From Novice to Network - The Team Behind My Knowledge And How You Can Build One Too

It has been a busy week and I have had the pleasure of enjoying some intrinsic rewards that one can only enjoy if you are in a career in which fits your professional abilities and ambitions. There was a time that I placed a priority in choosing a career based on how much money I could make, but I decided that it was more important to pursue a career that could I could enjoy. I don't want to spend the work week looking forward to the weekend. The path to becoming a GIS Web Developer was unexpected to say the least as well as the help that I have received along the way. Without the willingness to provide genuine help by others, I would not be GIS Web Developer.

But this week, everything has come full circle, from where I used to be to interacting with some developers that are in a situation with limited opportunities for growth as a professional.

It's important that your realize that this will be a series of posts leading up to an event that I can't put into the right words, that has the kind of meaning for me where a milestone would be a minor accomplishment in comparison to what this upcoming event means to me. It's not just the event itself, there is a bigger picture that I want to share with my fellow developers and programmers starting out. There are methods I have learned that I think is not only of value to me as a GIS Web Developer, but any professional.

In recent years, I have had the opportunity to have the financial backing to enhance my knowledge and have done my best to give back for such an opportunity. Now I am working on giving back to the development community and to those that may be in a situation that I used to be in; where barriers to knowledge, resources, or funds may have made growth difficult.

My objective is simple, but not necessarily easy. I want to eliminate the costs to gain basic knowledge, eliminate ignorance of who could help; this can be a major hurdle in itself, and last I want to eliminate the barrier of geography.

If you haven't had the chance to attend conferences, training, seminars and other events. You might not be able to travel the world, but with the help of USGS and other professionals, we will bring the world to you in respect to professional development. This isn't a chat, forum, or a one way live event where presenters talk and you type. I have created a group on LinkedIn called Web Dev Network. With the help of USGS, we meet once a month online, live and use screen sharing. You will be able to speak with other web developers and an added dynamic is members using "hot screen" sharing, meaning you can share with the group using your own resources, provide a presentation to the group. If it's related to professional growth as a developer, this group is for you. It is a group that is meant to give you an opportunity to interact with your peers. Novices to professional are welcome.

I am looking forward to sharing more with you, but as I post, if you have stories about what or who might have helped you grow as a professional, please share with my readers and my peers as we are very interested in what you have to say.

See you at the next post.

Chris