I started writing this in late December of last year as a wrap up to the year. To say it’s been a crazy couple months would be an understatement. I will spare my readers most of the personal stuff (we all have enough of our own), but the two month anniversary of my Dad’s passing came and went on the 14th along with the burial on the 17th and I did not even notice. I know that is the way Dad would want it. I, however, am taking it as a reminder to slow down and appreciate the small stuff more often. So, here is my take on why I write and why we can all benefit from writing even if it is just a personal journal.
I write to capture the emotion of the moment. I started writing because it seemed like a great idea from a marketing point of view, and it may well be, but this is no longer my driving motivation to write. I now write because I can look back at a year of writing on JimRaffel.com and remember not only the moments, but the feelings those moments encompassed.
2008 was a watershed year for Jim Raffel. As anyone who reads the blog knows, we lost our Dad this year. As I told a friend recently I am now a member of the “I have lost a parent club.” Trust me this is not a club you want to join, but once you have you will understand just how hard some moments in time are for those around you who have lost parents.
Early in the year I found it difficult to write, so I used Google Analytics to see what people searched for and found in my writing. I was so pleased (sarcasm) to find that my most searched item was an alternate spelling of matamerism.
I expressed my opinion that sustainable green printing while not a bad idea may in fact just be a darn good business decision.
I shared the history of ColorMetrix as presented at ASU Gravure Days. – This was a fun one for me to go back and re-read.
I talked an awful lot about the Blurb book we made for our Dad’s 84th birthday. I am so pleased we did this when we did. Those of you who follow this blog know he passed away a little more than 6 months after we presented him with the book which he and my mother loved and she now treasures as we all do.
I am beginning to think X-Rite’s Colormunki, I first wrote about in the spring, has turned out to be a bunch of hype as far as the graphic arts community I serve is concerned.
I shared my personal experience with the success of virtual proofing.
It was a busy year – I did not post as frequently as I wanted, but I got the opportunity to post about the IRgA and EXTREME conferences.
I took a break from graphic arts blogging to cover the experience of baseball playoff fever in Milwaukee for the first time in a very long time.
I shared key internal strategy about how we fit in the market place and how we market ourselves. – This is all about sharing and giving – trust me you still have to know what you are doing to find the clients we have found.
I discovered Twitter – still have to fully understand it’s power but trust me folks this is bigger than Myspace, Facebook and maybe even Google put together – this is communication redefined.
Had some fun visiting a salt room during GraphExpo and shared the experience.
Lost my Dad.
This entire post could have been links to the posts mentioned above. I decided instead that if you found something interesting it would be more fun for you to search through the archives. Who knows what else you might find that catches your eye and sparks your own creative spirit.