Jan 6, 2019
Hi everyone!
I wanted to share with you my closing analysis of 2018 and what you should expect from me and this blog in 2019.
How well I did in 2018
Resolution 1: Get Agile certified
- Professional Scrum Product Owner I
- Professional Scrum Master I
Successful – I received my certification in January for both the PSPO I and PSM I
Resolution 2: Stablish this blog as a trusted source of knowledge in the industry
- Reach at least 1000 visitors to the blog site per month
- Average one post every two weeks for the year – no post size or topic restriction
- Conduct and publish interviews with current producers at all stages of their careers – these count as a post
Unsuccessful – The latter objective was mostly completed: I was able to conduct one interview with an executive producer, the article is ready, but I am waiting for his legal department to give me the green light to publish it. I cannot say the same for the previous two objectives, I averaged 40 visitors per month and published nine articles (including personal entries) throughout the year.
Resolution 3: Continue polishing my development skills
- Polish and re-skin some of my 2017 projects and link them to the blog
- Complete demo of an indie project
Inconclusive – I finished an early prototype of an indie project I was working on, but I was dissatisfied with the result and decided not to publish it. While I did not complete the two objectives I set for myself in this resolution I did improve my skills a lot, finishing multiple courses and participating in the 2018 global game jam.
My completion rate doesn’t look good, but I am pleased with what I did in 2018 given the time constraints of having a newborn baby. It is easier to notice how well I did when I consider what I tried to improve through my resolutions:
- project management skills (focus in agile)
- production knowledge (using blog writing as a proxy for that)
- game development skills (focus in Unity / C#)
I made a lot of progress in all three. In project management, not only did I get Agile certified, but I started an online certificate from UCLA on project management (I expect to complete the program in July 2019). In production, I wrote great, content heavy, articles and had the opportunity to speak with many experienced producers. Finally, in game development, I participated in 2 collaborative projects on top of the already mentioned game jam and courses, I have become an objectively better developer.
Outside my resolutions, I also obtained the “Competent Communicator” certification from Toastmasters.
All in all, 2018 was a good year, and I plan to build up from it for 2019.
My 2019 gaming resolutions
I want to accomplish the following in 2019:
- Become a better project manager
- Complete UCLA project manager certificate
- Publish more content to this blog
- Average one post every month for the year – no post size or topic restriction
- Publish at least one interview with a current producer
- Publish more book reviews
- Write at least one article about F2P monetization
- Improve my development skills
- Complete demo of a personal project and link to the blog
- Participate in a game jam at any point of the year
These objectives are all challenging but achievable. My main risk, just as in 2018, is time. Regardless if I complete them all, the point of these objectives is to grow professionally; I will be content as long as I make substantial progress towards the goals outlined above.
I am genuinely excited for 2019; there will be lots of work, but also lots of fun.
Best regards,
Leonard Perez
