I’m not a guy who’s big on predictions for the new year (and my sports prognostications are only mediocre), but I do enjoy reminiscing. So allow me, if you will, to wax poetic (sort of) on the year that has been and that wraps up in just a couple of hours.

As far as years go, 2006 has been one of my very best — both personally and profesionally.
Here are 10 new-media events/developments from my life in 2006, in no particular order, that will stick with me.

  1. Starting the Bryper.com blog and the New Comm Road podcast. The blog launched on April 25 and the podcast on May 31. They were the foundation for most of what follows.
  2. BarCamp Boston. My very first unconference. I interviewed podcaster extraordinaire Christopher Penn for Episode 2 of NCR and met Chris Brogan. Those two would see the value of unconferences and would team up to found PodCamp (see point 4). They were nice enough to let join them in the planning.
  3. Geek Dinner in New York City. I was sure that trekking down to the Big Apple on an Amtrak train (and back on a Greyhound bus) to meet Shel Holtz, Neville Hobson, and their fan club (of which I was a card-carrying member) would be well worth it, and I wasn’t disappointed. I also met Mike Bellina, who would soon be co-hosting New Comm Road with me.
  4. PodCamp Boston. Chrises Brogan and Penn knew what they were doing when they hatched this baby. I was just pleased to be part of the organizing crew. What we had hoped would be a two-day unconference for 200 people turned out to be a star-studded two-day-plus event that accommodated some 350 passionate new-media enthusiasts from across the country, as well as a visitors from Canada and the UK.
  5. CaseCamp Montreal. By pure coincidence, I was planning a family vacation to Canada when I found out that CaseCamp was being held there on July 4. The event was hosted by Twist Image president Mitch Joel, who has since become a good friend and mentor.
  6. CaseCamp Second Life. Little did I know that, along with Kate Trgovac, C.C. Chapman, and Eli Singer, I’d be organizing a CaseCamp of my own just five months later … and in a virtual world, to boot.
  7. Making new connections. Social media would mean little for me were it not for the friendships I’ve made along the way. Here are 30 of them.
  8. New-media tools that make my life easier — or at least more interesting. Before 2006, I had never used Bloglines, Google Docs, LinkedIn, Feedburner, YouTube, or Second Life. Hard to imagine my online existence without them now
  9. Landing at Monster. What I didn’t mention above is that I almost didn’t go to BarCamp Boston, think that it would be a little too programming-heavy for my taste. It’s a good thing I went against those instincts. BarCamp was held at the global headquarters for Monster.com, and thanks to a fortuitous meeting with Devon Biondi from Monster Labs, my resume would eventually find its way into the right hands. I wound up with a content producer job at Monster in August and will be moving into a more interactive role in 2007.
  10. Consulting. Finding a voice in new media and expressing that voice has helped to secure some consulting work, which makes the bills just a little bit easier to pay.

Amani smile 3

My personal highlight, of course, was the birth of my son Amani, for whom I have a world of hopes and dreams. And now I’m going to go celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of the next with him.

Thanks again, 2006, for a most extraordinary year.

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