One year ago, I was a nobody. Okay, it’s not like I’m exactly famous right now, which is kind of how I like it. Floating between fame and loserdom, and generally losing both battles.

Roughly 1 year ago today Ensight went up for sale. Eventually that sale fell through, though the international coverage was the first major event in my blogging “career”. It’s when I went from being some nobody blogger to somebody that people say “oh, that was you?” about.

Which is fun.

Then, in December, I sold myself on Ebay as a blogger, which eventually launched InsideBlogging. InsideBlogging recently died as a project, largely because I’ve been working on the books. Out of those episodes, came the book deal for Blog Marketing.

Shortly thereafter, I was fired for blogging. Again, media. The media can be fun.

These events eventually landed me a gig at BusinessWeek… Which didn’t happen due to a certain US border incident.

Along the way I’ve launched some new ventures, sold some and helped others out with their projects. I tried podcasting for a while, did some articles for magazines and websites, contributed to some group book projects and began doing more and more writing.

The above things are, to me, the “little things” that happened in the last year. They defined my career, but as I look back on the last year, it’s the people that stand out.

Darren Barefoot for helping with the auction and with InsideBlogging. All the crew in Vancouver & Seattle (Boris, Richard, Lee, Arieanna, Susie, Travis, Ianiv, Tris and dozens of others) who welcomed me into their community. Lifelong friends like Mike Hillyer and Jacob Murphy and Michael Sumner who kept me grounded. A fantastic family in my wife and 2 great boys.

And while all of this was going on, I also did a cross-country move to St. Stephen, New Brunswick, started working closely with Marc Orchant who’s one of the best human beings on the planet. And wiser than an ostrich to boot.

I’ve worked with brilliant people from Stowe to Jennifer to Duncan and Darren and hundreds of people in between.

It’s the memories that stand out for me. Hot dogs at Northern Voice, an early podcast interview with Neville and Shel, Tris calling me up just to encourage me, some bloggers slamming me for dozens of comments on Joi Ito’s blog… ;-)

Okay, not all of the memories are positive, but as I’ve gone (over the last year) from “just another blogger” to someone that does blogging “for a living”, I can’t help but look back and just smile.

It’s been a heck of a ride, and like all rides it’s had its highs and lows… But it’s been well worth it.

Over the last year, blogging’s grown up as well. A year ago, the idea of a blogging book for businesses and companies dedicated solely to selling blogging services was so cutting edge people laughed at me. Now it’s perfectly accepted. A year ago the media treated blogging with contempt. Now it’s being embraced.

What will the next year hold? Since I first started being interviewed by the press a year ago, I’ve said that “the next 18-24 months were key, and if we could survive that (as a community) we could survive anythign”. I stand by that. The next year will see blogging either evolve into something healthy, or devolve into somethign passe.

I know I’ll still be here.

And, to those who still read Ensight, in spite of all the changes, thank you. I realize it’s been a whirlwind of change from a year ago when Ensight was primarily content written critiquing business, tech and blogging… But things in my life changed, and so did my blog. Now it’s a personal blog. Traffic is down since that change, but I also feel less pressure and more freedom. I’m sure that at some point I’ll find an equilibrium in my blogging again.

But now is the time to remember and to say thank you to everyone. To every blogger, every commenter, every linker, every emailer, every person who IM’d me, every person who believed, every person who didn’t and every person who went before me who created a way for me to love what I do on a daily basis and to provide for my family while doing it.

I have no idea what lays ahead in the next year, but I know that my level of happiness is way up, my level of stress is way down, my income is up, my days of near-depression are down, my level of community and friendship is way way up and my level of seclusion is down.

Thank you to everyone. Hopefully we can continue to enjoy the next year (and many more) together! :)

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