#Rewind2011

I remember telling myself that 2011 would be my best year yet last January 1st, and I’m looking toward 2012 with the same optimism and enthusiasm! 2010 had been a rather placid year for me, and I was ready for some action. Here are my 2011 monthly highlights:

January: Social uprising hits home — literally — as friends and family are evacuated from my hometown of el Ma’adi, Egypt. On a more positive note, I obtained a certificate in Practical Product Management from Pragmatic Marketing, Inc., and launched the Mindjet Developer Network website, as well as revamped the Developer Program. My efforts led to a 300%+ increase in membership and the development of over 15 new software add-ins.

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February: Flew out to DC to interview with a “deal-of-the-day” website giant, and ended up turning down their offer. Sometimes even when the money and the role are right, the company culture just feels wrong. In the end, I’m very glad I didn’t take the position.

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March: What can I say? March is always awesome because it’s my birthday month! This year was especially special because I drove down to Pasadena to celebrate my pal LM’s bridal shower.

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April: Drove down to LA with my BF to pick up his two best friends, and then onto Vegas for some gamblin’ and the Hoover Dam for some history to make for an epic birthday trip! [Sorry, no Vegas pics allowed! ;)]

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May: Ran Bay2Breakers and attended LM’s absolutely amazing wedding. Definitely one of the major highlights of the year.

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June: Two major product launches in one month — you can believe I hadn’t slept for at least a month. Version 1.0 of Mindjet for iOS launched on the 14th, and MindManager for Mac launched on the 23rd!

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July: Smat’s goodbye party as they head off to Germany.

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August: Traveled to the Big Apple for an interview; spent a couple of weeks exploring New England with the BF and reacquainting myself with the Atlantic.

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September: Accepted a new job in a new city; resigned for the second time in my life.

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October: Moved to NYC on the 2nd, and managed to find, sign for, and move into my new apartment on the Upper East Side within 6 days. That was intense (and quite possibly some kind of record). I also founded the very first ProductCamp San Francisco, an annual educational and networking unconference for local product management and marketing professionals, on 10/22.

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November & December: A few visits from friends and family in the area, and a LOT of exploring in my new city!

  


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I hope you all had just as epic of a story to tell for #Rewind2011! If not, there’s always 2012 to make up for it.

San Francisco Summers

The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.

– Attributed to Mark Twain

Summertime in San Francisco is something of an anomaly. Visitors come from far and wide expecting to experience some of that world-famous California sun, only to be chilled by San Francisco’s unrelenting wind and fog. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, San Francisco literally becomes a city in the clouds.

It’s interesting to see how people initially cope with this sort of unexpected season. Some people come here and pile on giant fur coats, hats and scarves. Others try to deny the weather by donning t-shirts and rocking Wayfarers. But the spirit of SF’s summer chill is definitely best instilled in our TV weatherpeople. We recently had a mini-heatwave in mid-July this year (read: it hit 75° for about three days), and the weatherlady assured her listeners that “we’ll be done with this warm weather soon — by the end of the week we’ll have our cloudy skies back.” And, yes, 75° constitutes a heat wave in SF.

You do eventually come to love the “Groundhog’s Day” effect though. While the rest of the country is struggling with scorching temps, hurricanes and unthinkable mugginess, San Fran quietly remains a steady 66°. When the whole country is fearing tornadoes and hurricanes, you realize it’s kind of nice that SF can be trusted to offer highs and lows that are within 5° of each other every single day. It may not be fun, but at least it’s reliable!