My first video. Enjoy. Leave any feedback. Sorry for the cheap camera. If I follow through, I will upgrade.

Over the last year or so, I’ve been working at the National Association of Home Builders as a Developer.  Tomorrow will mark my last day there.  For me, NAHB was the perfect second job out of school.  While there,  I had the opportunity to work with some great people and develop my technical skills as well as my interpersonal skills.  Everyone in my department took great pride in servicing our clients, which were the various departments, and working harmoniously with our vendors and vendors selected by our clients. Moreover, I moved closer to reaching an equilibrium between life and work or as the girlfriend would probably say “between work and more work.” I will truly miss working with the people at NAHB.

As of Monday, I will be employed with Be The Change, Inc. as Director of Web Technology.  Be The Change is a startup non profit focused on public service and was founded by Alan Khazei who also founded CityYear.  The Organization’s two key missions are:

Crafting a bold and innovative policy agenda that is rooted in the practical experience of social entrepreneurs and civic leaders and sets a pragmatic ten-year time horizon for major systemic change.

  and

Building a broad-based, web-fueled, citizens’ movement that will campaign for better public policies, promote active citizenship and citizen democracy, and give Americans who are frustrated with the status quo a place to channel their ideas and activism.

I was introduced to Be The Change, Inc. through a friend and I have been working with them as a “pro-bono consultant,” for a lack of better word since the summer.  I have an understanding of where the organization is, what it aims to become and how I can help. Needless to say I still have a lot learn about the organization and the rest of the team.  And as with any new endeavor, there will be challenges.  Regardless, I’m very excited for this opportunity and ready for my first week¹.

1. I will be slightly distracted on Tsunami Tuesday.  Are you registered to vote?

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. I went up to New Hampshire to celebrate the holiday with the gf and her family. Needless to say it was freezing. Beside that, I had very pleasant experience. It was def to refreshing to be out of the city and not check my email on a hourly basis even if I have a blackberry. The holiday was full of cooking, eating and conversation. The highlight of the trip was by far learning how to play chess. Despite my abysmal record of 2 and 15, I still think I’m hot issh for learning how to play.

Being in NH for the last couple of days, made me realized that I’ve spread myself too thin and I lost focus on what I want to do and what’s important. I enjoy being busy and having a lot to do and being constantly on the go. However, I’ve come to the realization that it’s not really leading me anywhere fast. So I will take the remainder of the year to close up and a couple of outstanding projects and focus most, if not all, my energy on my schooling and breaking in the public policy field while staying financially afloat.  Web Dev has been great and I learned a lot from many people. In reality, I will not be completely out of Web Dev for while. Since entry level jobs in public policy don’t pay much, I will probably continue to do work on freelance basis. That being said, short of starting my own company, I’ve lost the interest to do it full time for an extended period of time. I enjoy being a geek on my own time much more than in an office. It’s time to commit more time and energy to my other passion, politics. Wish me luck.