<stretch> What a great month! I learned so much. =)

From last month:

• Sort out my paperwork: Almost there. I just need an updated reference letter from my manager. Hooray!
• Finish this phase of Transition2: About to release today!
• Further integrate virtual assistance into my processes: See below!

We’ve made a lot of progress at work on a new release of our website, which will be deployed today. Along the way, I learned a lot about Drupal, and I shared our lessons learned at DrupalCon 2009 in DC.

• 25 Tips for Totally Rocking Your Drupal Development Environment: pre-session notes
• Haciendo que tu entorno de desarrollo de Drupal rocks (Spanish version of 25 Tips)
  
• DrupalCon 2009 Recap
• DrupalCon Day 1: Notes and Links from March 4, 2009
• Drupal tip: Test mail sending with Devel
• Drupal gotchas: Watch out for $user during update.php
• Drupal gotchas: Watch out for Views dependencies
• Drupal gotchas: Never ever ever use anything less than module AND delta to specify blocks
• Drupal in the Trenches: Fighting with Views

I shared some tips and thoughts on public speaking and virtual conferences, which are becoming more popular at work:

• Quick tips for making the most of Sametime Unyte
• Virtual conferences change the game
• Improving my talk management process
• Making a name for yourself: thinking out loud about my talk
• Want to grow as a speaker? Look for inspiration!

Other geeky things: I shared my library reminder script. Gabriel Mansour’s ported it to Ruby, which is probably much more readable. I learned how to make directed graphs with Graphviz, too.

I also started delegating lots of tasks to virtual assistants, and that’s been interesting too. Here are some of my thoughts:

• Virtual assistance and a review of TimeSvr, ODesk
• Five reasons why I’m experimenting with outsourcing to virtual assistants
• Tips for managing virtual assistants
• Wake up calls
• Five favorite Firefox add-ons for virtual assistants
• Tasks I’ve tried delegating to TimeSvr so far

and I’ve documented some of my processes:

• Manage calendar with Timebridge or Tungle
• Manage Toronto Public Library books
• Make wake-up call

I’ve also shared two of the posts I asked my virtual assistants to put together for me:

• Passions, Strengths and Goals
• Advice to IT students: Learning to love what you might hate right now

(… and my blog has the #1 spot for the search “managing virtual assistants” on Google! Nifty.)

These experiments in delegation have prompted me to think about my own goals and see what else I can ask people to work on.

I’ve also been able to turn that energy to other people’s goals. I brainstormed ways I could help my parents’ business, even over a distance. I helped my parents learn more about ebooks and market research on the Net. I also created a Google Adwords campaign for my parents’ company. I like how I can do split testing on the ads, and Google will optimize the delivery over time. So far, 20 people have clicked through.

Thanks to the wake-up calls and to some schedule shuffling, I’ve been waking up early to write. It’s a great time to share what I’m thinking about or what I’m learning about life.

• How to do a lot
• Making the most of opportunities – tips for managing time, energy, and money
• Networking outside the firewall
• Making a name for yourself

I finally got the next LifeCampTO sorted out: LifeCampTO: April 5 (Sun), 10:30am – 1:00pm, LinuxCaffe, too!

Weekly reviews:

Week ending March 29, 2009
Week ending March 22, 2009
Week ending March 15, 2009
Week ending March 8, 2009

March had Ada Lovelace Day and Pi Day. =) Whee!

Plans for April 2009

• Virtual conferences and public speaking: I will put together two webinars and at least four blog posts about tips for public speaking, particularly for remote presentations. I think that would help make a difference at work.
• Bicycling: I will get more comfortable on my new bicycle so that I can easily run errands or ride my bike for fitness and enjoyment.
• Delegation: I will delegate more tasks and develop more processes.