So what’s this blogging thing all about anyway?

After reading numerous blogs for a number of years I’ve decided to start one for myself. I’m not really one for self promotion, so I’m not really sure why I’m doing this. Well, other than the fact that I enjoy reading blogs and have met a few of the authors. Lately I’ve been on the receiving end of comments like “you should really start a blog”.

So it’s peer pressure really.

The blogging phenomenon seems to be something more than just a vanity exercise. Publicly airing your thoughts, feelings or (particularly in the technical blogs I gravitate towards) your expertise may seem extroverted. I suspect that the people involved may in fact be wildly different with perhaps only one thing in common: the desire to participate in a larger community.

There has been a lot written on the subject of online communities to which I won’t be adding much right now. Suffice to say the technical community, particularly in relation to coding has been something that I’ve been giving a great deal of consideration to lately.

Let me introduce myself. I’m a software developer with a small software house that produces a product sold to an international market. My role tends to be 1 part developer, 1 part business analyst and 1 part support person. Not that I mind this last role. Unlike many of my fellow programmers, in addition to enjoying wrestling with coding problems I quite enjoy meeting the end user and helping them to deal with their difficulties. At the end of the day that bit of code I’m writing has to be used by someone or else it would all be a pointless exercise.

I live near Newcastle with my fiancé. We’ve only been in the area for a few years but have already begun putting down roots. Newcastle really is a great place to live and work.

For the last year and a half I’ve been the public face of the Newcastle Coders Group. Between me and another couple of guys we’ve managed to get some really impressive speakers to stand up and talk about their favourite subject, coding! The aim is to provide Newcastle with access to learning opportunities that have previously been only available if we were prepared to head south to Sydney. It’s also a chance to meet the people in the area also battling problems to share ideas and ‘war’ stories.

While we aren’t solely a Microsoft based group, the majority of the presentations have come from the Microsoft community. This has largely been in response to the preparedness of speakers to come forward from within that community and share their expertise. I’m a Microsoft developer, a background in MS Access, VB6, SQL server and most recently .NET. Even so, we’re always keen to hear from anyone, as long as it’s related to coding.

So that’s it; my first blog entry. Perhaps to read by one or two people who’ll leave a comment. If so, perhaps I’ll be inspired to continue making entries on this thing.