New Developments

It's been awhile since I've posted because I've been bogged down in trying to get a release out. I keep running into technical problems with the API I am using for my former company's product. I finally gave up and have written a parser to get some of the information from their text file that I cannot access through the API. I don't know why I didn't do it sooner. It's very liberating not to be at their mercy.

Recently, several good developments have come up. A few weeks ago, I was asked to write an article for a new trade publication that is focused on users of the application I develop for. This is great publicity for me and thanks to Thom, I pitched a great idea for the article that was well received.

The publication will debut at a trade conference later this year that I am hoping to attend. I can't afford a booth or even full conference attendance, but I can get tickets just to the exhibit hall which would give me a great chance to network. Some of the guys who have helped with beta testing my add-in will be there, along with other key players, such as resellers that I am hoping to forge relationships with to help sell my software. I just need to work out childcare with Thom and Kim for the time I'd be gone. Hopefully I can work it out, especially since I hope to have my release out by then, so the timing would be great. Plus I can grab extra copies of the trade publication with my article.

Another great development is that I am talking to a woman who wants to work with me. She is a former colleague of Thom's and he speaks highly of her. She is looking to work part-time from home, which works perfectly for me. She is a developer and has project management experience and could be a huge help in getting the company off the ground. She has so much more experience than I do, including experience working with start-ups, so I am just thrilled she is interested. She hasn't developed in C# before, but she is getting up to speed now. We'll see how things go, but after our initial talk a couple weeks ago, I have a good feeling that we can work together.

And just this week, I lined up another contract job that will help continue to fund the company until I can get sales revenues coming in.

Now I need to go write that article and finish my release.