Andy McIlwain @ andymci.com » Blog

April was a month of fresh starts.

Andy — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 02:10:19 +0000

April 2013 is coming to a close, and what a month it’s been. Exciting changes were kick-started at the office; we announced the formation of a new organizing committee for WordCamp Toronto; I got back into Kingston for the 2013 St. Lawrence College Greg Awards; we held a great meetup yesterday at The Ballroom Bowl in [...]

Originally posted on Andy McIlwain @ andymci.com

A mind for (too many) processes.

Andy — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 01:28:38 +0000

Best comment I’ve gotten this week? “You’ve got a mind for processes.” Aww, shucks! Anyone that has known me for a while knows that I like geeking out on new apps and techniques for doing things efficiently. It’s one of the reasons for my recent agile kick. Unfortunately, my knack for trying out new ideas [...]
Originally posted on Andy McIlwain @ andymci.com

Prioritizing Goals

Andy — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:00:37 +0000

Over the last few days I’ve been thinking more about how the principles of agile software development can be applied to other kinds of web projects. This could be websites, marketing campaigns, training sessions, whatever. I’m learning a lot of this on the fly, but there are things I’d like to start applying as quickly [...]
Originally posted on Andy McIlwain @ andymci.com

Kobayashi Technology to Kobayashi Online

Andy — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 19:48:10 +0000

One of my favourite things about Kobayashi Online is that we used to be an IT company (Kobayashi Technology) and evolved to digital marketing based on our clients changing needs. When I joined in October, we offloaded our last few IT-only customers soon after — all so that we could focus even more on creating [...]
Originally posted on Andy McIlwain @ andymci.com

Coming up with a creative idea is like cooking a good stew.

Andy — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 17:46:24 +0000

Last night was my first time attending one of the Creative Advertising Guild of Toronto meetups. It was a good, comfortably-sized event. There were around a dozen of us sitting around a boardroom table. Bill Whitehead, of Whitehead Agency Group, led the session. We looked at early concepts of creativity, e.g. the Roman origins of the word genius [...]
Originally posted on Andy McIlwain @ andymci.com

Curse the Pizza Pops.

Andy — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 01:42:39 +0000

I had Pizza Pops for dinner and now I am full of regrets. Why is this a blog post instead of a tweet? I have no idea.
Originally posted on Andy McIlwain @ andymci.com

Sharing Knowledge

Andy — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 00:27:18 +0000

Yesterday I talked a bit about the importance of Flow. Today, I’d like to focus more on the last part of that post: Documentation. In the past, I always considered Documentation to be a frustrating,�bureaucratic�process that slowed things down. I’ve since learned that Documentation actually�speeds things up. When you encounter a problem and come up [...]
Originally posted on Andy McIlwain @ andymci.com

In pursuit of Flow.

Andy — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:53:49 +0000

A belated Happy New Year to you and yours! Today, I’d like to talk a little bit about Flow. Some background: Since graduating in 2009, I’ve been trying to find a place where I can learn more about practical marketing, and apply what I learn to help others. We’re doing that here, at Kobayashi, on [...]
Originally posted on Andy McIlwain @ andymci.com

Procrastinating on Purchases

Andy — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 22:03:10 +0000

After you�ve breathed, and you�re now considering whether you need to buy something because it seems like a necessity some new jeans, new underwear, a new chair � pause and see if you can go another month or so without it. via :zenhabits. My personal experience: I’ve been putting off buying Ikea bookshelves for months. [...]
Originally posted on Andy McIlwain @ andymci.com

WordCamp Toronto 2012 in Review

Andy — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 21:56:22 +0000

We’re done! Now that the feedback survey results are posted, we can mark the end of a very long WordCamp Toronto season. Unlike 2011, we ran two conferences for 2012:�In September, we organized WordCamp Toronto for end users.�In November, we organized WordCamp Toronto: Developers 2012. As with last year’s event, my responsibilities for WCTO 2012 [...]
Originally posted on Andy McIlwain @ andymci.com