If you’re reading this post (thanks to the handful of you out there), I wanted to let you know I’m starting something new.  I’ve been publishing my blog for over 10 years now but there are times I’d like to post something more informal.  It deserves more than a tweet but a full blog post is too much.  I found out about a service called TinyLetter from my friend Jeff Blankenburg.  I plan to write a tiny letter 2-3 times a month.  In it I’ll share interesting articles I’ve read, thoughts on various topics, or projects I’m following.  Think of it as a way to find out what is ticking in my brain that week.  Feel free to subscribe to Frog Pond Thoughts and share with others.  I’m posting the first letter to my blog for now as well.  Enjoy!

#1: Is this mic on? Starting something new…and why frogs?

Why write a tiny newsletter?

When someone does something new I like to think about “why did they do that?”.  I’ll share my own answer for why I’m starting up this tiny newsletter.  Over the past 6+ months I’ve been tossing around the idea of having some way to share out the various articles, topics, and thoughts I explore on a weekly basis.  During my 1:1 meetings with my mentor (you should have at least 1 mentor, topic for another day) I send him half a dozen or more links, stories, projects, etc. that I store in a OneNote (see example below).

While it is great discussing these items with my mentor I’d love to share them out to a broader audience.  I looked into a number of platforms.  I could extend my existing blog or share posts on LinkedIn but each of those didn’t feel like the right platform.  After seeing my friend and fellow Stir Trek Conference board planner Jeff Blankenburg starting up his Tiny Letter again (Blankenthoughts) I thought this would be a great experiment to see how easy it was for composing, distributing, and engaging with others.  Look for a new newsletter at least 2 times a month.

Why frogs?

If you’ve ever read my blog https://briantjackett.com/ (“The Frog Pond of Technology”) you may be asking “Brian what’s the deal with frogs?”.  Glad you asked.

For all of my life I’ve always liked the color green.  I also like to do new things on a regular basis which also means.  I liken this to frogs who are amphibious and able to live in many environments.  In the water, on land, in trees, and more.  Frogs are traditionally green and the change of scenery for frogs’ environments led to me have a natural liking of frogs.  That’s the short and simple answer.

Conclusion

I’m keeping this first newsletter short so that is all for now.  Please subscribe and share with your friends, coworkers, or anyone else who might be interested.

-Frog Out