Ashley Chiasson, M.Ed

So far this Blogmas I’ve done Five Cool Things I Did in 2016, a 2016 Blog Review, and a 2016 Goal Recap. Today I’m going to do a more comprehensive look at 2016.

January

• I got back into the swing of things post-holiday and began regularly working with a college.
• Blogged regularly (6 posts).

February

• I continued work with the college and began working with a new corporate client (who I continued working with throughout the year).
• I didn’t blog as much in February (2 posts).
• Presented for the Online Network of Independent Learning Professionals.

March

• I continued working with the college and corporate client, and added a university client to my client list.
• I began Screencast Monday as a feature on the site, which was consistent only some of the time.
• I blogged excessively (12 posts).

April

• Continued working with the corporate client and university client; work for the college client had completed.
• Blogged regularly (6 posts).

May

• Continued working with the university client and corporate client, and completed some work for a past client.
• Traveled to Denver, CO, visited Breckenridge, CO and my friend Erin, and attended ATD ICE.
• Blogged Excessively (12 posts).

June

• Continued working with the corporate client and did some more work for the college client.
• Traveled to Waterloo to attend CAUCE-CNIE.
• Traveled to Toronto to visit some friends and present at the Articulate E-Learning Heroes Community Roadshow.
• Published Mastering Articulate Storyline.
• Blogged regularly (7 posts).
• Announced Sprout E-Learning.

July

• Continued working with the corporate client and the college client
• Blogged regularly (9 posts).

August

• Worked exclusively for the corporate client.
• Blogged regularly (9 posts).

September

• Worked exclusively for the corporate client.
• Traveled to Iceland (AMAZING!).
• Blogged less regularly (4 posts).

October

• Continued work with the corporate client.
• Continued work on Sprout E-Learning.
• Presented for the Online Network of Independent Learning Professionals.
• Blogged less regularly (5 posts).

November

• Continued work with the corporate client.
• Continued work on Sprout E-Learning.
• Traveled to Las Vegas to attend DevLearn 2016, and presented my very first BYOL session.
• Blogged regularly (10 posts).

December

• Continued work with the corporate client, worked with 3 new clients on small projects, and lined up new contracts for 2017.
• Continued work on Sprout E-Learning.
• Blogged regularly (10 posts).

Overall, 2016 was pretty busy, but working with several clients consistently made it way less chaotic than 2015. In the previous year, I had worked with approximately 35 clients and was operating in complete and utter chaos. This year, I focused on longer term clients and increased my business profitability by about 60% from the previous year.

Amongst all of the items listed above, I continued working my regular full-time role at a local university, where I brought approximately 95-100 courses online as either new developments or redevelopments. It’s been busy!

2017 GOALS

I hope everyone had a great New Year’s Eve, even if that meant just hanging out on the sofa or hitting bed early! For 2017, I’m going to keep some of the 2016 goals I didn’t hit and then add a few more to each category.

Personal goals:

• Slow down and take more time to enjoy the present;
• Maintain a consistent exercise schedule;
• Register for run the Bluenose Half Marathon and a relay race; and
• Travel to Calgary and Toronto with my husband and plan an anniversary vacation.

Business goals:

• Maintain relationships with my long-term clients, and continue building a small network of clients.
• Continuing networking with colleagues I respect;
• Attend 2-3 conferences;
• Speak at 1-2 e-learning events;
• Get Sprout up and running;
• Learn a new skill;
• Participate regularly in the Articulate E-Learning Heroes Challenges; and
• Blog regularly.

According to last year’s post, Here were my 2016 goals and how I did with them:

Personal goals:

• Slow down and take more time to enjoy the present;
• Maintain a consistent exercise schedule;
• Rehabilitate my jaw;
• Spend more time with my husband and our family; and
• Travel to Colorado and Iceland with my husband.

Business goals:

• Slow down, take on fewer clients (than in 2015), and work on fostering long-term working relationships;
• Continuing networking with colleagues I respect;
• Speak at 1-2 e-learning events;
• Publish my 2nd book;
• Conduct more workshops and speaking engagements at the university, continuing to promote online learning;
• Learn a new skill;
• Participate regularly in the Articulate E-Learning Heroes Challenges; and
• Blog regularly.

Alright – So I didn’t really slow down and take time to enjoy the present this year, but I feel like I slowed down a bit more than I have in previous years. I was also unable to maintain a regular exercise schedule because of my jaw, but my jaw is just about at 100% now, so 2017 will bring back regular exercise schedules!

On the business front, I hit most of my goals; the most impactful was taking on fewer clients. For the most part in 2016, I worked with two clients exclusively, and was able to foster strong long-term working relationships with them. I networked my butt off in social media, e-learning/instructional design communities, and at conferences this year, and managed to speak at both the Articulate E-Learning Heroes Community Roadshow in Toronto and at DevLearn 2016. Mastering Articulate Storyline was published in June, I conducted 3 new workshops and participated in (many) others at the university, and I crushed it blogging this year! I was however unable to participate regularly in E-Learning Heroes challenges (in part because of slowing down a bit and in part because of being insanely busy), and while I’ve learned many things this year, I would not classify any of them as having been a new skill.

What am I thinking for 2017 goals? You’ll have to check in tomorrow to find out. 

Today definitely got away from me…blogging for twelve days straight is hard! I had a pretty low-key day of invoicing, getting my haircut, lunching with friends, and winding down – Hey! A lady has gotta relax when she’s on vacation!

It only seemed logical to continue my relaxation with some heavy decisions…

This past year, I was accepted to pursue my Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership at the University of Western Ontario, but I deferred for a year because 1) I’m somewhat indecisive, 2) I’d like to iron out my research interests a bit, and 3) 2016 was BUSY.

Why not a PhD?

No one outside of myself has asked this question yet, but here’s the reason – The main differentiating factor between a PhD and an EdD is that with a PhD, you’re conducting your own research. The EdD can be based on existing research. For the purpose of satisfying my research interests, I would prefer to base my research on existing research…because GIRL, I don’t have the time or wherewithal to conduct my own research and there are a ton of incredible folks out there conducting very relevant research that will help me with my own research. It sounds a little inception-esque, I know.

What are my research interests?

I won’t disclose of those until I dive deep into the program (if and when I do), just know that they’re drenched in concepts of online learning/instructional design/e-learning development.

So what’s the hold up?

• It’s a pretty intense 3-year program, and I’m not sure if I want to commit to doing something so intense just yet.
• There’s a cost associated, so that’s always a consideration.
• I have some concerns over the time commitment – when I was completing my graduate degree, I was also working full-time and had zero social life. I’d like to still maintain some semblance of a social life/be able to vacation and attend conferences…I’m also working full-time at the university and almost full-time with my independent work. There are only 24 hours in each day!
• A big concern I have is related to the post-concussion syndrome I’m now working through. My husband has assured me that I shouldn’t let that deter me, and ultimately I won’t, but I still haven’t figured out how to optimize my new brain for efficiency when it comes to information processing and memory.

Regardless of how many excuses I can make for myself, I need to make a decision between now and June 2017.

So, I’ve been on Winter holiday for 7 days now; what have I been up to outside of spending time with family and blogging?

Reading

I’m toggling between several good reads:

• Slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations by Nancy Duarte
• Grit: The Power and Passion of Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
• Moonglow by Michael Chabon

I also have two other Duarte gems cued up:

• Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences by Nancy Duarte
• Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols by Nancy Duarte and Patti Sanchez

Working

It’s been relevantly quiet for a winter break; usually this is when all of my clients are scrambling to have things done…but I have been doing a bit of work here and there.

• Storyline development for two clients
• Assessment development for one client
• Storyboarding for one client
• Sprout development
• Catching up on some e-learning heroes challenges
  • Coming down the pipes, entries for:
    • #154: Using Pantones Color of the Year in E-Learning
    • #152: Combining Text and Images in E-Learning
    • #148: Checklist Interactions in E-Learning
• Administrative work (yay taxes!)

After itemizing, it seems that I’ve been busier than I originally thought. I guess I’ll have to take a vacation soon, right?

Napping

I have been napping like a champ! To anyone who knows me, napping is one of my favourite pastimes, and I have definitely been catching up on relaxation this break.