A Job Should Also Be an Education

This spring will mark the two-year anniversary of my tenure as the director of marketing for the International House of Prayer. And this post is my way of affirming that I think it’s okay to write about things in which I am not a thought leader.

It has been two years since I worked as a full-time designer. Which means I’ve had two years of board meetings instead of creative meetings; two years of creating reports instead of mock-ups; and two years of hiring, budgeting, and business planning.

And it has been a great two years. And, it has been a horrible two years.

I adore my job. It gives me plenty of opportunity to work hard with lots of fantastic, clever, and fun people. Every day presents a new challenge which I’m usually up for. I love my responsibilities because I think I’m good at them. And I even love the hurdles and frustrations I face regularly because, thanks to them, I seem to be learning something new all the time.

This morning, I woke up thinking that if something is worth doing it’s worth doing poorly. Which at first seems to be completely opposite of what we always hear: “If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.” But I think both are true and should actually be considered together. That anything you do you should do the best you can, but even if you don’t have it perfected before you start, for goodness sake, man, still start.

My uncertainties, struggles, and discoveries as the director of a marketing and creative team are something I’d very much like to talk about more here on shawnblanc.net, but I honestly don’t know where to begin.

I started to briefly in “Marketing Shoes” and in my responses to Cameron Moll’s questions on leading an in-house design team. And posting my 1:1 form was another attempt at it.

But talking about management, leadership, marketing strategy, and creative solutions from a corporate-feeling, non-profit organization’s standpoint is something I don’t feel very smart in. (And I generally prefer to only talk about things which I feel very smart in.)

The truth is I am learning every single day — as if I’m living on the cusp of where my education meets my responsibilities, and each day I just barely learn what I need for that day’s work. And I’m not learning as much about typography, layout design, or Photoshop as much as I am about how to give a short and sweet PowerPoint presentation, or how to keep my staff in the creative zone, or how to get board-level approval on a new homepage design.

And so there are times when I hope to write about more than just design or software or other nerdy things. Such as marketing, leading, managing, and creative solutions that don’t involve Adobe Creative Suite. I hope it not only helps me learn more, but that it also gives you permission to write about the things you’re not an expert in, either.

Reader’s Setup: Tyler Galpin

Tyler Galpin is a freelance designer and student based out of Toronto, as well as a pretty stand-up guy. He can be found on the internets through his world-famous Twitter account (citation needed), business card website, or on his soon-to-be-announced blog (follow him on Twitter).

Tyler’s Setup

1. What does your desk look like?

2. What is your current Mac setup?

I am the owner of a unibody 15″ Macbook Pro (2.93GHz, 4gb RAM, 320gb HD) which recently replaced my aging Macbook Pro from 2006. I have it hooked up to a 24″ LED Cinema Display which was also recently purchased in June. To control all of this, I use an Apple Wired Keyboard and a Bluetooth Mighty Mouse. For my music and sound, I have a Logitech Z-5500 system which provides 5.1 Dolby Digital goodness to my MBP, my desktop PC (browser testing + gaming), and my PS3.

For my backup and storage needs, I rely on a G-Drive Q 500gb HD as well as a LaCie d2 Quadra 320gb HD – both connected over blazingly fast FireWire 800 connections.

My iPhone 3G connects to my Macbook Pro through an Apple iPhone Dock, and my Cannon MP180 printer plugs right into the Cinema Display for quick document printing.

Last but definitely not least, a constant staple on my desk: a Field Notes memo book. While my expertise lies with all things digital, there is simply no replacement for a good ol’ fashioned brainstorming session with some pen and paper. I try to carry one around with me at all times, so no inspirational idea goes unwritten.

3. Why are you using this setup?

A couple months ago, before I purchased my current Macbook Pro, I was still seriously considering purchasing a Mac Pro. What I came to realize after extensive research and comparisons, was that a faster laptop would be more practical for my current needs and lifestyle. Because I’m constantly traveling between Toronto and my school located a few hours away (not to mention the times I go to various places to do design work), it made more sense to upgrade my laptop from my old Macbook Pro (which wasn’t keeping up with my processing demands) to a new one. Paired with the improved battery life, LED screen, sturdier construction, and ability to change the selected video card on-the-fly made this purchase well worth it. Also, Windows for web design and development wasn’t even a question.

My iPhone also provides me with on-the-go life management. I use it for making calls (yes, really), checking email, Twitter, to-do management, inspiration-writing (if I don’t have my Field Notes on me), and the occasional game or two (recovering Tris addict).

4. What software do you use on a daily basis, and for what do you use it?

I use the following apps on a regular/daily basis:

• Safari – My browser of choice. It is fast, lightweight, and has a UI that I fell in love with years ago.

• Mail – While I use GMail for my main email accounts, Mail is still used daily to manage my school email account as well as a few other small accounts.

• Photoshop CS3 – For all my design needs and website mocks – the best product available for the tasks I need to do.

• Microsoft Word – Most people I receive files from use PCs, so it’s sometimes easier (shudder) to deal with external documents in Word.

• AdiumX – Used for the odd-time that I need to chat with someone on MSN/AIM.

• Acquisition X – For media downloading and keeping it legal.

• xScope – Probably one of the niftiest tools a designer could have – it is used for automatic measurements, an overlay ruler, a color identifier, and more.

• LittleSnapper – Capturing and tagging all of the inspirational bits I find on a daily basis; certainly one of my most justified purchases.

• iCal – Scheduling school-time, meetings, appointments, commitments.

• Things – To-Do manager which basically serves as my memory. Also syncs with my iPhone Things.app which is very handy.

• Tweetie – After using countless Twitter clients, this is my go-to app for posting and reading the latest and greatest.

• Espresso – For web development. I never got into Coda or Dreamweaver so this app fills this void nicely (paired with CSS Edit).

• iTunes – Quite obviously, it manages my music library (6,700 songs and counting) and syncs all my iPods.

5. Do you own any other Mac gear?

In my university house I use a trusty Airport Wireless N router which makes network management a breeze.

I own 4 iPods which have their own uses: a 2nd-Gen iPod 20gb (with the 4 touchscreen buttons – it still works!), an iPod Video 60gb (used to store my music library in my car, and is hooked up to my stereo), a 2nd-Gen iPod Nano (used for some tunes while running), and a 1st-Gen iPod Touch (actually doesn’t ever get used).

As I mentioned earlier, I have an old Macbook Pro (2.15GHz, 3gb RAM, 320gb HD) which is now used as a torrent/fileserver/media hub.

6. Do you have any future upgrades planned?

I have purchased the new Macbook Pro and Cinema Display all within the past 2 months, so I think it’s safe to say that I won’t be dropping more money on a computer or display anytime soon. However, I have plans to replace the Mighty Mouse with my mouse of preference: a Razer Pro|Click v1.6.

More Sweet Setups

Tyler’s setup is just one in a series of sweet Mac Setups.

How to Disable FeedBurner From Uglifying Your Clean URLs In Order to Track Clicks as a Traffic Source in Google Analytics

A few weeks ago I noticed FeedBurner was adding metadata to my permalinks. In Mint I could see that those of you coming from your feed reader (Google Reader especially) were landing on pages with extra code added to what is an otherwise clean and crafted URL:

?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20shawnblanc%20(Shawn%20Blanc)&utm_content=Google%20Reader

This excess metadata is added by FeedBurner when you click through their feedproxy, and is used in Google Analytics. This way, you can track your feed’s click-throughs right alongside your other statistics.

So far as I can tell, this tracking code was automatically turned on by FeedBurner for shawnblanc.net about a month ago.1 Since it’s been running for a few weeks, if I look in my Google Analytics account I can now tell that my top three traffic sources (and mediums) are:

1. Direct (none)
2. Google Search (organic)
3. FeedBurner (Feed)

There are additional feed stats as well. Such as what feed reader people are using, the bounce rate and average time on your site for reader visits, and more. It’s fantastic feature if you’re into excess data and you don’t mind the URL invasion. But personally, I don’t care. I prefer the simple broad strokes: how many visits? how many subs?

And so today I finally got around to logging into FeedBurner and turning off the Feed Click Tracking option. And you can too if you want.

• Go to: Analyze → Configure Stats
• Uncheck: “Track Clicks as a traffic source in Google Analytics”
• Save

Reader’s Setup: Sherród Faulks

Sherród Faulks is a developer and designer in NYC. He co-owns a software development and identity design company Soft Illuminations, Inc.. By day he designs user experiences and develops enterprise web apps using Ruby on Rails, and by night he works on his iPhone app, Butcher.

Sherród’s Setup:

1. What does your desk look like?

2. Current Mac Setup

I have a 15″ 2.4GHz MacBook Pro with 4GB of RAM and a paltry 200GB hard drive, 30GB of which runs Windows XP in Parallels. I have a 1TB Western Digital My Book Studio Edition as a backup drive, and a 24″ Westinghouse LN2410NM LCD.

The desk itself is from IKEA. It is a VIKA GRUVAN desk which is glass topped, and uses VIKA FAGERLID legs which have two levels of storage.

3. Why are you using this setup?

I converted to a Mac about six years ago with the PowerMac G5. I converted simply because I found I needed to get stuff done. That was when I was a senior in High School, and it’s even more true today. I use a MacBook Pro as my sole machine because it’s portable without sacrificing power. I got the WD drive when my old 15″ MBP’s 320GB drive filled up completely in the middle of the day, and it’s been my savior ever since.

The desk is just as important as the machines on top of it. I chose this desk set because it’s very easy on the eyes, enormous in size (it will easily seat 2-4 people), easy to maintain (the top is a single sheet of glass), and has lots of storage space (note the stuff on the other side of the space under the desk) without feeling closed. Underneath, in the legs, I keep all of my technical, design and leisure books.

4. What software do you use on a daily basis and for what do you use it?

• Apple Mail: I have tens of thousands of emails and Mail gets through it all pretty ably.
• NetNewsWire: I have to stay on top of what’s going on in the tech, design, food and photography worlds.
• Safari: Battle-tested, standards-compliant, blazing fast and ahead of the game.
• iChat: I work with people around the world and video chatting makes everyone feel a little bit closer together.
• iTunes: Music is essential to concentration for me.
• TextMate: My text editor of choice, it is fast, unobtrusive and simple.
• TextEdit: I use TextEdit to jot down longer notes or as an extended clipboard. I prefer it over TextMate for simpler things because it autosaves and handles rich text and HTML.
• The Hit List: I’m a lister, and THL really gets out of my way and lets me get my tasks in and manage them intuitively.
• Photoshop CS3: It’s the gold standard for anything image-related. I use it for web and graphic design.
• Tweetie: Again, I try to stay on top of things and tweetie is a great portal into the twitterverse.
• Cornerstone: I prefer Subversion for version control and Cornerstone is easy to use but really powerful. And it’s diff features are unparalleled.
• Querious: Querious is hands-down the best MySQL GUI available for the Mac. It’s extremely fast, rich and, most importantly, stable.

5. Do you own any other Mac gear?

I have a 1st-generation, 4GB (You know, the one discontinued mere months after its debut?) iPhone which I also use for development.

6. Do you have any future upgrades planned?

I plan to upgrade to a 15″ MacBook Pro with the matte screen, and at least 500GB of storage. I’ll probably get another identical display.

More Sweet Setups

Sherród’s setup is just one in a series of sweet Mac Setups.