First I'd like to say thank you for your support and encouragement due to my job status change.

On the day of my departure of my last regular full time job, I received several e-mails, messages and comments from people who want to send me some freelance work.

Although I am seeking a full time job  - it's encouraging that people want to send work my way to help us move forward.

So, from help on things like social media, SEO, and even some Voice over leads - I've been encouraged to know that people still want my work.

Even with all of these e-mails, the income isn't there yet.  Still have a lot of work to do.

I was able to submit a devotional book o a friend who has experience in editing.  I've also been able to write a little more in another book about being an Autism Dad.

But the biggest news that happened last friday was one that was completely unexpected.   The folks on the Xanga team want to relaunch Autisable next.   Now, this will be with some heavy involvement by yours truly - as their resources in making this happen is very limited (due to the fact that they are very focused on Xanga).

So, what are we doing for Autisable?   Well, there's over 5,300 posts and over 114 authors that have to be added to the upgrade.  Then we'll need to match the posts to the authors as best as we can.

Once this is done, then we'll be doing a soft relaunch of Autisable.

There will be much to do after the relaunch, like getting people to be able to blog again - getting ad units set - and getting a few other add-ons taken care of.

It will be a long haul - but it will be worth it once we're back up and running.

I will be working on the site a little more now, but I will still be looking for a job.  Hey, gotta pay the bills... right?

More later... back to the grind.

This past Friday I was told that I'm no longer working with the organization that I've been with for 12.5 years.

This only means that one chapter in my life has concluded, and a new chapter has begun.

I'm not sure what or how this chapter will turn out, but I do know that everything will be ok.

Autisable is still moving forward, along with anything associated with it.

The adventure of the next chapter begins, and I'm excited about it.

These past several weeks have been incredibly busy for me.  Between working my regular job, trying to get some stuff done around the house, and connecting with folks to make the concert series happen...  I needed a break from the Holidays.

A quick update on Xanga, from the various conversations I've had.... and what I can share ... the short story is that Xanga is moving forward.
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A man has been suspended for stating his opinion in an interview.

Of course I'm talking about Duck Dynasty, and one of the stars of the show, Mr. Phil Robertson.

The controversy revolves around his opinion regarding Homosexuality.

Now, before anyone gets on their 'high-horse' on this topic - read the article first...

http://www.gq.com/entertainment/television/201401/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson

I provided the link to make sure we're all on the same page here.  Some articles I've found online don't even cite the link to the interview in question.  Hey, if it's of a controversial issue - at least cite the source (just sayin').

Now.... Continue reading →

I remember growing up and witnessing people being bullied.

Either it was the smart kid who didn't dress just the right way, or the confident person who was beat down for their positive attitude.

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I've been in the Marketing world for over a decade, from the online world to Direct Mail, I've seen some of the best ways to go about things - and much of the worst.  Suffice it to say, not much surprises me anymore - but no matter what, I still learn a lot.

I mention this only due to the simple fact that as part of running Autisable - I've come in contact with some incredible people that work towards making the world a much better place for those who have Autism.

Some of the people that I work with are a part of the largest and most well known Autism organizations around the world.

As fantastic as that sounds, it also provides a unique challenge.

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It's been awhile, and so I'm compelled to provide a status update on what I've been up to.

Xanga Team is still making sure everyone is up to speed, and I'm told that the programmer who's task it is to update Autisable and some of the partner sites will be back on track soon.

Now, that may sound frustrating, but I've learned that everything happens for a reason - and that 'delays' are [most of the time] a blessing in disguise.

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It's not often that I get 'political' on my blog.   But today I've reached a limit.

Suffice it to say I don't like the shutdown, for obvious reasons.   But to be blunt, I don't like it because it shouldn't have ever happened to begin with.

Some folks are blaming the Republicans, or those in the Tea Party, while others are blaming the Democrats.

To be honest, I don't care who started it.   We know it takes more than two people to disagree to this extent to make problems happen.
Playing the 'blame game' is something I never really cared for - in the workplace, or in politics.

Like my Parents or Teachers would tell me when growing up - "I don't care who started it, now fix it."

Some in Congress are donating their salary at this time to non-profit organizations, while others were able to have their pay withheld.   A voluntary furlough, if you will.

While that is commendable, the rest of the nation still is feeling the damage of these ongoing actions by those of whom we the people voted.

Now, this is just a rant - but like my Parents and Teachers said to me, "I don't care who's to blame, now fix it"

As I've shared before - we are still in a period of transition.   I've dealt with many transitions in over 20 years of my working career, and one of the challenges that many people experience is that phase where people are 'over it' or 'want to give up'.

This is what is called the 'valley of despair'.   It's that point where people don't think the transition was ever worth it, and they don't see the benefit from it.

It's also a time period where people may speak out against change, or when frustrations about change come at an all time high.

Let's face it though - no one likes change.

I know I don't.

But, we have to remember what this change is about.    It's about providing us the tools we've been asking for as a community.

It's a big move to transition control from Xanga team to the community as well.   So, suffice it to say - we're in a strong period of growing pains.

But - it's going to be ok.

I'm not ignoring the past history some would want us to continually bring to the forefront - but I am taking that history under advisement while I'm focusing on what is ahead of us.

We have to look at opportunities and options - and not dwell on the past.

OK - here's a couple of tips for the day:

- A comment on my last post asked about how to post photo's into a blog post.   I suggested that you find the URL of the photo - and insert the photo by that method for now.

- One of the most commonly asked questions I've fielded through the facebook page is how people can obtain their archives:

For those who have archives to download - here's how -

Go to their main page -http://username.xanga.com/ they just need to sign in and it's on their dashboard.

John on The Xanga Team shared awhile back that we are in Phase Two of a four Phase process to get Xanga back on track.

Personally, I think we're still between phase 1 and phase 2, but that's just my observation. Many people are still getting their blogs on track, and the Team is making more archives available to even more people.

Suffice it to say, with over 2 million accounts to address - there's been a lot of work being done. Many have asked what can WE do to prepare ourselves for the next phase.

First, let's take a look at the four phases of the process here:  http://thexangateam.xanga.com/2013/09/03/the-four-phases-of-the-xanga-2-0-launch/

Phase 1 and Phase 2 really deals with the major change over to 2.0 for everyone.   Bringing folks up to speed, and getting people's accounts in sync, etc...

In short, the first two phases are all about moving into a new home.   And from what I can tell, this move into the new home is a little more than halfway done.
(my opinion, of course)

But, what's the next phase... phase 3.

I think this is one where we'll start seeing major improvements - so we'll need to prepare ourselves as much as possible.

I'd like to think that although most of us have been around for many years on Xanga 1.0, phase 3 will be a major shift in how things are going to be done.

This is the phase to be ready for... Feature Prioritization.

John shared that , "Once we get all of the site data and servers stabilized, we’d love to work with you guys to pull together a list of features that you like to see on the site… and then prioritize them."

First two issues that are on the plate from this blog post are the main page, and also Themes.

Here's a highlight of what John has shared about what they'd like to do:

* We are keen to make a front page that features everyone’s content… It could be a simple recent weblogs module or it could be a feature weblogs module like we had before. Something like this is a top priority for us and we’d love to work with you guys to make sure that we’re designing it just right.

* Also, we are launching with a very basic theme that we hope matches the look of your old theme.  So another top priority for us is to upgrade the theme into a more easily customizable theme system that is both powerful and yet intuitive and simple.

On a side note, we have to remember that the Team shared these notes on September 3rd.   Some may think that we should be there by now, but this phase can't be initiated with our input until everyone is up to speed and things are taken care of in regards to our blogs, etc...   But... this has been the goal since earlier this year from the original campaign announcement.

Bottom Line?   They want our input, and are making every effort to prepare the site so we can provide the input.

So... what can we do now?

Besides helping each other in the navigation of 2.0 - we can take notes on what we'd like to see on the site.
Visit some wordpress.org links and look at what featured plugins could work for 2.0.   Cite links and examples.  More information to pass along to the team, the faster and easier they can review it and see how quickly they could implement it.

We have to remember that the 'power' of the site will not fully rest on the Xanga team now....  it will shared amongst those who are active within the xanga community as well.

As always, feel free to provide suggestions and links in the comments.