As is tradition, I’m starting off 2021 with my 2020 year in review blog post and it’s been fun looking back at the one I wrote last year, in particular my closing remark:
Hope to see you around some events!
Oh how things changed.
My original start to 2020 was looking like a lot of travel, but after our team on-site in Seattle and a ski trip to Japan in the start of March, that was it. I, like most of the world, was grounded and started transitioning to more online content.
Blogging
Blogging featured heavily in 2020, my goal was to keep around a post-per-week cadence, and I hit close to that with 50 posts across the year (slightly down from the 58 the previous year), with a main series on GraphQL and Azure and more broadly a lot of my content focused on Azure Static Web Apps which went into preview and GitHub Actions, which I’ve been using a lot (and not just because it ties into Static Web Apps).
Presenting Online
With in-person events on hold, many communities looked to online as an option. I covered topics like getting started with Docker, using Blazor with Static Web Apps and TypeScript + GraphQL + GitHub Codespaces.
I even looked at how to interact with an audience through PowerPoint automation, something that I’m hoping to explore more this year as we continue with virtual presentations.
And I shared my learnings with running a virtual workshop and my observations with virtual events.
That said, I did do an in-person talk, which was going well until the power went out!
Streaming
Like nearly everyone I know, 2020 was the year I started streaming on Twitch. My streaming was a bit haphazard, tackling a few different projects and not completing them (hey, always time to start a new side project!). You can catch all the random streams I’ve done on YouTube, or the specific projects such as building a video calling app, building a timezone app or converting an ASP.NET Core app to Serverless.
Looking Forward
It’s tough to really think what 2021 will bring, with the uncertainty around COVID, and the broader economic impacts of it.
I’m going to keep working on how to do online content effectively, shortly I’ll start sharing what I’ve learnt with the myriad of tools. Expect to see me around at online communities and events, while they might not be the same as in-person, there’s a lot of value that they can bring.
Additionally, this year I’m embarking on an ambitious project with my wife, we’re rebuilding our house. So expect to see some posts on here about the technical aspects I’m looking to tackle, from the networking infrastructure to home automation, and how to tackle it in a brand new house.
And with that, stay safe, stay distant and stay masked up.