The Challenge
After attending Pioneer Nation in late March of 2014, I set for myself the challenge of launching a podcast, writing and publishing two books, and getting out a dozen new illustrations in between the end of Pioneer Nation (March 28, 2014) and the start of the World Domination Summit (July 11, 2014).
The Backstory
I’ve been blogging here for about two and half years now, documenting my development as I have learned the skill of sketchnoting and applied it to topics that interest me.
About a year ago (in June of 2013) I decided to stop substitute teaching (which was my primary source of income) and put my full weight behind a career in sketching out ideas.
By the time Pioneer Nation rolled around in late March of 2014, I was ready to jump from freelance illustration work to building an independent business as a teacher and an artist.
Pioneer Nation is an event best suited for solopreneurs, folks that are using their skills and passions to create independent careers. You could call it a business conference, but that term in no way captures the full scope of the event.
I don’t have a background in business, so the timing of Pioneer Nation was perfect – I was getting some business fundamentals and meeting some amazing people right as I was forming a plan for what I wanted my career to look like long term.
I decided to build on the energy from that event by setting some deadlines for myself on projects that I’d been thinking about for a while – teaching resources, illustrations, books, and a podcast – all connected in one way or another to the process of giving visual form to ideas.
Since Pioneer Nation is a sister event to The World Domination Summit, I decided to set the beginning of that next gathering of amazing people as the deadline for the completion of my projects.
To keep myself on track (and for a bit of accountability as well) I put together a quick sketch of my goals and posted it to Twitter:
So I have until July 11th to finish up those 15 things on my list. See the updates below to check up on my progress, and if you’re going to be at WDS this year, I hope we get the chance to meet.
Updates
March 30th. Fleshing out the podcast:
Inspired by #pdxpioneer, developed this idea yesterday. Bringing it to life in the coming weeks. Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/AWfUr3cKeI
— Doug Neill (@douglaspneill) March 30, 2014
March 30th. Public accountability:
Challenge set. Time to do the work. #pdxpioneer to #wds2014 @dtvanveen and the internet on accountability duty. pic.twitter.com/emv7vN45PF — Doug Neill (@douglaspneill) March 30, 2014
April 2nd: expanding the scope of Book 1.
April 4th: the podcast gains a home and a name.
April 7th. Completed the brainstorming for Book 1:
Activity brainstorm complete. Time to order, then start sketching. http://t.co/yr16idkLsn pic.twitter.com/hg8G8LUgt1
— Doug Neill (@douglaspneill) April 7, 2014
April 11th. In-person recording of the first podcast episode:
Great chat with artist @rebeccashapiro for the upcoming #verbaltovisual podcast. Successful first interview! pic.twitter.com/9PcIpplv9s — Doug Neill (@douglaspneill) April 11, 2014
April 12th-13th. A weekend break from work to hike up Mt. Hood:
Spent the weekend hiking and camping on Mt. Hood. What a beautiful place. Made it past the timberline: pic.twitter.com/iJjVdeL9xf
— Doug Neill (@douglaspneill) April 14, 2014
April 14th: how this 3-month challenge fits in with my year of conquering resistance. April 23rd – learning some new technology for the podcast:
Editing the intro episode of the #verbaltovisual podcast! This audio stuff is pretty darn fun. pic.twitter.com/BPDSglpa46 — Doug Neill (@douglaspneill) April 23, 2014
May 5th: the official launch of The Verbal To Visual Podcast. CHECK MARK
One down, fourteen to go. #pdxpioneer #wds2014 @dtvanveen pic.twitter.com/WWCjeVdEQg
— Doug Neill (@douglaspneill) May 6, 2014
May 7th – launched the blog component of Verbal To Visual with this first post:
8 Ways To Organize Your Growing Visual Vocabulary http://t.co/5m8Z4XrfrN #verbaltovisual #sketchnotes pic.twitter.com/WmPGq72BCS — Doug Neill (@douglaspneill) May 7, 2014
May 18th – completed the text-only version of Book 1:
Final editing of the text-only version of The Verbal To Visual Notebook going live tomorrow: https://t.co/cJbfMV7Ccn pic.twitter.com/5QrFTzos8Z
— Doug Neill (@douglaspneill) May 18, 2014
May 28th – got the podcast up on iTunes:
Check out who just made it up on iTunes! The Verbal To Visual Podcast is now the real deal: https://t.co/FlNsrikLMv — Doug Neill (@douglaspneill) May 28, 2014
June 4th: got the podcast up on Stitcher too:
The Verbal To Visual Podcast is now available on iTunes (https://t.co/I9nYiOMhur) and Stitcher (http://t.co/XTLJB9rG0Q). Woohoo!
— Doug Neill (@douglaspneill) June 4, 2014
June 6th – completed 4 new illustrations with a new home at A Trail Of Life (4 CHECKMARKS):
5 down, 10 to go. #pdxpioneer to #wds2014 @dtvanveen http://t.co/MKYenjfwty pic.twitter.com/49BW1UVegu — Doug Neill (@douglaspneill) June 6, 2014
June 9th – started sketching out Book 1:
This week’s task – generate sketched versions of all of these activities #verbaltovisual pic.twitter.com/8ZpSHDxGp5
— Doug Neill (@douglaspneill) June 9, 2014
June 12th – decided to make Book 1 100% sketched:
The Verbal To Visual Notebook with be 100% sketched. Batching some of the text now: pic.twitter.com/WOjCO59ONo — Doug Neill (@douglaspneill) June 12, 2014
June 19th – launched Book 1: The Verbal To Visual Notebook. CHECKMARK
June 25th: set up a Society6 shop to sell prints and other cool things with my illustrations on them.
June 30th – shared a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Book 1:
A sketch of the process I went through to bring The Verbal To Visual Notebook to life: http://t.co/4lSYsC7Djm pic.twitter.com/T6AI7CFOQA
— Doug Neill (@douglaspneill) June 30, 2014
Not quite there yet… Will I make it?… Stay tuned.
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