@everyone “What I Do”

@everyone is an ongoing question and answer series of questions I get from people in the world of technology. For other series from LinkedIn Lynda.com authors, search for the hashtag #FromTheInbox

Greetings! I get questions from time to time that I felt would be good information to share with everyone, so I’m going to get started with probably the most basic question:

Q: What do you do?

A: Great question!

I have heard this multiple times (mostly from my mother) and I decided it makes sense to actually make something tangible that represents the four corners of my day-to-day life. So I made this chart which is a snapshot of everything I do:

I Teach

I love teaching. I have done it for many years and with technology changing all the time, it is exciting to be someone that can help people learn new skills and adapt their existing ones. For the most part, the teaching I do is via videos on LinkedIn and Lynda.com. I also planning on posting materials on SlideShare, my blog and in my various social media accounts.

I cover a variety of topics, but they generally are all technology focused. Currently, my focus is on general computer science principles and materials to help people learn to code. I also will focus on helping beginners create their first mobile development app for multiple platforms including Windows 10, iOS and Android. I like working with C# and hope to cover more information to help people learn to code with it, since it is valuable in many different platforms, including Windows 10, Unity, and to build iOS and Android apps using Xamarin. Finally, I will be covering basic product management topics as well, based on my experience as a former software product manager in the Bay Area.

I Create

In addition to teaching, I like to create other types of content and helpful materials in formats other than online video. These will mostly be shared on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, but I’ll also be answering questions on Quora, and I hope to have a print project sometime this year, mostly as a passion product. (I love newspaper layout design…hint hint)

I have a few photo series current running, the first is “10 out of 10: Windows 10 Tips” which focuses on helpful tips I come across with Windows 10. Next is “Doug’s Pencil” where I take quotes I have heard throughout my career or random thoughts that bubble up in my head, jot them down in my notebook, and share with others. The third is “CQYAATA: Coding Questions You Are Afraid To Ask”. These are questions that I have heard from students in the past, that they were a little shy about asking, but once they knew the answer, it helped them immensely. Hopefully you’ll have some questions I can answer as well! I also have launched a new podcast called “Ones, Zeros, and Pixels” with Justin Seeley, or as we call it, “OZP”. This is a general technology podcast that is related to our training and community work, and we share cool tips and techniques we have found and hope they are valuable to you.

In addition, I’ll be focusing a lot of time on helping people get started and navigate working in a technology career, either starting out as an individual, or for existing professionals that work in the enterprise. This also includes helpful information of managers that have a technology-oriented staffs.

Finally, I have “new code;” which is somewhat of a project in incubation, and I hope to have more to talk about soon.

I Build

This is a rediscovered joy in my life that I’m really excited about. In the last few years, it has been difficult to work on coding, UX, and programming projects. I now have a bunch that I’m actively working on and hope to release throughout the year. They are generally all mobile apps that are helpful learning tools for topics that I teach about, as well as games and productivity apps. But most importantly, I love to give myself time to tinker, and while they might never show up as released projects, I hope that I can share them in some way.

The apps I’ll be working on will be for a number of different platforms including Windows 10, iOS, and Android. I’ll be making some of them native, or with cross-platform tools like Unity and Xamarin.

I Live

Finally, there is my life, which I am happy to say I am able to make time for to keep me going throughout the year. I have lived in San Francisco and the Bay Area for over fifteen years, and I regularly get away from the bustle of Silicon Valley with trips up to Sonoma County along the Russian River. In addition to my wonderful husband, our two cats, and a supportive family, I have a bunch of other interests that I am very passionate about as well.

I have always wanted to be a healthy and fit person, and it is something I have wrestled with all my life, but it is also something that gives me a lot of fulfillment and happiness. I workout regularly, and I try to lead a pretty active life to combat the extensive sitting I do in the other areas of my day. In addition to weightlifting, I am learning to play hockey and ice skate, occasionally planning a scrimmage game here and there. I am also very passionate about lacrosse, and love watching and playing (when I can).

My interest in hockey all goes back to when I was a little kid. My family were always hockey fans, and growing up in southern New Jersey made me a diehard Philadelphia Flyers fan. As I have gotten older, a friend also got me really excited about the Vancouver Canucks, so I root for both of them. There are a couple of other teams I follow as well, but these two take the top spots.

Finally, I love games. I have a regular game night with my friends and we play a variety of board and card games, and I play Xbox and PC games on a regular basis. Since I was a kid, I have collected old computer games, and I have a large collection of games I have played over the years going back to the early 1980s. I also collect other old software that I was excited about, used heavily, and generally keep as a reminder of how technology has changed, and that even old ideas can find new life in different ways. I used to be a big OS/2 fan back in the day.

Wrap It Up

I try to keep things balanced and while I also, like everyone else, can get bogged down in things that can take away my focus and my momentum, these are all things that I do throughout the week. I feel pretty lucky, and am excited that I’m able to share what I do with so many people.