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Being Strategic With Social Media

Carl Setzer
facebook application icon

I’ve known people whose business is dependent completely upon a single platform. YouTube is a huge one, but I also see people 100% dependent on Instagram, TikTok, or even Facebook, for their business. I’ve been thinking a lot about that recently.

A friend of mine, due to the LastPass hack, lost access to his YouTube channel. Then there’s the drama over at Twitter, with people being banned from the platform on the whim of Mr. Musk, and I can continue. So, I hope you’ll understand that I highly recommend that you DO NOT rely 100% upon a single platform where you have no control.

Social media sites are great tools for connection, but they’re best for directing people to a website. One you own, you control. Encourage folks to subscribe to a newsletter, or the website. Then, by combining your website with blog posts and newsletters, and you have a very powerful tool to stay connected with your audience even if you’re blocked from a key social channel. Also, if you have a website connected to your social platforms, your audience has a way to find and reconnect with you if you lose access to YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, whatever.

I particularly like sites built on WordPress, as it’s extremely portable. Wix, Squarespace, and the like are tied to a single provider, too. With WordPress, I can port my website to another hosting company with relative ease (related: make sure you back up your files somewhere other than on the hosting platform).

Be strategic with your digital portfolio. Be prepared for various calamities, as well as for the eventual falling out of whatever must-use platform the people abandon next. Technologies evolve. Audiences evolve. Platforms evolve. Business sustainability requires you to be thoughtful and strategic.

Developing as a Developer

Carl Setzer
apple laptop notebook office

I’ve been continuing on with my “50 Projects In 50 Days” project. Since my last post, I’ve added 3 more:

Slowly but surely I’m growing my developer skills. I have realized that some of the video trainings move too quickly for me, but taking a moment to pause from time to time and process what I’ve done helps. I’ve also started reading Eloquent Javascript to get an alternative style of information absorption. Also, I ordered “Cracking the Coding Interview” today, as coding interviews are an area of anxiety for me (I know this is not an uncommon feeling amongst developers). These will be my foci for the next few weeks.

Now, beyond that: I’m still mapping that out. Do I want to deep dive into web development? I’m still not sure. While pursuing my ATA, I took classes in Cisco Networking and desktop support. I really enjoyed that and wonder if there might be opportunities to incorporate that into my career. Perhaps dev ops?

Data, database theory, and design were other key areas of my studies, plus, I really enjoyed them. SQL is SO cool! (Nerd acknowledgment). Another option I’m evaluating is Data Analytics. I would like to add Microsoft’s Power BI Data Analyst Associate certification this year as well.

I also studied Amazon Web Services, but just “got my feet wet” as the adage goes. I would like to go further with Cloud Systems, whether with AWS, Azure (I am a Microsoft Alum, after all, and live in Microsoft Land), or Google (I utilize Google extensively in my day-to-day work, seems like a logical fit). And, after watching several videos about 2023 IT Trends, cloud computing is one of the key growing areas in IT. Since I already have a little bit of training, diving deeper and getting some certifications sounds wise. AI and Machine Learning are things I want to, eventually, study, I am just not sure when.

Tiff In Tech’s look at Top IT Skills for 2023

So, that’s where I am as I map out my 2023 plans. What do you think? Any advice? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Happy New Year! I finished the Drag N Drop Project

Carl Setzer
person holding smartphone while using laptop

Well, Happy New Year everyone! Today, I completed another project in my 50 Projects In 50Days series. This one, Drag N Drop, grabs a random photo from Unsplash, then move it between different boxes. And I created effects styles for the different elements (drag over, etc) . A pretty neat feature/ability.

So, more this is another exploration into JavaScript, which is where most of the functionality of the project comes from. Though I’m not sure I want to be a coder, career-wise, I do want to get better. And I’m not sure how much more JavaScript I want to study. Perhaps I’ll dive into Python soon. It nothing else, it’s more data for my Github page.

On another note, my current contract has been extended to the end of January. Additionally, the plan is to make the role permanent after the next Congregational Meeting. However, it’s only part-time, so I am looking for a full-time gig somewhere. I’m open to a range of roles, from exec support/admin work to project management to web development. My main goal is to have a continuing education budget. Let me know if you hear of anything.

Another Project Complete!

Carl Setzer
apple laptop notebook office

I just finished, and uploaded, the “Theme Clock” project, part of my 50 Projects in 50 Days course. With this project, first we created an analog clock with ticking hands! That was pretty awesome. Also, we are able to switch from Light to Dark mode. A pretty popular feature right now. Everyone seems to love dark mode.

I had a few challenges with this one. First, getting the hands centered took me a few minutes. This was an issue with CSS. It also was challenging to get the date information to load correctly. That was due to some mis-typing in the JavaScript code.

I’m enjoying these projects. However, I’m still working on understanding code enough to be creative. Currently, I still need a LOT of coaching to get these complete. I realize that I need to grant myself some grace. Yes, my degree had a “lot” of coding, but it was pretty high level. My main focus was on design. For programming, over the past two years of my degree, we spent a quarter each on:

  • HTML
  • CSS
  • JavaScript
  • JQuery (a JavaScript library)
  • PHP
  • Visual Basic

Edmonds college had another web developer program with a more solid focus on coding. In that one, you covered a year a Java programming, but wouldn’t get to take any design courses. I’m sure there were other differences, but that was the main one. I was very deliberate in my choice: I wanted the design classes. It’s a long-standing interest and a passion of mine.

So, I’m left to wonder. How badly do I want to master coding? It’s really cool, and quite fun, but it seems like I have a lot of work to do in order to be able to think in code. And I’m not entirely sure how much more I want to learn. Currently, I’m working as a communications coordinator, where I’m spending time creating things like thumbnails, editing videos, creating posters, editing email newsletters, and updating websites (there are examples of my work in my portfolio). I have done that kind of work for years, and I find it fun and satisfying. I see web technologies to be a massively central part of communications type work going forward.

When I started on this journey of web development, I mainly pictured myself “building websites”. I mostly pictured static sites, blogs, things like the real estate sites I built. The past two years have opened my eyes to a lot of possibilities, though. Sifting through them all is challenging. But, really, it’s great to have a huge array of options.

Ah, Sweet Caroline!

Carl Setzer3 Comments

This morning this tweet dropped into my feed:

Neil Diamond Video

I grew up with Mr. Diamond’s music. My mother had many of his albums. I was saddened when he retired. So this video filled me with joy. It’s a bit sad, too, as I can see some of the impacts of Parkinsons. But, man, such grace and courage.

Oh, and here’s a link to the video on YouTube for those not engaged with Twitter, or in case the Twitter dumpster fire finally takes that site down.

The best time to visit New York is in December

Carl Setzer

A blogger I like an admire, Bernie Michalik, wrote this charming piece about New York City: “The best time to visit New York is in December. And other things NYC”.

I have a limited history with New York. Born in Rhode Island, I went to the City many times, apparently. But I haven’t been in New England since I was three. So, though my father insists otherwise, I don’t consider myself having experienced it. But I’ve long felt a connection, or at least an interest with the City. If not for family stories, then also from the many films centered there. There’s a charm, as well as an intensity of reputation, that I find compelling.

Eventually, I’d like to travel (back?) to New York. And, hopefully, I can visit in December.

Drink Water Project

Carl Setzer

Today’s “50 Projects In 50 Days” project: Drink Water. Always good advice, but that’s not what this is. This one lets the user click on the number of glasses of water one has consumed, and gives you back an animated graphic. You can check it out here.

After each project, I feel more confident with my coding. However, my questions grow. For instance, I wonder, though, how much more of vanilla web dev (html, css, javascript) I want to explore. Do I want to focus exclusively on web development? Or do I want to add the almighty Python to my list of languages? I’m unsure.

Additionally, I still see my super-power as a project manager/coordinator. As much as I’m enjoying coding, will that ever be the place I make the biggest impact? I’m unsure. Funny, in a way, that after all this web development work, recruiters till reach out to me regarding my executive assistant skill set. For a dying industry (exec support), I’m getting a LOT of interest in this skillset. Such is life, I guess. Keep growing, keep learning, see what comes.

Incrementing Counter: Another 50 Projects In 50 Days Project

Carl Setzer
Coding on a computer screen

You’ve seen these types of counters, ones that zip up to some total at some speed. Well, that’s what this project is. This is one that I can easily see a use case for. Also, it was a lot of fun.

An interesting realization: coding gives me energy. I was feeling rather worn and fatigued when I started this project. At the end, I felt invigorated. There’s some good learning here…just got to figure out what it means.

Animated Navigation Bar: 50 Projects in 50 Days

Carl Setzer2 Comments
person encoding in laptop

Today we created an animated navigation bar with (mostly) CSS. I easily see a use case for this one, which makes it that much more fun.

You click on the “x” or the double line (depending on the view you’re in) to change the animation.

Besides growing my developer skills, I’m considering what work I should/could do in the near term. It’s going to be a bit before I feel ready to do coding interviews, much feel ready to jump into a production environment. But that’s not the only thing I can do with all that I’ve learned over the past few years.

My studies have covered a pretty broad swath of technology. Besides the keys to web development (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript), we also looked at JQuery and PHP. Stretching beyond the rudiments, we went pretty deep into databases (theory as well as design), system analysis and design, and project management (amongst other things). Also, I added some courses in Cisco Networking (the internet is a network, right?), desktop support (one more class then I will have a certificate in desktop support), and system architecture. Combining this with my pre-ATA career, I think this sets me up to be a great system analyst. I understand the technical side of things, and what business leaders want/need. I will do an excellent job bridging the gap between “business” and IT. Thus, I’m leaning that way in my job search.

What do you think? Any guidance you have to offer me as I transition? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

The next project in my 50 projects in 50 days course

Carl Setzer
photo of people sitting near wooden table

Finished another one! Today’s project s titled “Random Choice Picker“. You enter choices in the text area, then press enter, and a random animation will change change colors. This one was a bit challenging, as I didn’t catch some of the automated choices that Visual Studio made for me. (I guess, properly, it’s the plug-ins that are out to get me, but I digress.)

A few weeks back I posted about some additional certificates that I applied for. Well, two of them are officially approved!

  • Database Theory & Design
  • Requirements Analysis

Still waiting for 5 others, but they’re coming, I’m sure. With that, I went ahead and did a few of the LinkedIn assessments:

  • Excel (top 15%)
  • PowerPoint (top 5%)
  • Outlook (top 30%)

I’m not sure if I’ll take any others. I’ll need to see if these really added any value.

Anyway, as I wrote last time, my current contract is quickly winding down. There is still talk about a possible extension, which would be nice considering all the layoffs in the news these past few days. However, I am not counting on anything until I have an offer in had. So, if you know of anyone looking for a business systems analyst, data analyst, web developer, or project manager/coordinator, please let me know!