A yes the rumors are true… a few of you have asked me if I was indeed on the hunt for a new fulltime position and the short answer is a yes. Creating and running the P2L network has been the single most rewarding experience in my life and I have made so many friends, learned so many new things and have expanded my web and project management experience beyond anything I could have expected. But lately things have been a bit stale for me and I yearn for to be challenged again, to be learning from industry professionals and mentoring those that can learn from me, and to be surrounded by other professionals in their field and work in a team that humms in perfect harmony. Working from home is an amazing experience, filled with some fairly obvious advantages… but it’s also hidden with a load of disadvantages that one may not realize exist until you’ve run a few miles on your own. I’ve been working autonomously now for 6 years, and I have to admit.. it’s damn well lonely. There’s no water cooler banter, no lunchtime chit chat about the latest industry fads, no personal collaboration between co-workers, and basically no face to face interaction aside from the occasional FedEx guy dropping off a box of product for a review or something.

Granted I have a ton of friends on MSN and chat daily with Adam and Nick regarding various projects, but anyone in my shoes can tell you it’s just not the same.

I also feel I’ve hit a plateau in terms of learning new trends and technology and the job has become rather tedious and repetitive and has been for a couple of years.  Sure I can read a book or an online tutorial to learn some new goodies, which I do, but it’s nowhere near the same as practical experience and on-the-job training.  There’s a whole new level of excitement and challenge that comes with HAVING to learn something in the next 24 hours to get that mission critical objective completed that simply can’t be replaced by leisurely flipping through a magazine sitting at my desk in shorts with the only deadline on my mind is when I should start cooking up dinner.

I’m also challenged in my job as I have a HUGE range of experience in so many levels of IT and web development that I have no actual specialization, and that apparently is what most companies are looking for.  I can manage a 20 person helpdesk as effectively as I can sit down and design a web layout.  You can throw me in front of a crowd of 500 people and I’ll confidently and comforably sell a piece of proprietary miracle making hardware just as easily as I can build a server room, wiring and all, from scratch.  In fact I could completely renovate pretty much any room in the building, including installing some spiffy new ceramic in the washroom!  I’ve installed traffic counting systems and POS hardware in retail stores of all sizes across North America, managed install teams and have been coordinating programmers and graphic artists in web related project management roles for years.  I also love photography and have built massive posters and banners for trade show booths, right now from taking the product photography and doing all the post editing to managing the printing of said pieces.  I guess this makes me a jack of all trades… but as my old boss used to tell me, ace of all!  Heck I even have modeling experience, how many IT managers have THAT on their resume or CV?

But truly my passion lies in web technology, social media and online community development… it’s a blast and ever-changing.  I myself have been really looking at SEO, analytics, social media development and other trends in my personal time and I find it absolutely fascinating.  These are all things I would LOVE to bring in to play at P2L however my inability to code really cuts the legs out from under me.  In fact I am hoping that once I find fulltime employment that I can take some part-time programming courses in PHP, HTML, CSS and Javascript.  I simply no longer have the funds to hire developers for the amount of time I need to get my conceived projects from the back burner to the loading dock.  Now obviously this doesn’t mean P2L will crash and burn to the ground but it’s direction and mission will certainly change in the near future.  Even now plans are being made that will completely change pixel2life.com as we look at changing it’s format and moving the entire tutorial index to a new domain.  Of course whether that ever comes to fruitition is a whole different story, but man if I could snap my fingers and make it happen, oh mamma would it be cool!

2010 was a HUGE year of personal change for me as you probably know.. divorce, new house (well, new OLD house), financial ouchies and an amazing new relationship with someone I could only DREAM existed.  Looks like 2011 is going to be a year of professional change and growth.  It’s safe to say I’m a tad nervous and scared, but the overwhelming feeling is pure excitement and confidence as I look ahead to what will only be success.  It reminds me when I was younger and played league sports…  you arrived on the field and start to warm up with your teammates.  Your heart is driving a million miles a minute as the wind blows through your helmet.. your pads and buckles creak with every movement as you stretch and drive blood in to your muscles.  You dig your cleats in to the springy turf as you tilt your head back and forth, cracking your neck and eyeing the opposing team and smile to yourself knowing that only victory is coming.  It’s not arrogance, it’s positive thinking… you know this is your moment, this is your day and forever will the world be open to you and anyone else willing to strive through life filled with confidence in one’s self and the determination to always better yourself and those around you.  Bring forth the challenges, I look forward to change and I welcome the unknown!

So my dear friends, wish me luck as I wish nothing but success and fortitude on all of you, and as always, thank you so much for all your kindness and support over the years for everything I’ve ever done.

All the best!
Dan