In my graduation gown etc just before the ceremonies

First of welcome everyone to my blog built around my professional interests, studies and career. I first created this page a couple years ago with the intent to put up my thoughts on various topics related to my studies while I was undertaking my Bachelor of IT from the Queensland University of Technology.

Having already completed two years of a Bachelor of Business (e-business) at the University of Western Sydney before moving back to Brisbane I found that the purely IT degree was not enough for my interests and had little content I could write on. Outside the content related to Web 2.0 I covered in a couple units, which had me blogging already (I have since deleted that entire site after technical issues). The degree as a whole was really catered towards programmers and not people of an infrastructure mind, which just happened to be where my career was taking me.

I again though that after I had finished I could allocate some time to this blog as well as my more hobbies related online content. Of course like many a thing my ideas of what I would do with my free time after graduation didn’t inform reality . Instead I have been putting a lot of that time and effort into helping to build the Brisbane Geek Social Club   Founded December 18, 2012 by Adam Shypanski the Brisbane Geek Social Club began as one of many Brisbane meetup groups but with a different spin. Instead of creating a group based around being in a certain age group or one specific activity he founded a group based on the broad passions of the geek.

Chester the BGSC mascot and logo.

After Adam had passed on the torch to a good friend of mine (a lawyer) we started putting things together to get the club into shape and to turn it from a mere group on meetup.com to a registered club with a proper executive and a clear purpose and goals in mind. We have since greatly expanded our reach and range of activities. I am also glad to say the administrative side of this group continues to provide me a chance to stretch my legs on many of the skills I picked up in study including some that don’t apply to my current job and career direction. There have also been many great applications of soft skills and new tests of my ability to co-ordinate, manage and communicate effectively with both our members and the other members of the Leadership Team (executive).

Now after having a break of roughly a year and a half I’m right back into the studies and I am undertaking the first couple units in a Master of Management (Information Technology) through Charles Stuart University. I feel that I will not only get greater learning experiences from this postgraduate course in the managerial side, with a decent helping of applicable technical skills around server management and networking, but I also believe the on-line-distance learning method will be a beneficial experience.

So far I have found that learning of this style, level and approach is much more free than even my previous studies, free to do it how you like, when you like and free to fail if you don’t spend the time to keep up and engaged. If you happen to have stumbled onto this because you know me because of my hobbies, the Brisbane Geek Social Club, YouTube channel or any other place online then you are more likely going to be interested in my other blog. While I do like to keep these two blogs separate unlike some I am comfortable with both worlds knowing the other exists, it is all a part of who I am.