One Year on at Kineo #yam

Today marks my one year anniversary with Kineo!  It’s been quite an amazing year and I felt this  milestone required a momentary pause in the madness to stop and reflect on all I’ve done and learned in the past year. 

Last May, I told you all that starting at Kineo was like having a corporate crush realized.  Well, the honeymoon is still on and I’m delighted to be a part of the Kineo team.

Some highlights of the year, in no particular order:

Instructional Design

As a personal mission, I’ve been reading lots of book this past year in my never-ending quest to get an informal Master’s Degree in Instructional Design.  Maybe one day I’ll get an honorary degree…

Range of Projects and Amazing Clients

I think it’s possible that I’ve worked on more different projects in the past year than combined for the previous ten.  OK – maybe that’s an overstatement.  But I’ve gotten to work on some exceptionally cool stuff for some really great clients– from educator sexual misconduct to behavior in the workplace for financial institutions to the structure of hair and how hair color products work.  (Have a question about getting your hair colored.  Ask away!)

Speaking Gigs & Online Webinars

This stuff really floats my boat.  I’ve presented at the eLearning Guild’s DevLearn and Learning Solutions Conference, presented an ELearning Guild Online Forum, and hosted numerous Kineo Insight and Design Hour website.  I’m honing my presentation skills every day and now aspire to be an eLearning Talk Show Host.  Connecting with people and sharing knowledge is the bomb.  Ask Ellen Wagner, who can tell you that I like to incorporate interpretive dance numbers in my sessions whenever possible.

Audio Interviews

I like chatting people up and feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to chat up some great people:  Tom Kulhman, Brent Schlenker, Karl Kapp, Will  Thalheimer and Ellen Wagner.  Who else should I be talking to? 

Writing

Although my blogging efforts have been a bit sporadic, I have continued to do a lot of writing – not just project work – but also articles and eLearning Top Tips for the Kineo website. 

Rapid eLearning!

Creating quality eLearning in a matter of weeks is indeed possible.  And I have lived to tell the tale!

New Tools

I now speak Articulate and Moodle (neither fluently, I must admit). 

Telecommuting

Working from a home office is da bomb.  I work in a detached shed, so I have a bit of separation from the madness of the small children who have free range – but then I get the frequent drop in to bring a smile to my face.  Not too long ago I saw a family of HUGE raccoons lumbering by.

Can’t beat the commute and I love that I can pick my kids up at the bus most days.

There are challenges, for sure, and I’m learning how to set better boundaries – including locking the door while on client calls or webinars. 

Fortunately, there are lots of great tools to support the virtual worker including Skype and Yammer.  And of course, where would I be without my Twitter community?

 People 

I feel so fortunate to work with such a great group of talented and creative eLearning professionals.  Not only have I started incorporating words like “mate” (as in, “Thanks, mate!”) and “keen” and “brilliant” – but I’ve also learned a lot about good  instructional design, tools, working with clients and managing large scale projects.

Many thinks to all of you at Kineo – US and UK colleagues included!

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I’m sure I’ve missed a few things of note.  I know I have loads of room for improvement, many areas about which I want to know more, and unknown challenges to come.  Bring it on!

Photo credits:

• One year on… by Mrs. Logic from Flickr
• The other one’s by me…