BKeeney Briefs

Having your own business isn’t easy.  In fact, it’s the hardest thing anyone could ever attempt because the work never ends.  If you’re not doing ‘real’ work, you’re thinking about it.  How do you find the next bit of work?  What’s my next article going to be?  What product should I work on?  The questions are endless.

Our industry, in particular, isn’t known for it’s healthy habits.  We spend way too many hours in front of computer monitor.  My wife half-joked at last years Real World conference that you could tell who the programmers were because they were all pasty-white.  And that’s not a slam on anyone because she’s a programmer too and has been for longer than me.

Last Fall I was working a lot of hours.  I was tired all the time and I just felt miserable.  I was turning down work which is always a bad sign.  I knew I had to do something.

The first thing I did was hire an employee.  Some of you probably feel that’s a bad idea but I found an awesome developer.  In fact, he’s better at a lot of stuff than I am which is great because as a company I can now pursue projects that he wants to do as well as those that I have a passion for.  It also means we (collectively) can help out on some open source REALbasic projects.  So now, two of us can do more than just one of me was doing.  That was my first step.

For my second step I started going to the gym again.  I’m no longer funding a service I don’t use.  I go every other day and do a combination of weights and aerobic activity.  I’ve lost 15 pounds and I have more energy than I’ve had in a while.  Perhaps the best part of the gym is that I go to the office and do better code in less time.  My thoughts are focused and I’m generally sure about what I’m doing.

For many years I studied Aikido (earned a brown belt) and one of the many things I learned in its teachings is that Mind and Body are one.  Where the mind goes the body will follow and the reverse is true.  Where the body goes the mind will follow.  So if you don’t exercise your body you don’t exercise your mind.  I loved Aikido until my knees gave out but the truth still holds – you need to exercise your whole body.

Whatever it is that you enjoy that is not centered around the computer – do it!  If that means pounding nails while helping build a house, do it!  I know several developers/business owners that do that for fun.  Join a gym.  Join a league.  Go take a yoga or Thai Chi class.  Take an adult education class at the local community college.

Just do something different.   Something that’s NOT computer related.  Give your mind something else to ponder about for a while.  You’ll be amazed at how much better  you feel and how much better your code is.

So what do you do to refresh yourself?

It seems that the idea of having a professional association for REALbasic has some legs.  Many people have left messages and contacted me privately offering their support and giving us some ideas.  Thank you!

A question that was asked to me privately was one that I think bears repeating:   Why should should you join a REALbasic developer association?  What does it do for you?

An association is an advocate for you.  Individually, none of us mean much to REAL Software.  An organization for professional developers using REALbasic might have a *little* more sway with RS.  I’m not saying it will, but the chances are better.  Some have mentioned having the organization buying into the Developer program and determining what to use the hot fixes for.  I’m not entirely sure that it’s the best use of whatever funds the organization has, but it’s worth looking into.

Another idea that’s been floating around is to provide a survey of all RB users and present this survey data to REAL Software.  RS probably has hundreds of enhancement requests and this is one way that we could influence their decisions for upcoming versions.  Obviously there’s no guarantee that they’d listen, but a bunch of professionals could pull more weight than an individual.

An association is an educational tool.  In the ideal world, RS would have a ton of white papers and general how to examples on their website.  Often their examples are so simple that most people don’t find them useful.  An association is a good place to learn more about the specifics of the language and product.    This could mean a code repository of some sort.

I think it’s entirely possible that the association would eventually do some sort of certification program along with study guides.  Imagine having a spiffy “REALbasic Certification” logo on your website.  It gives you more credibility in the eyes of potential customers.

An association is a marketing tool for REALbasic.  REALbasic is a great cross-platform tool but it is sometimes tough to convince customers that anything with ‘basic’ in the name can be taken seriously.  A professional association tells the world that, yes, RB is serious and that there are professionals using it.  This would also help with people who think that RB is just for hobbyists.

An association is for like minded individuals.  One of the reasons why I like going to Real World is to talk with other REALbasic developers.  I can’t do that everywhere because REALbasic just isn’t used by a lot of individuals.  An association gives me one more place to share and ask questions without the ubiquitous forum monkey badgering me on why “RB Sux”.  I don’t have time for that – my time is too valuable to waste on that garbage.

An association can be a marketing tool for you.  I envision a website that you can go to and find, in a single click, all of the association developers for hire, where they’re located, how many employees and other useful statistics.  As far as I know, there is no such website.  You would no longer have to rely upon REAL Software for your marketing contacts.

Also, imagine having a spiffy logo for use on your website as a member of this professional association.  It gives you more credibility in the eyes of potential customers.

An association can be a money saver.  As association could negotiate deals to save money on magazines, books, tools, libraries, controls and classes about and for REALbasic.  Become a member and get a 10% discount on “X” plugin or “Y” utility.  That alone could have a membership pay for itself.

Those are some quick and dirty ideas on why a professional REALbasic association is a great idea and what it can do for you.  What are your thoughts?

An interesting conversation started on Norman Palardy’s blog the other day. Norman was taking about he wished there was better mechanism in place to help prioritize bugs and enhancement requests. It started off with a general rant (my words not his) about the feedback system not being exceptionally useful with some suggestions on how to make it better. It then wandered off (my fault – my bad) about how it would be nice to survey the beta participants to let RS know what we feel which enhancements are more important.

A 4D user then piped up about what has happened at the annual 4D Developers Conference for the past couple of years:  a small group of developers presents the results of a survey of what the developers (as a whole) would like to see in future versions of the product.  The enhancements are simplified as much as possible and aggregated down to a value between 1 (not needed) and 5 (needed) and given out as web survey.  This list is then given to makers of 4D.  The amazing thing is that 4D supports the group with stage time.

This is similar to a software product my wife supports for arts organizations where they survey all users and let everyone vote on the feature requests.  That software was designed for, and sold to, not-for-profit arts organizations who also become owners of the software.  Each year before their annual conference all member organizations get a list of enhancements and they vote.   Last years list had hundreds of feature requests.   Since they’re all owners in the company they’re votes count.

Since I’m a warped individual and I’m a glutton for punishment, I asked the question:  Is it time for a professional association for REALbasic?  I was amazed at the positive reaction so maybe the idea has legs.

What would this association do?

•    Help organize the above “enhancements” survey.  Provide a way for members and nonmembers to take the survey, tabulate results and present the results to RS.
•    Negotiate discounts for magazines, books and software.
•    Manage lists of affiliates (developers for hire, software development houses, others?)
•    Job/Project Listings
•    Meet at each Real World for business

Perhaps, in the long run, this organization could then create an RB Certification test, or series of tests, that allow RB developers to claim proficiency in certain areas.  Not that I’m a bid fan of this (I’m not) but it’s a way for developers to differentiate themselves from each other and it’s a way to have a set of training standards.

On the original blog post we have the following name suggestion:

IPRUA – International Professional REALbasic Users Association

I’ll add:

IPRUG – International Professional REALbasic Users Group
ARD – Association of REALbasic Developers
RBUG – REALbasic Users Group

So what are your ideas for such an organization?  Is it a good idea or bad idea?  Should it be free?  Should affiliate listing be free or have a nominal charge?  Any good name ideas?

The Jan/Feb issue of REALbasic Developer is out. My column for this issue is titled Software Protection: The Battle Against Pirates.

Let me know what comments you have. Did I miss something obvious? Did I get something totally wrong?