2017 Blogging Highlights

Another year has flown by and it is nearly 2018. Time to look back at 2017 from a bloggy/social media (not just CAD blog) perspective:

Best social media related event(s):

First has to be Autodesk University 2017. Great to catch up with lots of friends at the first AU I’ve been to since 2011. In addition to that there were some significant announcements and lots of learning. I have more blog posts to write about the event itself, and related travels to Seattle & Hawaii.

Another highlight was meeting, if not quite managing to ride with, Around the World in 80 Days cyclist Mark Beaumont as he passed through Auckland.

The NZ Skeptics Conference in Wellington, good in itself, was also great chance to meet podcaster Cara Santa Maria who I listen to on the 'The Skeptics Guide to the Universe' and her own Talk Nerdy podcast. Weird to hear such a familiar podcast voice without headphones!

That was the top three great social media related events but there have been many others. I think social media truly is about who you follow.

Best social media comment:

I no longer get many comments on the blog itself but the social media links to Twitter and Facebook often generate comment there. This tweet generated the most views and likes this year (5k views/140 likes) so I turned it into a blog post, a first for me:

I like driving but was thinking in car tonight. When commuting by car/bus/train life begins when you get home. By bike as soon as you leave work.
— Robin Capper (@robincapper) December 27, 2017

However it didn’t make the most impact on me because this happened:

Social media surprise?

Has to be the outcome of a tweet about NVIDIA’s stand at Autodesk University 2017 which resulted in a incredible new graphics card arriving in December.

Congratulations! You were selected as the winner of our Autodesk University Social Media Sweepstakes! Please follow us @NVIDIADesign so that we can connect by direct message and we can provide you with more information on how to collect your prize.
— NVIDIA Design (@NVIDIADesign) November 27, 2017

I have been using it with AutoCAD, Revit and Enscape and appreciate the incredible upgrade! More about that in the new year.

Best podcast(s):

I listen to, and support, a lot of podcasts but a couple stood out in 2017, challenging or confirming many of my views:

Sofie Hagen - Made of Human Podcast is a very personal one. Sofie talks with a wide variety of guests about the challenges of just being human. It makes you laugh, cry and think…
Sam Harris – Waking Up is more formal than MoHPOD but I have learnt so much about minds (both Human & the developing artificial ones), technology, philosophy, culture and the social implications of change though discussions with a wide variety of guests.

Best new social media tool:

Something I used a lot in the USA: Vodafone $5 Daily roaming!

Gone is the hassle of finding local sims or stressing out about a billion dollar phone/data bill when you get home. If I used my phone in the US it was $5 per day to access my normal NZ phone plan, nothing if I didn’t. Simple, painless and it WORKED everywhere I needed it in Seattle, Las Vegas and Hawaii.

Happy New Year!

Thanks for visiting, reading, following and commenting wherever you do. Lets see what 2018 brings!

Boring Blog Stats (for me!)

[ ] = 2016 figures

TypePad Community: 73 [74] Following | 117 [117] Followers

Twitter: 27,953 [25,009] Tweets | 4905 [4661] Following* | 2502 [2341] Followers | 5,045 [3,957] Likes

RobiNZ CAD Blog

Posts: 2170[2083] | Comments: 1781 [1781] | Pages: 8 [8]
Page Views: Total: 1,526,135 [1,502,081] | Average Per Day: 304.07 [322.68]
FeedBurner Subscribers: 216 [351]
Most Popular Post from 2017: Autodesk Design Review is dead, long live Autodesk Design Review!
Most visited post of 2017 was from 2007: Align, the forgotten AutoCAD hero – Seems AutoCAD still generates lots of blog visits

RobiNZ Personal Blog