Personal – Todd Chambers

January 1, 2016 — No Comments

Invitation – A Year of Asking Folks to Join Me

2016 is here and it's time for the resolutions. This year I've decided to mix things up a bit and supercharge my usual list of new year's resolutions with an overarching theme. A simple theme that will bind all my goals, set the trajectory for the year, remind me of my priorities and if I play my cards right, set me up for a new kind of success. A theme that's centered around intentionality and focus. What is it, you ask? INVITATION.

Several months ago I heard a message series from Andy Stanley (North Point Ministries) that really resonated with me. The idea was simple but profound. He suggested that most events and relationships in life that stand out as exceptional and noteworthy can be traced back to an invitation. Think about it – first dates, friendships, marriages, college choices, where you attend church, jobs, vacations – whether formal or casual, an invitation preceded most of these life events. At some point we've all been invited to join something or someone. To come along side or to participate, and the seemingly simple acceptance has had a huge impact on our lives. The power of an invitation is undeniable.

So this year I've decided that I'd wrap up all my personal resolutions, goals and hopes with an invitation to others to join me. My goals for the new year are simple. To nurture and grow my relationships with family and friends, to refine and focus my career objectives, to spread my entrepreneurial wings and to enjoy God's creation though adventure and outdoor travel. And it's directly into these objectives that I'm going to invite my friends and family. Dinner with my wife, ballgames with the kids and their friends, tech conferences with peers, lunch with coworkers. Fishing trips with friends and family and cross-country road trips pursuing outdoor adventure, I'm opening my calendar up to those around me in the hopes that sharing my passions and pursuits with folks I care about will enrich each of us.

Logistically, I've got a lot of work ahead of me. A full 2016 calendar with prioritized outings and events will need to be created early enough in the year to allow folks to plan for some of the bigger happenings. I'm working on that now. My plan is to earmark at least one unique invitation opportunity each month (with the exceptions of July which is reserved for family vacation). I'm going to lean heavily on Facebook as the method of broadcasting the invites to friends and acquaintances. Since I have a "guys only" policy on Facebook (that's a post for another day), I'll use it mostly when sharing news about outdoor events such as my upcoming turkey hunt in the midwest or the fall charter to chase red fish with a fly rod. Backyard BBQ nights, industry Meetups and tech training invites will be shared on Facebook as well but I'll likely need to supplement those invitations with Tweets and personalized emails to achieve broader reach. And of course coworkers and neighbors are the most likely to get a friendly drive-by and in-person ask.

I'll keep this space updated too and will report back on progress as the year gets underway. It's kinda cool, for the first time in a while I'm totally digging the whole resolution tradition.

Published by Todd Chambers in Art, Family, Fly Fishing, Outdoors, Personal, Uncategorized

October 20, 2015 — No Comments

A Brief (first) Look at my Browser

I noticed recently that every weekend – as I begin to unwind – I go through a bit of a debriefing ritual. I open my laptop, pull up my browser (I prefer Chrome these days) and methodically tab through all my open windows trying to determine what deserves to be read, re-read, shared as a tweet, clipped for Evernote, set aside for a future presentation, etc.

Ya see, I'm a collector of information. It's kind of in my DNA. I love reading about new ways to conduct user testing, review updated features on software I rely on or keep up with the local UX meet-ups. I also like to dream about personal stuff. Maybe it's planning a steelhead fishing trip for next spring or something far more practical like building a backyard smokehouse. I am admittedly a research junkie. They say recognizing the problem is half the battle. I hope they're right.

So, partly in an attempt to help myself stay organized but also as a means of sharing what's on my mind, I thought I'd let others in on my madness. Behold a first-hand summary of the wacky mashup that is my browser for the week ending 10/16/2015:

I'm considering taking a painting class from a master painter.
An article about organizing design systems.
A fine article from the folks at UIE on the connection between content and design.
Alan Cooper argues that independent consultants offer perspective as their main value.
Nymph tying recipes for the upcoming delayed harvest trout season.
Apple writes a privacy policy that people actually read.
And finally, a quick link over to NoiseTrade.com where I've been listening to new tunes from The Bear and the Bride.

I enjoy looking back over the week and seeing what piqued my interest. Patterns emerge of course, for me it seems to always be UX, design, family, faith and of course fly fishing.

So, what's your browser say about you?

Published by Todd Chambers in Family, Fly Fishing, Painting, Personal, UX

May 14, 2015 — No Comments

Feeding My Creativity Is My Responsibility

Working in the creative field for nearly 20 years has allowed me plenty of time for this truth to sink in. No one else is responsible for fulfilling my creative needs. There, I said it. Not my boss, not my coworkers (as talented as they are) or even the biz dev team. And no, certainly not my clients. Let's face it, as creative professionals we have a ravenous appetite for new and interesting creative outlets. We want to explore new design techniques, try out alternative website navigation schemas, exercise our video production skills. We want to be the first to write about a bleeding edge UX theory or convince a client to try a crazy new layout. But if we're brave enough to face reality, we'll quickly realize it's simply not fair to go around asking those that pay us to also act as our muse and creative patrons.

Truth be told, this isn't the first time I've come to this liberating conclusion. Nope, sadly there has been times in the past I've found myself secretly holding others responsible for the harsh reality that client work isn't always as fulfilling as I'd like. I've suffered, as most you probably have, the painful valleys of creative burnout when you just couldn't find the joy in the work at hand. Those days (or weeks) where everything feels more like a task than a passion project. The elephant in the room? Sometimes work is just that - work.

Recently I decided to combat this nagging reality head on. I decided to begin drawing again. I deliberately look for opportunities to put pen to paper - or as is the case of the image above - chalk to blackboard. I figured why not go back to the basics. Drawing is as rudimentary a creative outlet as there is. Like cavemen with manganese or iron oxide, there is no simpler creative exercise. And the best part, I don't need anyone's permission to do it and I can take it with me anywhere. A sketch book and a ballpoint pen is all it takes to get in the game. And yeah, I've also volunteered to help keep the company break room's new chalkboard up to date. The good news is, I love it. Drawing recharges my batteries, it keeps me thinking creatively and prepares me for those opportune moments when my boss or a client says "We need something cool, something new, something out of the box. Whatcha got?"

So, let's hear it, how do you feed your creativity when the work just isn't cutting it? How do you fight the demon-monster of creative status quo?

Published by Todd Chambers in Art, Creative Process, Marketing, Painting, Personal

April 14, 2015 — No Comments

Decisions, Decisions.

Wednesday may be hump day but Monday is Decision Day!

Ya see, a few weeks ago I came to a crossroad. I had been putting off making some decisions. At first it was only a few, select choices. Big ones. The kind of decisions that honestly do require thought, reflection, research and deliberation. But it wasn't long before I realized I was also passing on opportunities to make smaller decisions too. Simple stuff really, like whether or not to reseed the lawn, or if I should work on side project A or B. I had found myself in a funk. I had found myself staring straight ahead into the blinding light of the dreaded analysis paralysis. Too dramatic, yeah maybe. But nonetheless, it was clear the time had come to be proactive and stop passing the buck. So, I came up with the idea of Decision Day. Every Monday come hail or high water I was going to select one of the big decisions I had been putting off and I would commit to finalizing any review or research I was pursuing and I would make a decision. I would, as my dad always said, fish or cut bait.

So what did I decide today? I decided to up my blog game. To get off the fence and post something at least once a week. No more collecting thoughts and sitting on them. Gone are the days of hoarding links and staring at my stack of Post It notes and saying; "soon, soon I'll carve out the time to get those thought into writing. So, it's official. I've decided to post content once a week for 2 months. Now, I know what you may be thinking; "wow, another so-and-so committing to publishing more content. Isn't that what all bloggers say?" Well, I suppose you'd be right. I'm certainly not alone, but ya see, that's the beauty of having made the decision. I'm not gonna be taken off task because I'm not the originator of the idea, or because others may think the endeavor underwhelming or even because I begin second guessing the time commitment. Nope. I decided to do it, so now all that's left is to embrace the decision.

Since I've begun focusing my attention on the decision-making process I've found myself relying on some tools to help keep me on track. Good tools of course deserve to be shared so here are a few that you might also find useful.

I've got The Decision Book on my short list. I haven't read it yet but did see it on my bosses desk. Hum, something says it's worth picking up.
Here's a Google Doc version of an editorial calendar from the fine folks over at Crackerjack Marketing. I'll be using this to help direct my blogging and other social media outreach decisions.
And here's a post from The Daily Egg that highlights a few more editorial calendars should you need them.
And of course my favorite mathematical formula for boosting decision-making prowess; the Pareto Principal (or 80-20 Rule).
I found this (sometimes) helpful blog idea generator from HubSpot. Give it a go, it's entertaining and really does help jumpstart those brainwaves.

Now, for good measure and a bit of inspiration (for myself as much as anyone) I'll summarize with a quote from a gentlemen I find myself referring to often President, Theodore Roosevelt:

In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

Cheers! Now, go decide something.

Published by Todd Chambers in Creative Process, Marketing, Personal

October 16, 2014 — No Comments

Art Lessons #3 Shapes (continued) Part II

The home school art lessons continued this week with another exploration of shape. As you may have read in the last installment my burgeoning artist daughter and had completed several drawings of our Gerber daisy still life. We had also procured some salvaged wood from an old family armour and had begun the process of sanding and prepping it for painting.

This week we focused on deconstructing the previous drawings and remaking them into simpler more basic shapes. Removing much of the superfluous lines, unneeded shading elements, etc. Basically an exercise in editing. Hannah took to the task straight away. It's interesting but after all these years I still find it somewhat disconcerting to take an eraser to work that I'm quite happy with. I'm glad to see that she's not struggling with that same hesitation. The fact remains that more often than not my work benefits from the refinement. Whether it's drawing or painting, copy writing or crafting code, the second take is all but guaranteed to be better than the first.

Next week we'll break out the paint and brushes and really start having some fun. At this rate the painting should be ready for place of honor in the new office by the end of the month.

Published by Todd Chambers in Art, Creative Process, Family, Painting, Personal

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