Cashewman in 2009

2009 was a big year for Cashewman. It was the first year I took it seriously, with more focus, new design and regular posting. I’m still finding it difficult to focus on a few distinct subjects, but some, such as development, design, branding and marketing, Canada’s future and photography are emerging. This will continue in 2010 in a big way.

What got the highest traffic? By far the 13 Tips for Great Photography in Developing Countries post, which lit up for thousands of views and over 50 comments, after a nod from Boingboing. Other popular posts included Obama Should Decline the Nobel Peace Prize , and Avoiding Useless Charities. This last one generated come good discussion on other sites, including my favorite feedback of the year: ‘I agree with his points, but he sure is rude!’. 9 Reasons to Charge People for your Development Solution got good response around the development blogosphere, including nods from some pretty respected development thinkers, and other honorable mentions included Action vs. Reflection (providing the most interesting discussion of the year) and ‘I Want to Go to Grad School’ - 12 Possible Reasons.

Which posts meant the most to me? The Driving Force for inspiration, Forget Needs, Design for Wants for design philosophy and Netsanet: Beauty and Two Dollars a Day for Photography. I still love looking back to Netsanet’s post.

The year was euphoric, disapointing, reflective,  and exasperating at times. I expect 2010 to be nothing less.

And in numbers? 2009 was a year of good growth, with almost 60,000 views and some decent spread of content beyond the site. For 2010, plans are to improve the focus on development, management and design (always with some photography thrown in the mix) and improve the navigation. I’m also contemplating a name change. As always, all kinds of feedback is very much appreciated.

One more thing. There are many reasons I write this blog. Two important ones are to maintain contact with people I value, and learn from them through the discussions. I’m constantly floored by the insight of people around me. Thank you for making this worthwhile for me.

See you all in 2010,

B

       

Tagged as: 2009, cashewman, cashewman in 2009, desing, Development, photography