Year in Review: 2022

2022 ain't over yet and there's still more work to be done, but I'm already looking forward to 2023. I've got a lot of ideas for the next year, and I'm excited to see what I can accomplish.

• Started working with One North
• Worked on ~10 unique Sitecore projects for highly recognizable brands
• Earned two more Sitecore certifications, bringing me to a total of 4:
  • Sitecore Content Hub Administrator
  • Sitecore 10 .NET Developer Certification
• Attended Sitecore Symposium 2022 in Chicago. Joined in on the "Chicago Pizzaposium" pizza tour. Took some great photos of people in the community.
• Built this blog from scratch. Picked up significant steam with ~21 blog posts, ~9 of which were technical deep dives:
  • Automatic TypeScript Model Generation With TDS
  • xConnect: Storing Full URLs in Page View Events
  • xConnect: Rapid Interaction Spoofing and Contact Identification
  • Headless Cloud Infrastructure for JSS: An Overview
  • Overview: Data Exchange Framework and Sitecore Connect for Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales
  • Renewing Expired xConnect Client Cert on Azure PaaS
  • Bulletproof Components (Part 1): Front End Checklist
  • Bulletproof Components (Part 2): Back End Checklist
  • Bulletproof Components (Part 3): General Checklist
• Coauthored a few blog posts with the team @ One North
• Started providing Sitecore feedback regarding website and documentation issues
• Started attending Sitecore Lunches
• Got myself an official Sitecore MVP mentor
• Made ~500 contributions on GitHub
• Built a handful of sites with NextJS + Vercel + TypeScript in my free time
• Ramped up my activity on Sitecore Stack Exchange (top 14% this year)
• Ran for moderator on Sitecore Stack Exchange
• Continued to contribute on Stack Overflow (top 4% this year)
• Started posting / sharing more regularly on Twitter

I've had the honor of working / interacting with and being mentored by many outstanding individuals in the Sitecore community. In no particular order, I offer my thanks to:

• José Neto & Ethel Crosby for their mentorship and support.
• Naveed and Jonathan @ Interactive Strategies for their inspiring leadership and abilities.
• Dan Cruickshank. Seeing you help others and deliver on your vision has been incredible.
• One North. Your support has been amazing. Special thanks to Rick, Skutta, Tom, Vinu, Stephanie, Tanya, Ethel, Horner, Pershteyn, and Carron.
• Rodrigo Peplau, Aaron Bickle, Jim Petillo, Chet Potvin, Pete Navarra, and Bala. It was great meeting all of you at Symposium.

I collect quotes. Here are some goodies from this year:

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.

-William Arthur Ward

Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all.

-Peter Drucker

Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is specifically your own.

-Bruce Lee

Here's how I'm planning to spend some of my time next year.

• Continue to build expertise in the following technologies:
  • XP / XM 10.x
  • XM Cloud
  • Sitecore JSS
  • C#
  • React
  • NextJS
  • GraphQL
  • TypeScript
  • Svelte
  • Cloudflare
  • Blockchain
  • Machine Learning
• Complete at least one Udemy course related to the above
• Continue working on side projects that leverage the above
• Compose 12 long form blog posts
• Compose at least 12 short / medium blog posts
• Attend Symposium 2023 and take more photos of people in the Sitecore community
• Continue contributing on Sitecore Stack Exchange
• Earn 2023 Sitecore Technology MVP
• Compete in the 2023 Sitecore Hackathon
• Earn least 1 new Sitecore certification
• Share at least one code gist / repo on GitHub
• Continue to research cutting edge memes

As 2022 comes to a close, many areas of the economy are now getting 🤦‍♂️ smacked with a reality check. The cost of living is increasing, fiat currency is being debased, interest rates are rising, stock markets are down, geopolitical conflict is heating up, layoffs are prevalent, cryptoheads are trying to survive another crypto winter, companies are going bankrupt, etc. When times are tough, what matters most at the economic level is utility, value, productivity, and profit.

At the same time, I'm seeing a cambrian explosion of new technologies and ideas that are making it faster and easier than ever to deliver real value. While many see doom and gloom, I see opportunity. It's an exciting time to be in tech. It's also a great time to be working with Sitecore. The work is stable, the community is thriving, and the tooling is getting GOOD. The future is bright. 🌞

Keep on truckin',

Marcel