I find myself on this new years eve (after digging out from 10 inches of snow) reflecting back on all that has happened this year. Checking in with the old Google analytics website, this year I ranked in over 18,000 visits to my website. That might not seem like much, but that’s a 3x growth over last year and I want to thank all of my readers for being a part of it!
I think I’ve really started to find my voice for Thulin’ Around and have started to make it my own. I’ve been leveraging the blog as I can in my role in EMC’s VNX support lab. This would probably explain why my #1 post is still my LDAP post from 2011 (which was revisited in 2012 with a new post for the latest VNX software).
My employer also recognized what I do for the VNX community with my blog and listed me as part of their social media blogging core and I am honored to be in such great company as Chad Sakac and Jeramiah Dooley.
Towards the end of the year, EMC launched a brand advocacy rewards program called EMC Elect and I was very happy to be nominated by my readers. Having a great friend like Matthew Brender, I was able to see all that goes in to building out a project of this magnitude and I have a new found respect for the effort that is required behind the scenes. The founding members that were selected are a great group of individuals and I believe they represent the principles and values that should be recognized as part of EMC Elect.
2012 was also a great year for shows and user groups for me. I was able to travel to EMC World 2012 as part of the Ask the Expert program. At these events, I was able to demonstrate another passion of mine, Photography. I published 170 photos from EMC World 2012 and as more events rolled through, I continued to refine my technique and you can see a real difference in my photos from the EMC Forum Boston 2012.
Looking forward to 2013
So what does 2013 have in store for me? Well I’m starting the year off with a long trip to Seattle, Washington. There I will be assisting the Isilon support team transition over to the EMC Support tools and processes. If you are in the Seattle area, lets meet up! Just check my twitter feed to reach out to me.
I also expect to use social media more and more in my job role. Without going into to much detail, I want to say that there is plenty going on behind the scenes to help develop and flesh out a proactive support model as well as a reactive support model. Stay tuned to the @EMCSupport twitter account for more information and feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns about EMC products or your support experience.
I’m also looking forward to the results of EMC Elect nominations to see who was selected for 2013. Fingers crossed that I am chosen, but if not, I know that those who will be chosen are well deserving of the title.
I also hope to be attending more conferences and user group meetings. I am disappointed that I will miss the NEVMUG Winter Warmer, but there will be plenty more events in 2013 for me to join in on. I’ve already started planning some ideas EMC World 2013.
As always, I like to hear from my readers and followers. What did you like about 2012? Was there anything on my blog that you really liked / disliked? What are you looking forward to in 2013? Let me know in the comments and have a happy new year!