First off, I have to thank Darren Rowse of Problogger.net. His group writing project got me off my butt when it comes to this blog to churn something out. I have not participated before but this time his criteria really fit into something I wanted to do. A great kick in the pants. Thanks Darren!

Review of my 2006

This year has been an amazing one for me, as I continue to grow my career in new media, mostly in blogging, but in other ways as well. I have continued to write on a variety of subjects, dealing more and more with Blogging Pro as the blogging and WordPress community are my favourite groups, and I enjoy being part of them. I continue to add the work I have done to my portfolio on Digital Life News, my company name.

I have been able to talk to more and more great people, thanks in part to my blogging roles. The highlight being that I have been able to find out information from different people long before it is published anywhere online. It is like knowing that Google stock is going to double, but not being able to act on it. It might not be the best way to have a journalistic career, but I was able to gain the trust of some industry leaders, as well as gain some new friends and contacts.

In 2006, I moved my personal site from Phoenixrealm.com to DavidCubed.com in order to work on creating a more business-like identity for myself, as well as working on getting my real name online more and more. I would love to see my website listed on the first page of Google for the search term “David”.

Selling Phoenixrealm allowed me to invest more money into the small blog sites that I have been running on my own.

The move from Phoenixrealm to DavidCubed was close to coinciding with my move from one of the high tech areas of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, to a backwards little place where technology just doesn’t seem to be a priority, London, Ontario. I really don’t enjoy the city, but it seems like we will be staying here a little while.

In 2006, I celebrated my 24th birthday, and that was a reminder that I have to grow up and be more in charge of my future. Two great things happened in part from this realization. The first is that I was lucky enough to be added to the WordPress Podcast. This is the second podcast I am part of, the first being the continued sporatic work on the TechCanuck podcast. The second great thing that happened is my promotion at the Bloggy Network. This meant me not being able to work with other blogging networks anymore, but the new responsibilities put me in a place where I feel more like part of the executive staff, and that is a nice feeling.

Predictions for my 2007

Over the course of the next year, I hope my life will continue on the slow up hill path that it seems to be on. I will be working more behind the scenes at the Bloggy Network, but hope to always have my finger on the pulse of the blogging community via Blogging Pro.

I also hope to get married to Sabine, the girl I have been with since my second year of college. We haven’t decided how it is all going to work out yet, but I hope that 07/07/07 is the day we take the plunge.

If everything goes according to plan, we will be buying our first home in 2007. It might not be the largest one out there, but we hope to get something new, easy to take care of, and larger than any apartment we have ever lived in.

In the fall of next year, I will also be looking at replacing my work computer, as it is a few generations behind the current level of technology, and while it can do most of what I need, I find it lacking sometimes, and think I will be sufficiently annoyed with it by the fall of 2007 that I will be willing to take the plunge and spend another thousand dollars on getting a replacement.

Next year I will be hitting the big 25. Thinking about it as a quarter of a century is scary, though I know anyone even a year older will think that being twenty-five is young, but I continue to feel a stronger pull towards organizing my life, getting a house, car, dog, and kids. I know I shouldn’t rush, but I look forward to the next steps.

Another important thing I hope to do in 2007 is attend a conference or two, on blogging, new media, web development, or technology. There are many interesting ones coming over 2007, but many are much to expensive or far away to take advantage of.

Hopefully, for me 2007 will be a banner year for me, and more importantly my career.

Review of the Blogosphere in 2006

One of the most important things for me in 2006 was the ever evolving blogosphere, a word we all hate, but the force behind my career. Blog Networks continue to grow, shift and change in ways no one could have predicted. Venture Capital dollars have slowly started flowing into various networks, including b5media, Sugar Publishing among others. One of the biggest news stories recently in “my” world is about the Blog Herald sale, which was sold to the UK Bloggy Network.

Another big story for me is the addition of TheWhiteHawk to 9rules. Marco Jardim, a friend and blogger in the Bloggy Network, was added to the network recently and I tip my hat to him. I still hope that one day DavidCubed will be considered good enough to be wanted by some network.

Predictions for the Blogosphere in 2007

In 2007, the blogosphere will continue to grow and change, despite the reports and predictions saying otherwise by people not really in the know. I think some of the biggest areas of growth will be in other multimedia forms, like podcasing and videocasting where more information can be conveyed better than it is currently with text, and also with the continued increase in broadband penetration to the home, I see more and more people dabbling in multimedia pursuits.

Bloggers will also continue to try to find smaller niches they can carve out for themselves as being a blogging specialist seems to be a great way to not only make a living but share one’s passion. I have seen more of this just in 2006, where people are going as far as starting blogs just on Canon digital cameras, discussing them over all others. I think this is a great idea, as long as the person has the right amount of passion about the subject.

More advertising dollars should slowly dribble into more big name blogs and blog networks, allowing them to continue to grow their channels, magazines, or whatever they want to call themselves. I am looking forward to this as it will hopefully increase my income thus allowing me to employ more part time bloggers on my niche blogs. Some find it weird that I am not hording all the funds I make in my blogging for myself, but when I started blogging professionally, my biggest dream was to eventually give someone else the same opportunity.

Newspapers have already started to realize they need to get into “Web 2.0″ by adding blogs and podcasts, and I think that will grow exponentially in the next year. Newspapers want to reach people, and I think there is no one better to reach the general public than some regular people from the general public. I even enjoy reading more insights from the newspaper staff, which some in Canada have added.

No matter what happens in the world, what some consider new media will continue to expand and change, and I know many people looking forward to riding this wonderful wave of content, and energy.