Logic versus (brain) chemistry
Hey friend,
Me, I’m sad. But also not? Life is happy! That’s what I’m telling myself, because it’s true.
In a funny place where I’m feeling low, just right when I wake up in the morning, irrespective of any actual worries or concerns. But as the day goes on, I keep losing the argument with myself that everything sucks and is bad. Because, in fact, my life is pretty good right now. Other than, you know, the depression, and…uh, well, the planet. But still, logic is defeating chemistry for me most days of late, and I’ll take it!
One actual concern: I’m anxious about sunlight, comma, lack thereof. I used to literally put my face up against the window in Minneapolis over the winter whenever the sun would finally come out. Arizona, conversely, had so much sun you often had to hide from it. But it was nice to know it would always be there if I needed it. I don’t quite know how it will shake out here in New England, but even just 24 hours of rainy cloudy weather has me cranking up the lights, cranking up my music, and doing even more pacing and puttering than usual. Come on back sun, I’m here, baby.
Content Career Accelerator
Life is happy. My Content Career Accelerator seems to be working, for the most part. We just finished the last workshop of the Summer Cohort, and I’m processing some serious end-of-camp vibes. We closed with a one-word check-in exercise, and the most popular choices were ‘motivated’ and ‘grateful’. Back at ya, my Ziggy Zaggy friends.
Sales isn’t my strength. But I got enough folks registered for the Summer cohort to keep my increasingly bright lights on, and a couple folks have registered for the Fall Cohort already. Having actually run the program now, I know its isness, not just its oughtness, which means the Info Sessions are much more specific and informative; do sign up if you’d like a tour.
Content Events
Life is happy. I’m nearing 100 issues of the UX Writing Events newsletter, and have started to build what’s next: a community.
I’ve missed being a meetup organizer. Organizing and event planning has been in my life much longer than UX, and it’s starting to feel like the time to bring the two together again in a big way. The first UX meetup I ever started was called ‘Content Nerds’, even had the URL for a bit, and had such esteemed guests as Amanda Costello and Kristina Halvorson. It eventually merged with a UX meetup group that’s still going strong, and I moved on to other projects and other cities.
The new thing, if you will, is simply called Content Events. It’s a community, yes, but my aim is that the events and programming will be what ties it together — including, in the spirit of the newsletter that inspired it, highlighting and engaging in events and programming from across the UX content universe.
You can read more about the idea on the announcement page, and, if it sounds up your alley, add your name to the waitlist.
Life in PVD
Life is happy. We’ve got a real mattress on a real bed frame, a place to park the Jeep, and most of the things you’d expect to find in a two-person kitchen.
Worst case, I don’t have to move again for 10 months. Best case, longer. I’m taking to our new place in Providence pretty well, and the city seems just fine, thanks. A multi-month cross-country roadtrip/move involving many nights on a cot or air mattress is adventuresome, sure, but I am somewhat Hobbit-like in relation to adventures. Happy to rise to the challenge, but even happier back home again.
A Not-Weird Way to Collect Other People’s Briefs
Life is happy. My book is now available in … 🥁drum roll🥁 … hardcover!
My publisher, A Book Apart, has ended their Briefs series, a name that definitely never made me think of men’s underwear, and is memorializing the works in three anthologies. Writing for Designers has esteemed company in Anthology 2 of this new collection, Design and Content. It’s joined by Donna Spencer’s Presenting Design Work, Dan Mall’s Pricing Design, and Beth Dunn’s Cultivating Content Design. Not a bad set, if you ask me.
You could snag all three anthologies for around $125 shipped if you add them to your cart at once, then use the coupon code KUBIE10. Could even add a paperback on there (say, Leading Content Design) for only ~12 more bucks, thanks to the quantity discounts. Hooray, maths!
Hitting Publish
Life is happy. I’m publishing more Good Stuff™ lately, articles and videos alike. A few things you might enjoy:
- Video: Jobs and roles are different things (and that matters) - Pedantic? Yes. Useful? Definitely.
- Video: A button is not a call to action - Pedantic? Yes. Useful? Sometimes.
- Video: Jump start your new UX writing job with discovery interviews - A note to self, really, for next time.
- Article: The Consistency Trap for UX Writers (and How to Avoid It) - A reminder that consistent doesn’t have to mean identical.
- Article: You can’t convince everybody - A useful simplification of the two ways product leaders think about content design.
- Guide: Where and How to Find UX Writing, Content Design, and Content Strategy Jobs - Just what it sounds like!
- Meetup recording: Websites aren’t rocketships (so stop launching them, please) - My Content Strategy Seattle session on content ecosystem mapping
How are you?
Well, I hope. As always, do feel free to write back and say hello.
With love,
Scott