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Vacation

It’s true, I’ve been slacking on posting (and reading even), so I’ll just make it official: I’m on vacation.

I’ve been fighting the sinus infection of doom, leaving NEC, and noodling through what I want to work on next. Notice that’s not job hunting, per se. I’m feeling the need to set up a better info infrastructure before my next thing, and that’s going to take work and thought, aside even from the job hunt.

As far as the job, I’ll just clip out my comments from my farewell note, which stands as the most cogent encapsulation of the work I’d like to do next:

I’m scoping out what I want to do next, and who with, but I’m looking forward to the process. I’m focusing on the product side of the house, since after all this talking I’m craving concrete output, measurable results and bearing the risk.

The specific area is less important to me than company particulars, since I covered such a wide range of tech here. The theme I’ve found most interesting is something I’m calling ‘device independent data access’, where we are beginning to take for granted the constant availability of our data - whether for business, diversion or personal life. That space is bound up with mobility, info mgmt, multimodal UI and search.

I’m keen to build offerings aimed at an interesting emerging market, which Peter Vesterbacka (founder of HP’s e-Services Bazzaar) last night (at MobileMonday) called “the blur” — a space between consumer and enterprise. That’s a name I’m going to adopt. I’m seeing a lot of value created where products serve individuals as they seek greater productivity, better synergy between work and life. I see those offerings being drawn up into the enterprise via osmosis, and out to consumers via kids.

I’m the first to admit I’m a little unhinged. I like endings but I find the process of ending totally distracting. But the end, the prospect of the new, is funand galvanizing. Now that I have NEC behind me (in a thoroughly graceful way), I should be able to concentrate. Nope, not today. Maybe the theory works better when the weather is poor.

I still have to work on the events blog, which I delayed hoping to import it en-masse, but rather should have taken the time to import the current events. It’s a clear sign that I need a break when efficiency concerns overrule relevancy. And I have my strategy notes repository, which I’ve been working on, only to realize how totally useless some of the sage guidance is.

So I’m just going to take a hint from the purple parasol-toting lady I met on my run, and check out.

I was planning on heading to SXSW, but that got caught up in the rest of the chaos.