I'm a real twit...

I'm such a twit (someone who tweets on Twitter).

I haven't blogged in a little bit but I'm very active on Twitter: @az_james

In fact, I'm addicted to it. Talk about a great way to get a big wad of information that is personalized to your interests.

I have it set up like a news ticker using the DestroyTwitter application so it updates every 60 seconds.

I can't even start my day without logging in and checking all the tweets (a post on Twitter) to see if there is anything interesting.

I guess that's a big reason that I haven't been blogging as much. With my role change at work, from Trainer to Instructional Designer, I am much, much busier that I was in the past. I don't really have much time to write a full blog post so I tweet mini blog entries (140 characters or less) instead.

If you follow az_james you'll see mostly RT's (re-tweeting some one else's tweet) of things other twits tweet that interest me.

I like to follow several news twits, sports twits, local twits, learning twits, ID twits, and most of all, political twits.

When I first became a twit I followed only people I know. I then branched out to celebrities and pro athletes. Once I figured out what I was interested in I removed those that didn't talk about things that interest me. I don't care what some movie star is having for lunch. Give me something I can read and care about, or better yet, can learn from.

Now I have found several twits that provide information that actually applies to my life and my work.

In fact, I think Twitter is necessary for me to grow on my job. Really. Consider the cost of going to training classes in this economy. If I find a tweet that provides an article with insight to some new way to provide learning, that's a far better return on investment. On occasion I even find things that are so relevant I email them to my entire team.

Anyway, if your not on Twitter you should be. Whatever your interests, you'll find like minded people on Twitter who will share their knowledge with you. The best part: Its Free.

My New Job

I am very happy to announce that I am the newest member of our training instructional design department group.

I have been hoping to get involved in instructional design for a little over a year now. I had my first experience a couple of years back when I was working with another designer on a course that I was responsible for. I asked if I could learn a little of it and I really enjoyed it.

Since then I have been trying to help our ID group on small projects when they have need and I have available time to dedicate. Most recently I was assigned to a small project that went very well and received great feedback. That helped me to get the job full time.

This was my 3rd attempt. Each time I went through the interview process I felt good about my performance but those that were hired before me for the 1st two positions were also excellent choices.

I guess 3's a charm. This time I preped for several hours and received coaching from a couple of the managers in my department. As soon as the interview was over I knew that I nailed it and was offered the job the next day.

One unique situation about this job is that I will be working in a different state from the rest of my team. I am in Phoenix while my team is based in Cleveland.

I have been in Cleveland this whole week meeting my new supervisor and my new team. I feel really lucky. My new boss seems really cool and I feel like I have already been accepted as part of the team.

Well, Monday morning when I'm back home I should be able to hit the ground running. We have lots of projects underway and I've already been given my 1st assignment.

Looking forward to it. I'll try to keep you posted as I learn the new job.