last January 1st that I would read my scriptures every single day in 2012—and I did. Some days it was literally only a couple of verses, but many days it was a much deep and profound study session, and I gained so much from it. This has been wonderful, and I am continuing this in 2013.

And that is only a smattering of the incredible things that have happened in this past year. How blessed and lucky I am! I only hope that I can take all of these great experiences and use them to help out others as well, whether it be my own family or strangers on the Internet.

2012 was fantastic, and I am so excited about 2013. I already have a post formulating in my mind of what I want to accomplish in this coming year, and I will post that tomorrow. But needless to say, you only go faster and farther when you try harder and stronger. There is no plateauing in life, only forward or backward progress. May we all make forward progress in 2013, and may it be a wonderful year for everyone.

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One Comment

  1. Lisa Bingham Lisa Bingham

    Dear cousin—you make me proud to be connected to you, and I just thought it fair to warn you that I am now going to throw your name around at parties and gatherings like salt water taffy at a parade. Love you~

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