Recapping 2022

Recapping 2022

This is bit later than I had planned but it’s good to recap the previous year and take stock of what you’ve done.  2022 was a busy year for me personally and professionally.

 

Going Independent

I got back into contracting at the start of 2022 with the first involving leading agile teams of developers at NEXT Plc.

I moved onto a public sector contract after that was completed.

This isn’t my first time contracting. I spent some time 2016/17 working on NHS and criminal justice projects and knew what I was getting into again.

If contracting is something you’re considering, I wrote a blog post about getting started which details the main things you should consider.

Becoming a LinkedIn Learning Instructor

I joined LinkedIn and became an instructor.  Shout out to Gregor Suttie for getting in contact with me about this.

With brings me onto…

Releasing Courses on Cloud Academy and LinkedIn

I released four new courses in 2022 to help you upskill and learn more about artificial intelligence in Microsoft Azure.

Topics covered in these courses included:

1. Azure AI Fundamentals
2. Creating chatbots using Microsoft Bot Framework SDK
3. Creating chatbots using Microsoft Bot Framework Composer
4. Using Azure Speech Services

 

The content in each course will help you pass AI-900 and AI-102 Microsoft exams.

Renewing Certifications

A nice segue into certifications. I renewed my own Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer Associate accreditation.

I much prefer the renewal process than having to redo an entire exam again.  Bonus that you can do it remotely too.

SaaS, Social Opinion and Upgrading the Content Scheduler

I now outsource most of the development of Social Opinion. It’s surreal to think this started as a masters research project and console application.

I enjoyed designing and coding the features but have very limited time to have to find the right balance.

The biggest update last year was to the content scheduler.  Write your content once and it is automatically sent to:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram

 

The Meta Application Review Process was a major blocker for many months when integrating Facebook Pages and Instagram for Business accounts.  I could write a guide on this entire process alone.  One day maybe.

Blogging

I wrote 25 blogs in 2022. I took a 3-month break between April and June.  Blogging is fun, helps me remember things, and refine my thinking.

The most popular blogs were related to:

• Instagram Graph API
• Software architecture
• Bot Framework Composer
• Azure Speech Services
• Using Direct Line to Communicate to With Chatbots
• Adding Speech Capability to Chatbots
• LinkedIn Marketing API

 

Sometimes a blog will turn into a demo, talk, presentation or plant the seeds of a new product.

Repurposing content helps you scale your work.  Try it.

It’s also great when readers contact you or leave a comment when something you’ve shared has helped someone else succeed.

Blogging doesn’t pay bills though and going independent in 2022 meant I had to pay more attention to revenue.

That said, I had an itch to scratch with new miniseries idea which brings me to…

New Mini-series – Creating an AI Social Listening Tool using Azure and the Twitter API

I have years of experience with the Twitter API and Azure and wanted to package up some of this in short mini-series.

The mini-series is split over 4 parts and shows you how to create a social listening tool using Azure AI and the Twitter API.

Main topics covered include:

• Microsoft Azure
• Building and Testing Azure Functions
• Using Cognitive Services to leverage Azure AI
• How to use the Twitter API V2 & the Social Opinion API to search for data
• Using Azure Cognitive Services to surface AI insights in Twitter data
• Using Azure Storage Explorer to browse data
• Reporting

 

Find what’s been written here:

• Part 1 – Components, Services, and Architecture
• Part 2 – Creating a Function to Fetch Data
• Part 3 – Applying Azure AI to Create an Analytics Function

 

Part 4 being released very soon.

~

Invitation To Developer Conference “Chirp”

Twitter invited me as guest to their conference Chirp Developer Conference and Chirp Developer Challenge in San Francisco.

Developers and founders were challenged to build an app using Twitter’s API v2 to unlock new experiences for people on Twitter and inspire others.

I was also asked be on the judges panel as part of the Chirp Developer Challenge and shared my thoughts.

Almost 2,000 people and start-ups submitted an entry and a team of us short-listed each of the submissions.

The take-over by Elon Musk towards the end of the year meant the developer conference and related events were cancelled.

YouTube

I’m not that active on YouTube but sometimes will drop a demo to accompany a blog post when it’s needed.

You can find these here:

• How to Create a Power BI Customer Connector that Fetches Data Using The Twitter API V2.
• How to Find Data in XML using XPath and Adaptive Expressions in Bot Framework Composer

 

I might turn the Azure AI / Twitter API into a video series too.  Let me know in the comments or over on Twitter if this would be valuable to you.

Travel, Time Off, Health and Well Being

I made sure to take some time off in 2022 and succeeded to an extent.  I took trips to Scotland, Malaga, Ibiza, France, and a few camping trips with friends and family.

I maintained the 5×5 strong lift program I’ve been doing throughout the year.

In the IT industry I think we spend too much time at a desk or in front of a screen.  You must take care of you.  Nobody else will!  Prioritise your down-time and get away from technology.

Time Constraints

There are never enough hours in the day. I don’t need much sleep but had to decline several things.

These were mainly invitations to write books, partnerships, or exploratory opportunities.

My old university invited me to submit a submission to give a TEDx talk.

I thought I would have had time but unfortunately had to decline due to conflicting priorities.  That would have been a good experience!

What’s Next

For 2023, main priorities include:

• Lining up my next contract at the end of Q1
• Learning new technology
• Release new courses
• Growing SaaS
• Experimenting with some ideas
• Travel

 

What about you?