I am starting the process of getting back to work on API Evangelist, and wrapping up our Drone Recovery project. We will continue working on things throughout the summer, but I need to start looking at what's next for myself, and thanks to the API community, what I'll be doing next with API Evangelist.
Thanks to the generosity of the API community we were able to stay afloat while spending May through July hiking the hills of Oregon. We are now spending the final months of summer and fall, getting the kid on his feet in Portland, as well as figuring out what our own next steps are. Thankfully we still have an apartment to come back to, and I have API Evangelist domain to work under--I just need to figure out what is next for this production.
There were no amazing revelations for me out in the woods. The journey just reinforced how important my work around the technology, business, and politics of APIs is to me. I enjoy paying attention to space and feel that I can continue to contribute by providing analysis that is product and vendor neutral (most of the time).
When it comes to APIs there are several things that keep me interested, and wanting to work on API Evangelist:
- Some of the people and companies in the community
- Some of the technology being applied in API space
- Opportunities for collaboration and transparency
- Writing, telling my story, as well as story of others
Then there are some things that I could do without when doing this work:
- Some of the people in the community ;-(
- The heavy focus on VC investment, acquisitions, and exits
- Lack of critical thinking when it comes to applying technology.
I do not think I'll make any significant changes to the way API Evangelist operates. I was already limiting my engagement with the companies and people that I feel do not care about the wider community. I will just keep writing and telling stories about what I think matters most when it comes to APIs, and the people, companies, institutions, agencies, and industries they are touching in 2016.
Thanks again to the community, for giving me the breathing room to get back on my feet in a thoughtful way, and not make any drastic decisions about API Evangelist, and how I will keep the lights on. I will begin slowly ramping things up here in August, getting back to my monitoring of the space, and crafting stories on the blog.
As I was already doing before things shifted this summer, I will continue to pull back some of my research behind a paywall of industry guides, and other long-form content that will help support my ongoing research. The short form analysis and commentary will remain open, helping provide the regular stream of API banter that people seem to have grown accustomed to. The tone will remain the same, as the short form stories are generated as part of the conversation I have with myself about what I'm seeing in the space, and not about any particular brand, company, or approach (unless it stands out).
There is not much else to say. Thank you again for helping make sure my website was still here when I got back. Thanks for being so understanding when it came to disappearing on our journey this summer. I look forward to the future of API Evangelists--whatever that might look like.
